Russia demands surrender of Ukrainian forces holed up in Mariupol steel plant

Russia has demanded the surrender of the Ukrainian fighters currently sheltering at a metallurgical plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol as the fight for the city continues to rage on Tuesday.

Multiple outlets, including Reuters and Agence France-Presse (AFP), reported that Russia called on the fighters to lay down their arms by noon Moscow time if they wanted to live. The Ukrainians have ignored previous demands to do so from the Kremlin.

“We once again call on the Kyiv authorities to show reason and give the corresponding orders to fighters to cease their senseless resistance,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, according to AFP.

“But, understanding that they will not get such instructions and orders from the Kyiv authorities, we call on [the fighters] to voluntarily take this decision and to lay down their arms,” the ministry added.

On Monday, the Ukrainian parliament said on Twitter that “at least 1,000 civilians are in the underground shelters of the metallurgical plant. Mostly women with children and the elderly.”

Footage circulating on social media released by Mariupol’s city council on Telegram also showed heavy smoke rising into the air following an attack on the Azovstal steel plant, according to videos shared by NBC News and Sky News.

The Azovstal steel plant is one of Europe’s biggest metallurgical plants, and the factory’s tunnels, which can withstand bombings, are providing cover for remaining Ukrainian forces in Mariupol.

If Russian forces manage to take Mariupol, Ukraine will lose a key port city, and will give Russian troops unhindered access over land from Russia to the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday predicted that Russia will try to “finish with Mariupol” in the coming weeks as fighting intensifies in eastern Ukraine.