Russia wants Mariupol’s surrender before letting civilians leave, Ukraine says no

The Russian Ministry of Defence has called on Mariupol’s local authority to hand over the city to the Russian military, according to Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti. Ukraine promptly rejected the offer.

Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, the head of the Russian Federation’s National Center for Defence Management, was quoted by the news agency.

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“We appeal to the odious bandits, who are responsible for hundreds of lives of innocent people, and now call themselves representatives of the official local authorities of this unique city Mariupol. We are aware that in the current situation little depends on you, since you are under the full control of nationalist battalions, but we very much hope that you, including the mayor of the city, have at least something human in you left, at least a sense of compassion for the civilians entrusted to you,” Mizintsev said, according to RIA Novosti.

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Residents of Mariupol had until 5 am Monday to reply to the offer, which included raising a white flag. Russia did not clarify what it would do if the offer was turned down.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk, on the other hand, said no.

“There can be no talk of any surrender, laying down of arms. We have already informed the Russian side about this,” she told the news outlet Ukrainian Pravda. “I wrote: `Instead of wasting time on eight pages of letters, just open the corridor.'”

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Residents are being transferred to Russia against their will, according to the Mariupol City Council on Saturday.

“Over the past week, several thousand Mariupol residents have been taken to Russian territory,” the city said in a statement. “The occupiers illegally took people from the Livoberezhny district and from the shelter in the sports club building, where more than a thousand people (mostly women and children) were hiding from the constant bombing.”

Captured Mariupol residents were transferred to camps where Russian forces verified their phones and documents before relocating some of them to remote Russian cities, according to the statement, adding that the “fate of the others is unknown.”

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“It is you who now have the right to a historic choice – either you are with your people, or you are with bandits. Otherwise the military tribunal that awaits you is only a minor thing that you have already deserved because of the despicable attitude towards your own citizens, as well as the terrible crimes and provocations already arranged by you,” According to RIA Novosti, Mizintsev called on municipal officials to surrender.

According to RIA, the Colonel-General stated that approximately 60,000 Mariupol people “found themselves in Russia in complete safety.”

“What the occupiers are doing today is familiar to the older generation, who saw the horrific events of World War II, when the Nazis forcibly captured people,” said Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko. “It is hard to imagine that in the 21st century people can be forcibly taken to another country.”