Despite Russia’s ultimatum, Ukrainian military will continue to defend Mariupol, municipal officials stated on Sunday.

An adviser to Mariupol’s mayor has reacted to the Russian Ministry of Defense’s demand that Ukrainian soldiers still battling in parts of the city surrender, stating Ukrainian forces will continue to fight.

“In the (Saturday) evening, the occupiers announced they would provide ‘a surrender corridor’ for the remaining troops,” Petro Andriushchenko said on Telegram.

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“But as of today, our defenders continue to hold the defense,” he said.

Mariupol, a vital port on the Sea of Azov, is at the heart of Russia’s drive to connect its forces in Ukraine’s east and south.

Andriushchenko also stated that Russian opposition extended beyond the Azovstal steel complex, a massive facility that has served as a stronghold for Ukrainian forces battling in Mariupol.

“Despite the occupiers’ desire to show that the place of hostilities is limited to the Azovstal steel plant, this does not correspond with reality,” he said. “Last night there were fights on the Taganrog Street that is located five kilometers away from Azovstal.”

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He said that “during the fighting, the occupiers shelled private residential houses with heavy artillery again. The shelling of the port area also continued.”

Russia’s Ministry of Defense threatened the “elimination” of resistance fighters still fighting in the besieged city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine on Sunday, as it acknowledged that an ultimatum demanding their surrender had been ignored.

According to a statement, Ukrainian soldiers besieged by massive steelworks in the city were ordered to “to voluntarily lay down arms and surrender in order to save their lives.”

“However, the Kiev nationalist regime, according to the radio intercept, forbade negotiations about surrendering,” the ministry claimed.

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The government further claimed that, according to previously surrendered Ukrainian soldiers, “there are up to 400 foreign mercenaries who joined the Ukrainian forces” trapped within the steel mill, including Europeans and Canadians.

“In case of further resistance, all of them will be eliminated,” it said.

The Russian Defense Ministry stated that the latest Russian attacks destroyed hundreds of military facilities in eastern Ukraine. According to the government, they included gasoline and munitions stockpiles near Severodonetsk, Kremmina, and other towns in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

It further claimed that the Russian air defence system shot down ten Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the Donbas region.