Russia on Tuesday has called on Ukrainian troops to immediately lay down arms and issued a new ultimatum for the defenders of the besieged city of Mariupol to give up their resistance.
The defence ministry of Russia has released a warning following the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy announcement late on Monday of the beginning of a new offensive by Moscow, focusing on the east of the former Soviet state.
According to the statement released by the Russian defence ministry, “We once again call on the Kyiv authorities to show reason and give the corresponding orders to fighters to cease their senseless resistance. But, acknowledging 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 statement made no exact mention of a new ground offensive in the eastern region of Ukraine.
But it had alerted that Moscow had “real-time proof about terrible new crimes being prepared by the Kyiv regime.”
The statement by defence ministry further mentions that Ukrainian fighters resisting the advancing Russian troops in the Sea of Azov port of Mariupol were in a “catastrophic situation.”
It further added, “The Russian armed forces once again offer the nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries a chance to stop all military activity and to lay down their arms, starting at noon.”
It further stated, “Everyone who lays down their arms will be guaranteed survival.”