UKRAINE rejected a Russian ultimatum to surrender the besieged city of Mariupol Monday, as Russian forces carried out more shelling on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk rejected the Russian demand and said Russia should open humanitarian corridors for people to be able to leave Mariupol.
“There can be no talk of any surrender, laying down of arms. We have already informed the Russian side about this,” Vereshchuk told the news outlet Ukrainian Pravda.
According to Russian state news agency RIA, Russia’s defense ministry gave Ukraine’s military a pre-dawn deadline Monday and referred to refusing to surrender as siding with “bandits.”
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described Russia’s actions in Mariupol as “awful.”
“What’s happening in Mariupol is a massive war crime. Destroying everything, bombarding and killing everybody in an indiscriminate manner,” Borrell said as EU foreign ministers gathered in Brussels.
Shelling overnight hit
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