(ANSA) – ROME, APRIL 17 – The Russian armed forces offered the defenders of Mariupol to cease hostilities and lay down their arms by 6 this morning (Sunday) Moscow time (5 in Italy), guaranteeing them, in change, life. This was stated in a statement by General Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Management Center of Russia, which commands the siege of Mariupol.
“Given the desperate situation that has arisen in the Azovstal metallurgical plant, and guided by humanitarian principles, the Russian armed forces offer the militants of the nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries to stop hostilities and lay down their weapons at 6 am Moscow time. April 17. Their lives will be spared in exchange for their weapons “, reads the note reported by Tass.
To implement this “humanitarian operation”, Mizintsev proposes a roadmap: from 5 Moscow time “continuous communication is established between the Russian and Ukrainian sides for the mutual exchange of information; from 5:30 Moscow time the “complete silence mode”; at 6 Moscow time “both sides will raise their flags (from the red Russian side, from the white Ukrainian side), all over the Azovstal perimeter”.
From 6 to 13 Moscow time, all Ukrainian armed units and foreign mercenaries will have to leave the steel plant “without weapons and ammunition, without exception”.
The “desperate situation” to which Mizintsev refers would be, in particular, the one – the Russian Defense Ministry emphasizes to Tass – revealed of the communications between the defenders of Mariupol and the government of Kiev. The former would have asked the Kiev authorities for permission to surrender – says the leader of the Russian besiegers – “but in response they are threatened with executions”. The Russians would have intercepted radio communications (367 in the last 24 hours alone) in which the resisters would complain about a desperate situation inside the steel plant, where the food and water reserves are now exhausted, according to Russian sources. (HANDLE).
Source: Ansa
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