(Reuters) – Donbass separatists backed by the Russian army have launched an assault on the Azovstal metallurgical plant, the last stronghold defended by Ukrainian forces in the besieged port of Mariupol, the Russian news agency Ria reported on Tuesday. quoting the spokesman for the separatists, Edouard Bassourine.
Pro-Russian forces intend to “liberate” the factory as quickly as possible, said the president of the self-proclaimed republic of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, also quoted by Ria.
The Russian Defense Ministry has issued a new ultimatum to the Ukrainian forces entrenched in the basements of the Azovstal complex, promising them life if they agree to lay down their weapons before noon (09:00 GMT).
“All those who lay down their arms are guaranteed to stay alive,” he said, calling on “Ukrainian and foreign” fighters to surrender leaving the factory without arms and ammunition on Tuesday between 2 p.m. 4:00 p.m. (11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. GMT).
The ministry also indicated that Russian artillery and missiles had hit 1,260 targets in Ukraine since Monday, a date which, according to Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, marked the start of the “battle of Donbass”.
This Russian offensive “will fail” because Moscow does not have sufficient military resources to carry it out, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, said on Tuesday.
(Reuters)
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