The Russian Defense Ministry has called on the remaining Ukrainian forces, besieged at a steel plant in the coastal city of Mariupol, to lay down their arms, offering guarantees of life and safety, if they accept the proposal and halt all hostilities starting Saturday morning.
“Considering the catastrophic situation at the Azovstal metallurgical plant, and being guided by purely humane principles, the Russian Armed Forces offer militants of nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries to stop hostilities and lay down their arms starting 6am Moscow time on April 17, 2022,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a late-night announcement on Friday.
“All who lay down their weapons are guaranteed the preservation of life,” the ministry stated.
Earlier on Friday, Moscow revealed its estimate of Ukrainian casualty numbers, claiming that in the city of Mariupol alone Kiev has lost more than 4,000 combatants, including “foreign mercenaries” and “Nazis” associated with the notorious Azov and Aidar regiments.