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Moscow [Russia], April 17 (ANI/Sputnik): Nationalist militants and foreign mercenaries blocked by the Russian Armed Forces at the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol have until Sunday to lay down arms and surrender, Col . Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry's National Defense Control Center, said.
"Considering the catastrophic situation that has developed at the Azovstal metallurgical plant, and being guided by purely humane principles, the Russian Armed Forces propose that militants of nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries stop all hostilities and lay down arms starting from 06:00 Moscow time [ 03:00 GMT] on April 17, 2022," Mizintsev said. He added that all those who lay down arms are guaranteed life. According to Mizintsev, the nationalists and mercenaries at Azovstal are "persistently demanding permission from the authorities in Kiev to lay down their arms and surrender. At the same time, representatives of the Ukrainian authorities categorically forbid doing this and are threatening [them] with subsequent executions." Mizintsev pointed out that, on Saturday, April 16, there was a sharp increase in the intensity of radio communications by militants of nationalist formations and foreign mercenaries at Azovstal. According to Russian Defense Ministry's representative, the militants "are in a hopeless situation, with virtually no food or water." A ceasefire is being declared in the Azovstal area starting from 02:30 GMT on Sunday, Mizintsev specified, saying that the Russian forces expect the Ukrainian armed units and foreign mercenaries to exit the plant without any weapons or ammunition between 03:00 and 10: 00 GMT on Sunday. On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that all of Mariupol's urban area had been cleared of Ukrainian troops, with more than 4,000 soldiers eliminated over the past day alone. According to the Russian military, the remnants of the Ukrainian forces in Mariupol remain blocked at the Azovstal metallurgical plant. (ANI/Sputnik)
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