Russia has given Ukrainians an ultimatum to surrender and leave the besieged city of Mariupol by Monday morning, an offer Kyiv swiftly rejected.

Moscow’s Defense Ministry said it will open humanitarian corridors to allow non-armed civilians and personnel to escape the bombarded city between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday if Ukrainian troops lay down their arms.

Russia gave Mariupol’s defenders until 5 a.m. local time to respond to the offer.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk shot down the ultimatum and the possibility of surrender hours after it was announced.

“There can be no talk of any surrender, laying down of arms. We have already informed the Russian side about this,” she told the news outlet Ukrainian Pravda. “I wrote: ‘Instead of wasting time on eight pages of letters, just open the corridor.’”

source timesofisrael.com