Ukraine Reject Russian Calls To Surrender Mariupol

Mariupol suffered the heaviest bombardments in war.

Lviv: Amidst the Russian invasion, Ukraine has rejected Russian calls to surrender the port city of Mariupol, where residents are besieged with little food, water and power and fierce fighting shows little sign of easing.

In an official report of Ukrainian media, the Deputy Prime Minister declares that Ukraine has rejected an ultimatum to surrender the besieged port city of Mariupol to Russian forces.  "There can be no talk of surrendering weapons. We have already informed the Russian side of this," Iryna Vereshchuk told the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper.

Mariupol, a strategic, mostly Russian-speaking port in the southeast, has been one of the main targets of Moscow's attacks. Capturing Mariupol would help Russian forces secure a land corridor to the Crimea peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Taking notes from the past, Mariupol has suffered some of the heaviest bombardments since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Many of its 400,000 residents remain trapped with little if any food, water and power.

Moreover, on Sunday, the governor of Sevastopol said A senior naval commander in Russia's Black Sea Fleet has been killed in Mariupol. Post-Captain Andrei Paliy, deputy commander of the fleet, died during fighting in Mariupol, Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said on the messaging app Telegram.

This morning, the Russian Govt. gave Mariupol until 5 am on March 21 to surrender, warning that more than a "court-martial" awaits those who refuse.

Amid the Russia-Ukrainian war, US president Joe Biden will travel to Poland on Friday to discuss international efforts to support Ukraine.