Russia demands Ukrainian forces lay down arms in Mariupol

Local residents walk near residential buildings which were damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine March 18, 2022. REUTERS/Stringer

LONDON (Reuters) - Russia on Sunday called on Ukrainian forces to lay down their arms in the eastern port city of Mariupol where Moscow said a "terrible humanitarian catastrophe" was unfolding.

"Lay down your arms," Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, the director of the Russian National Center for Defense Management, said in a briefing distributed by the defence ministry.