[ODUNEWS] – June 15- Ukraine ignored a Russian ultimatum to surrender the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk on Wednesday as NATO defence ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss sending more heavy weapons to replenish Kyiv’s dwindling stocks.
Russia had told Ukrainian forces holed up in a chemical plant in the shattered city to stop “senseless resistance and lay down arms” from Wednesday morning, pressing its advantage in the battle for control of eastern Ukraine.
Plans announced by Moscow to open a humanitarian corridor for civilians stuck in the plant were disrupted by Ukrainian shelling, and Russian-backed separatists were quoted by the RIA news agency as saying. The separatists had planned to take the civilians to territory under their own control.
Ukraine says more than 500 civilians, including 40 children, are trapped alongside soldiers inside the Azot chemical factory, where its forces have resisted weeks of Russian bombardment that has reduced much of Sievierodonetsk to ruins.
The mayor of Sievierodonetsk, Oleksandr Stryuk, said after the early morning deadline passed that Russian forces were trying to storm the city from several directions but Ukrainian forces continued to defend it and were not completely cut off.
“We are trying to push the enemy towards the city centre,” he said on television, without referring to the ultimatum. “This is an ongoing situation with partial successes and tactical retreats.”
“The escape routes are dangerous, but there are some,” he said.
Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region containing Sievierodonetsk, said the army was defending the city and keeping Russian forces from Lysychansk, the twin city held by Ukraine on the opposite bank of the Siverskyi Donets river.
Source: Reuters
