President Putin Cancels Attack, Kremlin: Ukrainian Troops In Azovstal Have A Chance To Lay Down Weapons

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru/Press Service of the President of the Russian Federation)

JAKARTA - Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukrainian troops entrenched in the industrial zone of the Azovstal steel mill, Mariupol, had the opportunity to lay down arms and use the exit corridors determined before the prisoner exchange statement.

The Azovstal steelworks industrial zone in Mariupol is the city's last stronghold, where troops and residents survived weeks of onslaught and siege.

"Ukrainian forces had and still have the opportunity to lay down arms and exit the area using the designated corridors," Peskov said.

"Such an opportunity existed before the statements of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky," he continued.

Earlier, President Zelensky said he was ready to exchange prisoners of war between Russian soldiers and Ukrainian troops and civilians who were holding out in Mariupol.

Last Thursday, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin that Mariupol had been brought under control, while the remaining nationalist groups were hiding in the industrial zone of the Azovstal factory.

President Putin said storming Azovstal would be impossible, canceling the strike order, instead, he wanted the area closed so that a fly could not enter or leave.

He issued an order to address trapped Ukrainian troops with another proposal to surrender, adding Russia guarantees their lives and proper care and quality medical care for all the injured.