On Wednesday, Russia said it gave Ukrainian fighters hiding in the Azot chemical facility in the eastern Ukrainian town of Severodonetsk the opportunity to surrender.
Russia announced on Tuesday that it would provide a humanitarian corridor on Wednesday to allow people to evacuate, and simultaneously demanded that Ukrainian combatants "cease their stupid struggle and lay down their arms."
In recent weeks, both the town and the Azot plant have become flashpoints of the conflict, with hundreds of Ukrainian residents and soldiers holed up in the factory while Russian forces attempt to overrun the town, according to local authorities.
The humanitarian corridor will be operational from 8:00 a.m. to 20:00 p.m. Moscow time on Wednesday, the defense ministry said. Evacuees will be carried to the city of Svatovo in the separatist-held area of Luhansk.
"Guided by the principles of humanity, Russian armed forces and Luhansk People's Republic units are prepared to organize a humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians," the Russian defense ministry said.
All bridges across the Siverskyi Donets connecting Severodonetsk to Ukrainian-controlled territory have been demolished.
In a statement announcing the surrender call, the Russian defense ministry accused Ukrainian forces of using residents in the Azot facility as human shields.
Since it pushed its forces into Ukraine in February, Moscow has repeatedly made similar claims, which Kyiv has dismissed.
Authorities in Ukraine have stated that more than 500 citizens are hiding within Azot, adding that it is tough to provide for them, but there are reserves inside the facility.
Vitaly Kiselyov, a spokesperson of the separatist leadership in Luhansk, estimated that over 2,500 Ukrainian and international fighters may be hiding at the Azot facility.
The Defense Ministry stated that it had informed Kyiv of its offer and requested the authorities to issue the surrender order.
According to the Russian army, Ukrainian officials requested that inhabitants at the Azot factory be evacuated to Kyiv-controlled Lysychansk, but the evacuation was deemed impossible due to the destruction of the only bridge connecting the two cities.
The scene in the Azot "Nitrogen" facility resembles prior clashes over the Azovstal steel complex in Mariupol, where hundreds of combatants and civilians sought refuge from Russian shelling.
In the meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy renewed his request for heavy weapons from the West, while criticizing the "restrained behavior" of certain European leaders.
Zelenksyy explained that the war could not finish unless only Ukrainians remained on its soil.
