Ukrainian officials defiantly rejected a Russian demand that their forces in Mariupol lay down their arms and raise white flags Monday in exchange for safe passage out of the besieged port city.
As Russia intensified its effort to pound Mariupol into submission, its ground offensive in other parts of Ukraine has become bogged down. Western officials and analysts say the conflict is turning into a grinding war of attrition, with Russia bombarding cities.
Hours before Russia's offer to open corridors out of the city in return for the capitulation of its defenders, an art school where some 400 people were taking shelter was hit by an airstrike, according to Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian officials rejected the proposal even before Russia's deadline of 5 a.m. Moscow time for a response came and went.Russian forces pushed deeper into Ukraine's besieged and battered port city of Mariupol on Saturday, where heavy fighting shut down a major steel plant and local authorities pleaded for more Western help.
City officials and aid groups say Russian bombardment has cut off Mariupol's electricity, water and food supplies and severed its communications with the outside world, plunging the remaining residents into a chaotic fight for survival.Mariupol had a prewar population of about 430,000.
"Battles took place over every street. Every house became a target," said Olga Nikitina, who was embraced by her brother as she got off the train."Gunfire blew out the windows. The apartment was below freezing." Talks between Russia and Ukraine have continued by video conference but failed to bridge the chasm between the two sides, with Russia demanding Ukraine disarm and declare itself neutral and Ukraine saying Russian forces must withdraw from the whole country.
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