'Ukraine banned negotiations on surrender; to shoot anyone who lay down arms': Russian MoD

As the Russia-Ukraine war continues unabated for Day 53, the Russian Defence Ministry on Sunday claimed that Kyiv has banned negotiations on surrender and has ordered the Ukrainian armed forces to shoot anyone who wants to lay down their arms. In their operational briefing, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has stated that high-precision air-launched missiles have annihilated an ammunition production plant in Ukraine's capital city, Kyiv.

The Ministry also informed that up to 400 foreign mercenaries are now surrounded on the territory of Azovstal as part of the Ukrainian group. "In total, since the beginning of the special operation, the Kyiv regime has attracted 6824 foreign mercenaries from 63 countries to Ukraine. On Saturday, April 16, a special operation was carried out in the Primorsky district of Mariupol to free hostages in a Turkish mosque. The hostages, citizens of one of the CIS countries, were released and taken to a safe place," they informed.

Russian MoD claims rise in number of surrendered Ukrainians

Furthermore, Moscow has also made a big claim that the Vladimir Putin-led country has "completely cleared" Mariupol of Ukrainian defenders. As of now, at least 1,464 Ukrainian servicemen have dropped their weapons in front of Russian occupiers, Kremlin claimed. The total number reportedly included those who "escaped" from the territory of Azovstal.

"During the liberation of Mariupol, 1,464 Ukrainian servicemen have already surrendered. The number of surrenders is increasing daily. Including those who escaped from the territory of Azovstal," the Russian MoD updated.

This comes after the Speaker of the State Duma (lower house) of the Kremlin Vyacheslav Volodin, on Saturday, asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to retreat from Donbas, recognize the status of Crimea as well as give up aspirations to join NATO. 

Volodin said, "If Zelensky is thinking about the citizens of Ukraine, he must immediately make the following decisions.  First. Withdraw troops from the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics. Second. Fix on a contractual basis obligations to recognize Crimea and the non-bloc status of Ukraine, as well as to denazify and demilitarize the country. 
It won't work otherwise."