The President of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, announced that the forces in the city of Mariupol are completely surrounded, calling on the Ukrainian nationalists there to lay down their arms and surrender.

Pushilin announced that Donetsk and Russian forces have completely gained control of the Mariupol-Dnepropetrovsk road.

He added that the escape routes for the nationalists are blocked and the only wise step they can take is to surrender.

Yesterday, the representative of the Donetsk Republic in the Joint Center for Monitoring and Coordination of the Ceasefire Regime issued an official statement saying that Ukrainian artillery shelled the area 26 times, and 323 artillery shells were fired within 24 hours. 

The Deputy Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Eduard Basurin told the Rossiya-24 TV channel that civilians are being prevented from leaving the Ukrainian city of Mariupol through a humanitarian corridor.

He added that Mariupol is still under the control of the Ukrainian army and forces, and the Russian armed forces are encircling the city and "eliminating the Nazi groups present in it."

The statement added that the systematic bombardment affected residential homes, injuring 11 people, including three children.

It is noteworthy that Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared that the goal of the special military operation is to protect people who have been subjected to genocide by the Kiev regime for the past eight years.

The operation aims to prevent the demilitarization and disarmament of Ukraine and to bring to justice all those responsible for the bloody crimes against civilians in Donbass.