Ukraine defies Russian demand to lay down arms in Mariupol
MARIUPOL/LVIV/KYIV, Ukraine, March 21 (Reuters) - Ukraine defied a Russian demand that its forces lay down arms before dawn on Monday in Mariupol, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have been trapped in a city under siege and already laid to waste by Russian bombardment.
Russia's military had ordered Ukrainians inside the city in the country's southeast to surrender by 5 a.m., saying those who did so would be permitted to leave, while those who stayed would be turned over to tribunals run by Russian-backed separatists.