Besieged Mariupol rejects Russia’s surrender ultimatum as deadline passes

Ukraine’s armed forces said in an update Monday morning that Russian troops were “terrorizing” local populations and looting in occupied cities.

“The enemy exports home appliances, cars, food and other material resources to the Russian Federation,” the update said.

Officials also accused Russia of ordering working-age men in the village of Stanychno-Luhansk to go to the local police department for registration on April 1.

“The reasons for this ‘registration’ are not explained, although it is connected with the next wave of mobilization to the 2nd Army Corps to be sent to the combat areas,” Ukrainian officials said.

A spokesperson for the Russian government was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

— Chloe Taylor

There is an ammonia leak at a chemicals plant in the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine, according to its regional governor in an update on messaging app Telegram.

The affected area has a radius of about 5km around the plant, said Sumy regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyy.

Emergency crews are working on site, but there is no threat to Sumy city at the moment as the wind direction isn’t toward the city, the update said. The leak was reported at 4:30 a.m. local time.

— Weizhen Tan

The besieged city of Mariupol has rejected an ultimatum from Russia to surrender by 5 a.m. today, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communication said via Facebook early on Monday that Ukraine had rejected the demands from Moscow that Mayor of Mariupol Vadim Boychenko hand over the city by the deadline. It was unclear if the 5 a.m. cut-off was Mariupol time or Moscow time.

Russia had said it would open humanitarian corridors out of the city if Boychenko accepted the ultimatum.

Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, told newspaper Pravda in the early hours of Monday morning that Russian authorities had sent an eight-page letter that outlined “a ‘return to history’ and other nonsense.”

“They sent the same letter to the U.N., the International Committee of the Red Cross and hoped that international structures would react and begin to put pressure on Ukraine,” Vereshchuk said, according to an NBC News translation.

Meanwhile, Russian state-controlled news agency RIA reported overnight that the Russian side would spare the lives of “all those who laid down their arms,” citing Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the country’s National Center for Defense Control.

“We call on units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, territorial defense battalions, foreign mercenaries to stop hostilities, lay down their arms and enter the territories controlled by Kyiv along the humanitarian corridors agreed with the Ukrainian side,” Mizintsev said at a briefing on Sunday, according to RIA.

“At the same time, all those who laid down their arms are guaranteed a safe exit from Mariupol and the preservation of life.”

Mariupol is a key target in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as its capture could help Moscow create a land corridor to Crimea — a peninsula in the country’s south that it invaded and annexed in 2014.

— Chloe Taylor

The Hong Kong-listed shares of Rusal, a Russian aluminum producer, dropped by as much as 8.9% on Monday following an announcement by the Australian government that it would ban exports of alumina to Russia.

Several Australian ministries on Sunday jointly announced a ban on exports of alumina and aluminum ores including bauxite to Russia.

The ban is part of Australia’s sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

Last week, Canberra sanctioned two Russian oligarchs who have links to Australia’s mining industry, Reuters reported. One was Oleg Deripaska, who holds a stake in Queensland Alumina, a joint venture between Rusal and Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto.

The Sydney-traded shares of Rio Tinto edged higher on Monday.

— Ted Kemp

Russian forces advancing on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv from the north-east have “stalled,” according to the UK Defense Ministry’s latest intelligence update.

“Heavy fighting continues north of Kyiv,” the ministry said, adding that the city “remains Russia’s primary military objective” despite a continued lack of progress.

“Forces advancing from the direction of Hostomel to the north-west have been repulsed by fierce Ukrainian resistance.”

The bulk of Russia’s forces remain more than 25 kilometers from the center of the city, according to the ministry.

— Eustance Huang