A new UN convoy is expected in Mariupol on Friday to evacuate civilians from the “bleak hell” of a besieged steel plant that has become the last pocket of resistance against invading Russian forces in the southern port city.
The Russian military had announced a three-day ceasefire at the site starting on Thursday but a Ukrainian commander said there was still heavy fighting at the Azovstal complex, where hundreds of soldiers and civilians have been holed up for weeks under heavy bombardment.
“A convoy is proceeding to get to Azovstal by tomorrow morning hopefully to receive those civilians remaining in that bleak hell,” UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told a Ukraine donor conference in Warsaw on Thursday.
The mayor of Mariupol estimates around 200 civilians remain sheltering in dismal conditions in the plant’s Soviet-era underground tunnels.
Follow the latest updates below.
06:27 AM
Hungary ‘cannot support’ new EU sanctions against Russia in present form
Hungary cannot support the European Union’s new sanctions package against Russia in its present form, including an embargo on Russian crude oil imports, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told state radio.
Mr Orban said the European Commission’s current proposal would amount to an “atomic bomb” dropped on the Hungarian economy, adding that Hungary was ready to negotiate if it sees a new proposal that would meet Hungarian interests.
06:15 AM
West ‘incapable’ of hindering Russia
The Kremlin has accused the West of preventing a quick end to Russia’s military campaign.
“The United States, Britain, Nato as a whole hand over intelligence… to Ukraine’s armed forces on a permanent basis,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“Coupled with the flow of weapons that these countries are sending to Ukraine, these are all actions that do not contribute to the quick completion of the operation.”
But Mr Peskov said the West is “incapable of hindering the achievement” of the Russian operation’s goals.
05:52 AM
Hundreds of hospitals devastated by Russian forces, says Zelensky
Doctors have been left without drugs to tackle serious illnesses like cancer or unable to perform surgery as hundreds of hospitals have been devastated by the war in Ukraine, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
In a video address to a medical charity group, Mr Zelensky said many places lacked even basic antibiotics in eastern and southern Ukraine, the focal points of the fighting.
“If you consider just medical infrastructure, as of today Russian troops have destroyed or damaged nearly 400 healthcare institutions: hospitals, maternity wards, outpatient clinics,” he told the gathering.
In areas occupied by Russian forces, he said, the situation was catastrophic.
05:24 AM
Russia continues ground assault on Azovstal plant
Russian forces in Ukraine’s Mariupol continued their ground assault on the Azovstal steel plant for a second day, the Ministry of Defence has said.
Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on Thursday that Russian forces were still storming and shelling the Soviet-era Azovstal plant, where civilians and military forces are sheltering.
The MoD said the assault has come at a “personnel, equipment and munitions cost to Russia”.
04:32 AM
US denies claim its intelligence helped Ukraine kill Russian generals
The US Defense Department denied on Thursday that it provided intelligence on the locations of Russian generals on the battlefield so that Ukrainian forces could kill them.
Reacting to an explosive New York Times report on US support for Ukraine’s military, Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby said it was true that the US supplies Kyiv’s forces with military intelligence “to help Ukrainians defend their country.”
But he added: “We do not provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in the targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military.”
In a separate revelation, US media reported later on Thursday that the US had shared intelligence that helped Ukraine sink the Russian warship Moskva last month, in a huge blow to President Vladimir Putin.
However a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the United States does not “provide specific targeting information on ships”.
04:29 AM
Today’s top stories
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Vladimir Putin will face a “huge cost” if he dares encroach on any nations outside Ukraine, the head of the Royal Navy has said
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The war in Ukraine could be Russia’s Vietnam if it turns from a “quagmire to a rout”, the Defence Secretary has said
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The suggestion that Putin’s anticipated lightning military success has become seriously bogged down was echoed by Aleksandr Lukashenko, the leader of Belarus
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As fighting in the Donbas continued, a leading Kremlin official said there would be no Victory Day parade in the Russian-controlled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk on May 9
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On Thursday, it emerged that Russia has tested the combat readiness of nuclear-capable missiles based in its Kaliningrad exclave inside central Europe
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Matt Hancock has welcomed seven Ukrainian refugees and their four dogs into his family home in Suffolk
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A giant yacht that allegedly belongs to Vladimir Putin is out of dry dock, in the water and could be about to leave the Italian marina where it has sat for months
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The US has passed intelligence to Ukrainian forces which has helped them assassinate a number of high-ranking Russian generals, security sources have said
