Russian President Vladimir Putin today ordered his army to blockade the Mariupol steelworks “so that not even a fly can escape.”
Up to 2,000 soldiers and civilians, including many terrified children, remain holed up in the plant which has a series of underground tunnels and basements.
They are living in terrible conditions and are running out of food and water.
And there are growing fears some of the weak and injured could starve to death.
They are desperate to escape but Putin has slammed the door shut on any planned evacuation.
As well as the 2,000 in the steelworks an estimated 120,000 remain trapped across the city.
In a televised meeting, across a small table from his defence minister, Putin said there was “no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground through these industrial facilities”.
Instead, he called for his forces to “block off this industrial area so that not even a fly can escape”.
He added it would be “impractical” to storm the huge industrial area - which is four square miles in size.
He claimed his decision was being made to safeguard the lives of Russian soldiers.
Putin said that Russia would offer the Ukrainian defenders still in the plant the chance to surrender and lay down arms.
He said: “The Russian side guarantees their lives and decent treatment in accordance with the relevant international legal acts.
“All those who are injured will receive qualified medical assistance.”
Putin also hailed Russia’s “liberation” of Mariupol after Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told him Russian forces now controlled the Ukrainian port city apart from the plant.
It emerged tonight that more mass graves have been found in a village near Mariupol.
City mayor, Vadym Boichenko, said “trenches” had been discovered in the village of Manhush, in the Donetsk region.
He claimed Russian forces had been collecting the bodies in trucks and dumping them there.
Speaking via video link from an undisclosed location, he said Russian soldiers were “mopping up their crimes”.
“This is the second week in a row it’s totally closed. No one is allowed to enter. They are mopping up the place,” he said.
“They are hiding the crimes committed by the Russian Federation in Mariupol.
“According to our assessments, more than 20,000 civilians have been killed by enemy artillery and missile strikes in the streets of our city.
“We also have evidence from municipal services in the city. They’ve seen those bodies in person and now we see those bodies disappearing.
“These are war crimes and they are hiding these war crimes.”
Mr Boichenko also said there were many incidents where residents had been “tortured and mistreated”.
Ukraine ’s deputy prime minister has demanded that Russia allow an immediate humanitarian corridor for civilians to escape the steelworks in Mariupol where many are said to be hiding.
Iryna Vereshchuk said: “There are about 1,000 civilians and 500 wounded soldiers there. They all need to be pulled out of Azovstal today.”
In a separate development Britain set out 26 new sanctions yesterday targeting Russian military generals responsible for what it called “atrocities” in Ukraine, as well as individuals and businesses supporting the Russian armed forces.
The so-called “Butcher of Bucha”, Lt Colonel Azatbek Omurbekov, is among them.
Omurbekov led a unit that occupied the town, near Kyiv, where hundreds of bodies have since been discovered.
He now faces a travel ban and asset freeze along with several fellow commanders.
Other supporters of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have also been hit, including Oleg Belozyorov, the chairman of logistics company Russian Railways.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: “The depravity of Russia’s assault on the people of Ukraine is plain for all to see...Today’s new wave of sanctions hits the generals and defence companies that have blood on their hands.”
