Ukrainian officials issued dire warnings on Wednesday about the fate of civilians and the last fighters in Mariupol after weeks of Russian bombardment which the city's mayor said had turned it into a "medieval ghetto".
Human rights ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova appealed to the United Nations and Red Cross to help evacuate wounded fighters holed up in the southern city's vast steel works, saying the destruction of a makeshift hospital there meant many were dying.
