A Russian ultimatum to Ukrainian troops in Mariupol saying they must either surrender or die expired on Wednesday afternoon without any mass capitulation.
However, the commander of a unit thought to be holding out in the besieged city and his forces would be able to survive just days or hours.
Serhiy Volyna, who is defending the besieged city of Mariupol, said Vladimir Putin's soldiers are outnumbering them ten to one and pleaded for help evacuating wounded civilians.
Elsewhere, Russian oligarch Oleg Tinkov, became the latest oligarch to publicly condemn Mr Putin’s “insane war.”
Meanwhile earlier on Wednesday, Ukrainian troops accused Russia of bombing a hospital sheltering up to 300 people in the besieged city of Mariupol.
The Russian military dropped heavy bombs on the steel plant and hit an “improvised hospital”, the deputy commander of the Azov regiment said.
The bombing of the hospital was also reported by Serhiy Taruta, the former governor of the Donetsk region. He said that the hospital shelters up to 300 people, including wounded troops, civilians and children.
