Russian forces have attempted to storm the base of the last Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol, the Ukrainian military said.
Troops were said to have attacked the Azovstal steel plant – where the few thousand remaining Ukrainian troops in the besieged port city are hiding – despite an order from Vladimir Putin to the contrary.
The Russian president earlier said he told his forces not to attempt to capture the plant but to blockade it.
Most of Mariupol is under Russian control and the city’s mayor Vadym Boychenko said around 100,000 residents remained trapped in the conflict zone.
A small convoy of buses evacuated people from Mariupol today and headed for the Ukrainian-held city of Zaporhizhia, he said.
The mayor earlier said a 30 metre mass grave had been discovered in Manhush, about 11 miles west of Mariupol. Maxar later released satellite images it said showed the development of the grave site.
