A third operation to pull civilians from Mariupol is due on Friday, the UN says, as more fighting was reported for control of a steelworks where the last Ukrainian defenders are holding out.
About
200 civilians are also believed to be hiding in bunkers in the plant.
UN
chief Antonio Guterres said everything should be done to "get people out
of these hellscapes".
Russia's
Vladimir Putin said his forces are ready to give civilians safe passage, but
fighters must surrender.
The
Russian president has already declared victory in Mariupol, ordering his forces
to seal off the sprawling industrial site - which was designed during the Cold
War to serve as a nuclear bunker and has a network of tunnels deep below ground
- rather than try to take control of it.
However
the remaining Ukrainian forces inside the steelworks - fighters from the Azov
regiment, some marines, border guards and police - say Russian attacks arecontinuing.
In his
overnight address Ukraine's President Zelensky also said that Russian shelling
and attempts to wrest control of the steelworks were ongoing.
"Just
imagine this hell. And there are children! More than two months of constant
shelling, bombing, constant death nearby," he said.
The
Azov regiment released drone footage showing explosions at the steelworks, but
the date of the footage could not be verified. Earlier on Thursday Sviatoslav
Palamar, an Azov regiment commander, said Ukrainian defenders were fighting
"difficult, bloody battles" with Russian troops who had managed to
enter part of the complex.
But
the Kremlin denied its forces had tried to storm the plant and insisted that a
humanitarian corridor was open as part of a three-day ceasefire that started on
Thursday.
Mr
Guterres said a third operation to evacuate civilians from the city was under
way and would arrive in the city on Friday. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister
Iryna Vereshchuk said on social media that this would happen at about midday.
Mariupolsteelworks evacuees reach safety
At
least 20 children are thought to be among the remaining civilians in the
steelworks, and food and water supplies are dwindling fast.
On
Sunday an initial group of civilians was evacuated from the plant. Footage
showed mainly women and children being helped to walk over piles of rubble, and
boarding a bus with missing windows.
Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine 10 weeks ago but has not yet gained full control over any of Ukraine's major cities.
In other developments:
·
The US
provided intelligence that helped Ukraine sink the Russian warship Moskva,
multiple US media outlets report. Officials said Ukraine had asked the US about
a ship in the Black Sea. The US identified it as the Moskva and helped confirm
its location. Ukraine then targeted the ship
·
Israel says Mr
Putin has apologised after
his foreign minister said that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had "Jewish
blood". Russia's account of the conversation did not mention an apology.
Sergei Lavrov made the initial comments to try to justify Russia's portrayal of
Ukraine as "Nazi" despite the fact that its president is Jewish
·
A key ally of
Russia, authoritarian Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, has
indicated that the war in Ukraine has not gone to plan. He told
the AP news agency that the operation had "dragged on"
·
The EU is
close to agreeing on a sixth round of sanctions against Russia, the bloc's
foreign policy chief says. On Wednesday the EU Commission proposed phasing out
Russian oil imports entirely
