Kyiv claims Russia refused pleas for a ceasefire to let civilians and wounded soldiers escape the factory
Russia has stepped up the pace of its offensive in eastern and southern Ukraine and is preventing wounded Ukrainian fighters from being evacuated from a vast steelworks in Mariupol because it wants to capture them, Ukrainian officials have said.
“The enemy is increasing the pace of the offensive operation. The Russian occupiers are exerting intense fire in almost all directions,” Ukraine’s military command said of the situation on the main front in the east.
