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Civilians including women and children will need to be dug from bunkers under a steelworks that is the last holdout of resistance in Ukraine's Mariupol, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.
Key points:
- Russia says it will pause military activity at the Azovstal plant to allow an estimated 200 civilians to leave
- A school and kindergarten in Kramatorsk were shelled by Russian forces, wounding 25
- Belarus's president said he did not expect the war to 'drag on this way'
After failing to capture the capital Kyiv in the early weeks of a war that has killed thousands and flattened cities, towns and villages, Russia accelerated its attacks across southern and eastern Ukraine.
Russia's military said it would pause military activity at the Azovstal steelworks in the port city of Mariupol during Thursday daytime and the following two days to allow civilians to leave.
The United Nations and Red Cross evacuated hundreds of people from Mariupol and other areas this week but an estimated 200 civilians, as well as Ukrainian fighters, are still holed up in a network of underground bunkers at Azovstal, Ukrainian officials say.
In an early morning address, Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine stood ready to ensure a ceasefire in Mariupol.
"In the present conditions, we cannot use heavy equipment to clear the rubble away. It all has to be done by hand."
Over 300 civilians were evacuated on Wednesday from Mariupol and other areas in southern Ukraine as part of a joint UN-Red Cross operation, UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine Osnat Lubrani said.
But nobody from Azovstal was among the group, said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office.
Tetyana Trotsak, an Azovstal evacuee among dozens who reached a Ukraine-controlled town this week, voiced fear for those still trapped inside the steel plant.
Russia denies storming steel plant as fighting continues
Ukrainian fighters inside Azovstal are fighting "difficult, bloody battles" against Russian troops, Denis Prokopenko, a commander with Ukraine's Azov Regiment, said late on Wednesday.
Ukraine's military general staff said Russia's assault on the sprawling Soviet-era plant included air support.
The Kremlin denied that Russian troops were storming the Azovstal steel plant and said humanitarian corridors were operating there on Thursday.
Asked if a claim by a senior Ukrainian official that Russian troops had broken into the plant's territory was true, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred reporters to President Vladimir Putin's previous order not to storm the plant.
Mr Putin called off plans for an assault on the plant last month, telling his defence minister to seal it off instead.
Moscow declared victory in Mariupol on April 21 after weeks of siege and shelling, but resistance by Ukrainian forces in Azovstal has prevented Russia from completely overrunning the city.
Mariupol is a major target in Russia's efforts to cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea — vital for its grain and metals exports — and link Russian-controlled territory in the east of the country to Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014.
Ukraine needs anti-missile systems to defend against Russia
The chief commander of Ukraine's armed forces said on Thursday his country needed multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS) to defend against Russian cruise missiles.
General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said after briefing US General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the military situation in Ukraine that Russia had resumed cruise missile strikes.
"Therefore, the issue of providing Ukraine with multiple-launch missile systems such as M142 HIMARS [High Mobility Artillery Rocket System] and M270 MLRS is crucial," he said.
Ukraine is unlikely to launch a counter-offensive in its war with Russia before mid-June, when it hopes to have received more weapons from its allies, according to Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to Ukraine's President.
Mr Arestovych said on Thursday he did not expect Russia's offensive in Ukraine to produce any "significant results" by May 9, when Russia celebrates victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Russian forces shell Kramatorsk school and kindergarten
Ukraine's military said on Thursday its forces had repelled 11 Russian attacks, downed four Russian aircraft and destroyed over a dozen Russian military vehicles, including tanks.
Russian missile strikes in recent days have included railway stations in an attempt to halt the delivery of Western arms and other aid.
Elsewhere, Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the eastern Donetsk region in which Mariupol is located, said at least 25 civilians were wounded as Russian forces shelled Kramatorsk, a town that in April suffered a missile strike on a train station that killed dozens of evacuating civilians.
A school and a kindergarten were seriously damaged in the new attack, the town's mayor said. Reuters could not independently verify the casualties or damage.
In Ukraine's Luhansk region, five civilians were reportedly killed by shelling from Russian forces in the past 24 hours, Governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Thursday.
Mr Gaidai said the shelling focused on Sievierodonetsk and Popasna, Hirske and Lysychansk.
Russia said on Thursday that its artillery struck multiple Ukrainian positions and strongholds overnight, killing 600 fighters.
The defence ministry also said its missiles destroyed aviation equipment at the Kanatovo airfield in Ukraine's central Kirovohrad region and a large ammunition depot in the southern city of Mykolaiv.
More than 5 million Ukrainians have fled abroad since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion on February 24.
Millions more are displaced inside Ukraine.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" to disarm Ukraine and protect it from fascists.
Ukraine and the West say the fascist allegation is baseless and that the war is an unprovoked act of aggression.
US intelligence helps Ukraine kill Russian generals
As Western military aid for Ukraine poured into the country, the United States also provided crucial intelligence that helped Ukrainian forces kill Russian generals, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.
Washington provided Ukraine with details on the location of Russia's mobile military headquarters, allowing Ukrainian forces to strike those targets, the newspaper said, citing senior US officials.
The Pentagon and the White House did not immediately respond to Reuters's requests for comment on the report.
Ukrainian officials said they have killed about 12 Russian generals on the battlefield, according to the New York Times.
The Kremlin said on Thursday it was well aware that the United States, Britain and other NATO countries were constantly feeding intelligence to the Ukrainian military and that this would not stop Russia from achieving its objectives.
Belarus admits Russia's war 'drags on'
Belarus's authoritarian leader said he did not expect Russia's "operation" in Ukraine to drag on for so long and claimed he was doing "everything" to stop the war, in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday.
President Alexander Lukashenko defended Russia's invasion of Ukraine but said he did not think it would "drag on this way."
He also alleged that Ukraine was "provoking Russia" and insisted that Belarus stands for peace.
Russia deployed forces to Belarusian territory under the pretext of military drills and then sent them rolling into Ukraine as part of the invasion.
Earlier this week, Belarusian military announced snap drills that raised concerns in Ukraine.
However, Mr Lukashenko said the drills did not threaten anyone.
Reuters