Humanitarian aid for the besieged city of Mariupol is set to arrive this afternoon, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
In a video address, the Ukrainian president said the “complexity of the route” had caused delays, and it ended up being held overnight in Berdyansk.
On Saturday, satellite images showed the extent of the devastation in Mariupol, which has come under heavy shelling.
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Live updates on the war in Ukraine
Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of attacking humanitarian convoys attempting to bring food and other essentials to the port city of 430,000 people.
Mariupol is strategically important for Russia because it would unite separatist forces in eastern Ukraine with Russian troops in Crimea – leaving Ukrainian troops there isolated or encircled.
According to the mayor’s office, more than 1,500 people have died in Mariupol since the invasion began – and the shelling has interrupted efforts to bury the dead in mass graves.
Tanks have also been seen firing on a nine-storey apartment building, while a group of hospital workers came under sniper fire on Friday.
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Key developments:
• 12,729 people were evacuated through humanitarian corridors in other Ukrainian cities on Saturday, Zelenskyy says
• Vladimir Putin has been urged to order an immediate ceasefire by the presidents of Germany and France
• “We did not detect a willingness on Putin’s part to end the war,” a French presidential official says
• The UK’s Ministry of Defence says Russian ground forces are 16 miles from Kyiv city centre
• Britons who host Ukrainian refugees will receive £350 a month as a “thank you” from the UK government
Russia ‘trying to create breakaway republic in Kherson’
In a statement filmed on Saturday night, Mr Zelenskyy claimed that Russian “invaders” in Kherson are trying to establish a breakaway region.
He added that they have attempted to blackmail local leaders, put pressure on deputies, and look for people to bribe.
“Ukraine will stand the test. We need time and strength to break the military machine that came to our land,” Mr Zelenskyy said.
Concluding his address, the president claimed that Americans now regard Russia as a “bigger enemy, bigger evil than North Korea” – and support for Ukrainian independence has never been greater.
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Read more:
Bodies scrambled across unofficial escape route as Kyiv braces for bombardment
Ukraine war mapped – the story of the invasion and what could happen next
Students making thousands of Molotov cocktails among defiant Ukrainians in Odesa
