Russia's long struggle for Mariupol bogs down Ukraine invasion, says Britain

Ukrainian troops defy Moscow's demand to surrender control of southern port

Russia's assault on Mariupol has intensified but the immediate future of the city hangs in the balance. Reuters

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Russia's prolonged assault on the port of Mariupol is bogging down its wider offensive in Ukraine, British intelligence said on Monday as the southern city refused to surrender to Moscow’s troops.

Ukraine said the city was being pounded by bombs and missiles, including by Russian Tu-22M3 bombers, as the Kremlin pursues what would be a significant victory by capturing Mariupol.

Troops defending Mariupol defied a demand to surrender on Sunday as Russia carried out what Ukraine said were assault operations near the seaport and the Azovstal steel plant.

Britain’s Defence Ministry said in a regular intelligence update that Russian commanders “will be concerned by the time it is taking to subdue Mariupol”, the scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the seven-week invasion.

“Concerted Ukrainian resistance has severely tested Russian forces and diverted men and materiel, slowing Russia’s advance elsewhere,” the ministry said.

It accused Russia of targeting populated areas in a manner similar to its assaults on Chechnya in 1999 and Syria in 2016 and thereby going back on promises that it would not attack civilians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an overnight address that Russian troops were “destroying Mariupol” and “want to wipe out other cities and communities” in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

“Russian troops are preparing for an offensive operation in the east of our country,” he said. “It will begin in the near future. They want to literally finish off and destroy Donbas.”

Russia claims it is seeking to liberate Mariupol, which has become synonymous with the humanitarian crisis unleashed by the war, from what it describes as nationalists and foreign mercenaries.

Ukraine, which has said that a massacre there could call a halt to tentative peace negotiations between the two sides, said it had failed to reach agreement with Russia on the opening of humanitarian escape routes on Sunday.

Control of the south coast is regarded as important because it would connect Russian-occupied territories in Donbas and Crimea.

Thick smoke rises from Rubizhne city after a series of Russian strikes. AFP

A civilian building hit by a Russian missile in Lviv, Ukraine. At least six people were killed and eight wounded in missile strikes across the city, its governor said. Getty Images

A train travelling from Dnipro passes by the site of an air strike in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP Photo

At least three rows of new graves are created for people killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at a cemetery in Irpin, Kyiv region. Reuters

People attend a 'Free Ukraine' demonstration in Senate Square in Helsinki, Finland. EPA

Aid workers carry bottled drinking water to a humanitarian centre in Odesa. From there it will be sent to the neighbouring city of Mykolaiv, which has been without its central water supply for days as a result of damage during hostilities with Russian troops. AFP

Residents examine a crater on the road, after shelling in Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine. AFP

Firefighters tackle a blaze in a residential building, after a bombardment in central Kharkiv. AFP

A teenager sits on a playground swing, opposite a gutted apartment block in Borodianka, in the Kyiv region. AFP

A man leans his foot on the barrel of a destroyed Russian tank while tying his shoelace, in Andriivka, Kyiv region. AFP

Ariana plays with her dogs Chim and Nunia, inside a train, minutes before arriving with her family in western city of Lviv from Kyiv. AP

Ukrainian troops run for cover from explosions, during a Russian attack in central Kharkiv. AP

Ira Slepchenko, 54, and Valya Naumenko, 47, embrace as they mourn the deaths of their husbands, at the exhumation of a mass grave in Bucha, near Kyiv. AP

Father Paul Koroluk, of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Japan, leads parishioners in a Palm Sunday procession outside Saint Alban's church in Tokyo. Getty Images

Wounded civilians await medical attention after Russian shelling in Kharkiv. EPA

Residents bury two bodies in Bucha, north-west of Kyiv, where hundreds of people were found massacred. AFP

Ihor welcomes Lyudmila, who has returned from neighboring Poland, at Kyev-Pasazhyrsky train station. AFP

Galina Bondar, 63, who said her son, Olexander Bondar, 32, a territorial defence member, was killed by Russian troops, kisses the plaque bearing his name at his grave in Bucha. Reuters

A badly damaged block of flats in Mariupol. Reuters

A woman sits at what remains of a bus stop in the southern port city. Reuters

Pro-Russian troops drive tanks near Mariupol. Reuters

People attend a Palm Sunday church service in Kharkiv. Getty

Passengers rest on the train minutes before arriving in Lviv from Kyiv. AP

A man takes a selfie in front of a destroyed Russian tank in the village of Andriivka. AFP

People outside Downing Street, London, take part in a demonstration against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. PA

The Ukrainian flag flutters between buildings destroyed in bombardment in the town of Borodyanka. AFP

Firefighters at work in the aftermath of a Russian shelling in Kharkiv. EPA

Ukrainian servicemen run for cover as explosions are heard during a Russian attack in Kharkiv. AP

Christina Dragun holds her daughter, Olya Siksoy, during the burial of her husband, Ukrainian soldier Ruslan Siksoy at Lychakiv Cemetery, Lviv. Getty

Vehicles destroyed during the Russian invasion lie at a junkyard in Irpin. EPA

Meanwhile, Russian shelling killed five people in Kharkiv on Sunday, Mr Zelenskyy said, with at least 15 others reported wounded.

He claimed artillery had been fired at residential neighbourhoods in a days-long attack that had killed at least 18 people in the city.

In the west, which has been a relative safe haven from the fighting, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi reported five missile strikes across the city on Monday morning. There was no immediate word on casualties.

Mr Zelenskyy renewed his calls for “greater speed from western countries” in raising economic pressure on Russia and delivering weapons to Ukraine.

“Those who have the weapons and ammunition we need and delay their provision must know that the fate of this battle also depends on them,” he said. “The fate of people who can be saved.”