The Russian defence ministry said it was “tightening the noose” around the city, adding that “fighting against the nationalists” was taking place inside Mariupol. These claims then appeared to be confirmed to the BBC by the mayor Vadym Boichenko, who admitted fighting was “really active. Several thousand people managed to escape Mariupol last week following weeks of devastating bombardment, which left the city with little food or water. However, it was said at the time that 200,000 people were still in desperate need of rescue. On Wednesday, a theatre was destroyed by an airstrike in the Black Sea port, and it is understood that approximately 1,300 remain trapped in a bomb shelter under rubble. This was reported by Verkhovna Rada commissioner for human rights Liudmyla Denisova. Earlier, it was confirmed that 130 people were rescued. * Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today urged Moscow to engage in further peace talks “without delay” – as the war enters a fourth week. In his daily video address, he said: “This is the only chance for Russia to reduce the damage from its own mistakes. It’s time to meet, it’s time to talk, it’s time to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia’s losses will be such that you will need several generations to recover.” Ukraine and Russia have engaged in several rounds of talks so far, beginning in Belarus and more recently taking place via video conference. However, they have yet to reach an agreement on a ceasefire or a withdrawal. * A member of the Russian military was killed in the Ukranian town of Chernobayevka after an artillery strike, said Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces in a Facebook post on Saturday. In the post, it said Lieutenant General Andrei Mordvichev, commander of the 8th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces had died. In its daily update, it also added that the war frontline had not changed significantly in the past 24 hours, but said Ukraine’s troops had managed to destroy several columns with Russian military personnel in the Mykolaiv and Sumy regions. * Ukraine’s Armed Forces said that its air defences had destroyed at least 12 Russian air targets – two planes, three helicopters, three drones and four cruise missiles. Local reports citing an adviser to the head of the President’s office added that armed forces had also hit the Chornobaivka airfield, where Russia had placed part of its fleet – for the sixth time.
