The Latest Breaking News from Mariupol

A captured British fighter has said he plans to move back home and start a new life with his wife if he is spared the death penalty as he begs Boris Johnson to bring peace to Ukraine.

Russia on Tuesday called on Ukrainian forces and foreign fighters holed up in the Azovstal metallurgical plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol to lay down their arms by noon Moscow time (0900 GMT) if they wanted to live.

The last remnants of the Ukrainian forces defending the south-eastern port city of Mariupol, and about 1,000 civilians, are reportedly holding out in underground shelters beneath the vast Azovstal steel plant, which has been likened to a "fortress".

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Russia may have used chemical weapons in its invasion of Ukraine, according to unconfirmed reports from the besieged city of Mariupol last week.

KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials said Monday that Russia began its long-anticipated assault to seize control of their country’s eastern industrial heartland, launching a ground assault along a nearly 300-mile front while pounding the nation, including the western city of Lviv, with a deadly barrage of missile strikes.

After withdrawing its troops from the capital Kyiv, Russia is now focusing on the region of Ukraine close to its border.

KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — Ukraine officials said Monday that Russia began its long-anticipated assault to seize control of their country’s eastern industrial heartland, launching a ground assault along a nearly 300-mile front while pounding the nation, including the western city of Lviv, with a deadly barrage of missile strikes.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy says ‘battle for Donbas’ has begun as Russia mounts anticipated offensive in the eastern part of Ukraine