Hours after a 'barbaric' bombing of its hospital for women and children, Mariupol continues to come under attack.
Civilians are reportedly cut off without power and internet as Russian troops continue to bombard the Ukrainian city. It was one of the cities where daytime ceasefires were called yesterday (March 9) so residents could access humanitarian corridors.
But Mariupol's city council says Russia continues to attack - with houses 'being bombed' and ongoing shelling across the area. Dmytro Gurin, a Ukrainian MP who grew up in Mariupol, told the BBC his parents - aged 67 and 69 - are trapped in the city and have been forced to cook outside while shelling takes place.
He said: "We spoke for 30 seconds after they went to a spot with signal - there are a couple of these spots people know about.
"They said my parents were alive, living in the basement under their apartment building. Please understand me that this is not a shelter with light, water and a toilet, it is a basement with nothing.
"This is not war anymore. This is not army against army. It is carpet bombing. It is Russia against humanity."
Mariupol's city council confirmed today that three people died following the blast at the maternity hospital on Wednesday, including a young girl, while at least 17 casualties were reported - mostly pregnant women or doctors. It comes as Ukraine's deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said a humanitarian convoy trying to reach the city today was forced to turn back due to fighting.
Mariupol, in the south east of Ukraine, is being attacked by troops encroaching from the east and the west, according to the Ministry of Defence.
In his daily video address to Ukrainians, president Volodymyr Zelensky said humanitarian corridors are in place again today as desperate civilians get supplies and routes away from danger.
He said: "My heart is broken by what the occupiers have done to our cities, to our state, and what they want to do to our people in urgent need. They want to humiliate our people, to make them kneel and take bread and water from the occupiers.
"They are simply scum."
Mr Zelensky also attacked 'propagandists' who claimed yesterday's attack on the city's hospital was 'fake news' - even though images from the scene show women being carried injured from the area.
Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, claimed the hospital had been taken over by 'ultra radical' battalions and was not in use as a medical facility, adding: "It's not the first time we see pathetic outcries concerning the so called atrocities perpetrated by the Russian military."
In response, Mr Zelensky said: "The Russians were lied to. Allegedly there were no patients in the hospital and no women and children in the maternity hospital.
"The Russians were lied to, that there were allegedly nationalists holding fort there. They lie confidently, as always. War crimes are impossible without the propagandists covering them.
"We will find all the property of propagandists and their associates. We will do all we can to confiscate whatever it is."
Mr Lavrov was speaking to reporters after peace talks in Turkey, which failed to make significant ground. He agreed with Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba to continue dialogue.
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