The Donetsk regional governor said Russian forces were now holding more than 400 people hostage in the basement of the intensive care hospital in the city.

Pavlo Kyrylenko said that the hospital had been bombed, but staff continued to treat patients in the basement as the high-rise buildings burned around them.

Mariupol has been besieged for two weeks, with humanitarian corridors finally allowing residents to leave, with a reported 2,000 cars so far cleared.