Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine has “offered all options” to Russia to swap Mariupol citizens for Russian soldiers, and is awaiting Moscow’s response, Reuters news agency is reporting.
He had previously suggested captured Russian soldiers could be exchanged for trapped civilians.
Responding to the Kremlin’s claim its forces have “liberated” the port city, he said Russia controls most of Mariupol but Ukrainian forces remain in a part of it, according to Reuters.
As we have been reporting, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his troops to seal off Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant, where a last group of Ukrainian fighters is holding out, rather than to storm it.
Zelensky was also quoted as saying that 120,000 civilians were being blocked from leaving Mariupol.
Source: BBC
