Ukraine news – latest: Russia ‘bombs hospital sheltering 300 people’ in Mariupol

A Ukrainian military commander whose troops are surrounded by invading forces said he and his colleagues are facing their “last days, if not hours”.

Serhiy Volyna, who is defending the besieged city of Mariupol, said Vladimir Putin’s soldiers are outnumbering them ten to one and pleaded for help evacuating wounded civilians.

“This is our appeal to the world. This could be the last appeal of our lives,” he said in a video message to the Washington Post. “We are probably facing our last days, if not hours.”

“The enemy is outnumbering us 10 to one. They have advantage in the air, in artillery, in their forces on land, in equipment and in tanks.”

There will be “no good outcome” to the war in Ukraine, Bill Browder said when asked how the next phase of the conflict might play out.

The American financier and Kremlin critic said the Russian president is someone who wants to “absolutely destroy his enemy.”

He suggested it is Putin’s “main gameplan” to take the conflict to Nato’s border in the neighbouring Baltic states.

Japan has formally revoked Russia’s “most favoured nation” trade status over its invasion of Ukraine, as Tokyo steps up sanctions amid revelations of the Russian military’s widespread atrocities against civilians.

The stripping of Russia’s trade status is Japan’s latest move against Moscow and was part of a list of sanctions measures Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced last month that also included a decision to expel eight Russian diplomats and trade officials.

The revocation of Russia’s trade status by Japan’s parliament, combined with other sanctions collectively imposed by other countries, is expected to intensify pressure on Russia, but the moves could also prompt reprisals from Moscow.

The revocation of the trade status applies to tariffs on all Russian imports, allowing Tokyo to impose higher duties on such products.

Putin’s troops continue “shooting at civilians” during their fresh offensive in eastern Ukraine, a Ukrainian ambassador has said.

Olekseii Makeiev told LBC “nobody is safe in my country” amid the ongoing invasion.

He also accused the Kremlin of committing war crimes.

The US will not send troops to Ukraine to fight Russia, America’s interim ambassador to the UK has said.

Amid a fresh Kremlin assault on eastern Ukraine, Philip Reeker said the US will continue to support Kyiv and Nato.

But US boots on the ground is not an option, he added. More comments from Mr Reeker below:

Ukraine hopes to send 90 buses to the besieged southern city of Mariupol on Wednesday to evacuate about 6,000 women, children and elderly people, the city’s mayor said on national television.

Mayor Vadym Boichenko, who has left Mariupol, said he hoped a preliminary agreement with Russia on establishing a safe corridor would be firmed up and hold.

He said about 100,000 civilians remained in Mariupol and that tens of thousands had been killed in the Russian siege of the city on the Sea of Azov.

The Russian ministry of defence has said its forces hit 1,053 Ukrainian military facilities overnight, destroying 106 firing positions, Reuters reports.

The claims have not been independently verified.

An increasing number of Swedish voters are in favour of joing Nato, a new poll by Demoskop has found.

Comissioned by the Aftonbladet newspaper, the poll showed that 57 per cent of Swedes now favour membership, up from 51 per cent in March.

Those opposed to joining fell to 21 per cent from 24 per cent, while those who were undecided dipped to 22 per cent from 25 per cent.

It comes as policy-makers in both Sweden and Finland weigh up whether Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should hail an end to decades of military neutrality.

President of the European Council Charles Michel has arrived in Ukraine’s capital for a surprise visit.

Accompanied by a photo taken at a train station, Michel tweeted: “In Kyiv today. In the heart of a free and democratic Europe.”

The deputy commander of Ukraine’s Azov Regiment has said that Mariupol’s Azovstal plant has been bombed out and destroyed almost completely.

Sviatoslav Palamar told Radio Svoboda that “heavy bombs” are being dropped on the plant, and “a lot of people” remain under the rubble.

He later confirmed there was an airstrike on the hospital inside the plant today, which he said left “many people” dead, reports The Economist.