Russia: Ukrainian 'nationalists' prevented civilian evacuation

Russia continued to shell the area despite a supposed ceasefire

This morning, Mariupol's deputy mayor and a resident in the city told that Russia continued to shell the area despite a supposed ceasefire beginning at 07:00 GMT local time.

But Russia's defence ministry has a very different version of events.

It says Ukrainian "nationalists" prevented civilians from leaving the cities, according to Russia's Ria news agency (Russia often labels Ukrainian forces as nationalists).

The ministry said that Russian forces came under fire after it had set up humanitarian corridors for civilians to leave the city.