Mariupol’s dead put at 5,000 as Ukraine braces in the east

Ukrainian authorities urged people living in the Donbas to evacuate (Vadim Ghirda/AP)

The mayor of the besieged port city of Mariupol has put the number of civilians killed there at more than 5,000, as Ukraine braced for what could become a climactic battle for control of the country’s industrial east.

In other developments, the US and its Western allies moved to impose new sanctions against the Kremlin over what they branded war crimes.