UN seeks Mariupol evacuation deal as Russian forces slowly advance

A man speaks to a Russian serviceman as local civilians gather to get humanitarian aid, bread and pure water distributed by the Donetsk People's Republic Emergency Situations Ministry in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Friday, April 29, 2022. Picture: AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

Ukraine’s forces have fought village-by-village to hold back a Russian advance through the country’s east, while the United Nations works to broker a civilian evacuation from the last Ukrainian stronghold in the port city of Mariupol.

An estimated 100,000 civilians remain in the city, and up to 1,000 are living beneath a sprawling Soviet-era steel plant, according to Ukrainian officials.