Russia accused of using citizens in Mariupol as human shields

The displaced mayor of the captured Ukrainian city of Mariupol has accused Russia of holding the remaining citizens "hostage".

Vadym Boichenko said there are still about 100,000 residents in the city who are unable to flee to safe Ukrainian territory. He believes Russia is keeping them there to make it more difficult for Ukraine to mount a counter-offensive.

"They are being held there by Russian troops and practically used as human shields," he said in Kiev.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Kiev is waiting for further weapons to be delivered from the West before trying to liberate more territory.

Boichenko also said that more than 20,000 people had been killed in the fighting around the largely destroyed city of Mariupol.

"This is twice as many as in World War II under German occupation. It is the biggest bloodshed in the history of Mariupol," he said. The figures could not be independently verified. He added that the risk of infection from only partially buried corpses is high.