Russia faces firm resistance as forces seek weak spots on Donbas front line

Putin's troops repelled by Ukrainian defence in besieged Mariupol

A sign that reads 'Children' is fixed on to a car windscreen riddled with bulletholes in Irpin, Ukraine. AFP

A woman weeps next to her husband's coffin at a cemetery in Irpin. AFP

Residents walk amid debris of a charred Russian tank next to destroyed houses in the village of Zalissya. AFP

Volunteers distribute food to residents in Zalissya. AFP

A man walks past a damaged apartment building in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters

Tamara, 71, cries in front of a destroyed apartment building in Mariupol. Reuters

Local residents push a cart with a child past destroyed buildings in Mariupol. Reuters

A record player sits among debris inside an apartment in Mariupol. Reuters

Residents carry belongings past a destroyed building in Mariupol. Reuters

Security guards help an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk. AP

A man receives first aid treatment. AP

Soldiers collect explosives after recent battles in the village of Moshchun, close to Kyiv. AP

The Komodor logistics park lies in ruins after being bombed and burnt during the Russian invasion near Makarov. Getty Images

A room in a kindergarten stands windowless in Makarov. Getty Images

A vehicle draped with a Ukrainian flag passes over a war-damaged bridge in Makarov. Getty Images

A man sits in a basement that was used as a bomb shelter in the village of Kukhari. EPA

Local residents clean the area around a destroyed farm in Kukhari. EPA

Nadia looks at her husband's coffin at a cemetery in Bucha. He was killed during the war. AFP

Mangled buildings in Irpin point to the ravages of the ongoing war. Getty Images

A burnt apartment tower in Irpin. Getty Images

Family members grieve during the funeral of Ruslan Nechyporenko, 47, in Bucha. Getty Images

An abandoned Russian military position in Borodyanka town near Kyiv. EPA

Heavily pregnant Dr Marta Kopan, who fled Kyiv with her husband Dr Maxim Motsya and their three-year-old son Makar, narrates their ordeal at a relative's place in Lviv. AP

A Ukrainian officer searches for unexploded explosives as he passes by an Antonov An-225, the world's biggest cargo aircraft, destroyed during the war on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

A woman stands amid the destruction caused when a civilian building was hit by a Russian missile in Lviv, western Ukraine. Getty Images

Ukrainian soldiers on an armoured personnel carrier, near the front line with Russian troops, in Izyum district, Kharkiv region, north-eastern Ukraine. AFP

Ukrainian refugees arrive at the Siret border crossing between Romania and Ukraine. AFP

Ukranian soldiers in a trench look out across the front line near Kharkiv. AFP

Cars destroyed in Russian attacks, in Irpin, near Kyiv. The scene of fierce fighting, the town was occupied by Russian forces. Reuters

Damaged and destroyed vehicles at Illich Iron and Steel Works Metallurgical Plant, in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatists in besieged south-eastern city Mariupol. AP

Russian military vehicles in an area controlled by Moscow-backed separatists near Mariupol. AP

An elderly woman waits do be evacuated from a hospice in Chasiv Yar city, in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. At least 35 residents have been helped to flee from the region that has been under attack for weeks. AP

A Ukrainian Interior Ministry serviceman collects unexploded shells, grenades and mines, following fierce fighting in Hostomel. AP

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Ukrainian forces have repelled attacks in the country’s east as Russia continues its build-up of troops, the UK Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday.

Fighting in the Donbas region is intensifying as Russian forces seek to break through Ukrainian defences, MoD intelligence assessments found.

In the city of Mariupol, which has been under attack since the war broke out, Ukrainian forces were holding out as Russia offered a third surrender deadline and a humanitarian corridor was tentatively agreed on.

“Russian shelling and strikes on the Donbas line of control continue to increase, with the Ukrainians repelling numerous attempted advances by Russian forces,” the MoD said.

“Russia's ability to progress continues to be impacted by the environmental, logistical and technical challenges that have beset them so far, combined with the resilience of the highly motivated Ukrainian armed forces.

“Russia's inability to stamp out resistance in Mariupol and their indiscriminate attacks, which have harmed the resident civilian populace, are indicative of their continued failure to achieve their aims as quickly as they would like.”

Fighting has raged along a front hundreds of kilometres long in the Donbas region, as the Russian president seeks victory after the failed attempt to storm the capital Kyiv.

In besieged Mariupol, Ukrainian troops said the Russian military had dropped heavy bombs to flatten what was left of a sprawling steel plant — believed to be the defenders’ last holdout — and hit a hospital where hundreds were sheltering.

Capturing the city would deprive Ukraine of a vital port and complete a land bridge between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, seized from Ukraine in 2014. It would also free up Russian troops to move elsewhere in the Donbas.

Russia gave Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol a new ultimatum to surrender on Wednesday as it pushed for a decisive victory in its offensive in the east, while western governments promised more military help for Ukraine.

Oleksandr Shputun, spokesman of General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on Wednesday that Russia was continuing to mount offensives at various locations in the east as its forces looked for weak points in the Ukrainian lines.

He said Ukraine had in the past 24 hours repelled "10 attacks by Russian invaders" and destroyed 12 tanks, 28 armoured vehicles and one artillery system in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Donbas.

Ukraine said it had reached a preliminary agreement with Russia on establishing a humanitarian evacuation corridor for women, children and the elderly from Mariupol.

“Given the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Mariupol, this is where we will focus our efforts today,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Facebook.

The UK ministry said Russian air activity in northern Ukraine was likely to remain low since its withdrawal from north of Kyiv.

It said there was still a risk of “precision strikes against priority targets” throughout Ukraine.

Russia will also try to disrupt the movement of Ukrainian reinforcements and weaponry to the east with continued attacks on cities, the MoD said.

Putin 'mistaken'

Philip Reeker, the interim US ambassador to the UK, said Mr Putin attacked Ukraine “thinking he could divide the West” but his efforts were proving to be unfruitful.

But Nato’s 30 member states, the US envoy said, had been able to have raucous debates about policy while also strengthening the alliance.

“It is remarkable to see how the alliance has come together,” he told Sky News.

“Vladimir Putin thought that he would find a divided West, divided alliance, that he would be able to drive wedges. He was sorely mistaken.”

The diplomat said G7 leaders had also been united in their response to Russia on Ukraine.

He said each day the world was witnessing Russia undertaking “more brutal action in a sort of medieval way” against the former Soviet nation.

“Indeed the West has been remarkably united more than I think many expected under the leadership of leaders like those from the G7 in providing on a daily basis what Ukraine needs to fight this war, what they are doing to defend themselves, their sovereignty,” Mr Reeker said.

He also praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for his wartime leadership.

“I saw in Zelenskyy, even as a candidate, someone different who had great qualities of leadership and that’s what we’re seeing now and I think he’s an inspiration not only to his own people, which is most important, but to so many of us.”