Mariupol is a city in south eastern Ukraine, situated on the north coast of the Sea of Azov at the mouth of the Kalmius river, in the Pryazovia region. It is the tenth-largest city in Ukraine, and the second largest in Donetsk Oblast.

Local media in Ukraine has reported that Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says there will be no surrender of the port city of Mariupol after Russia earlier called for Ukrainians to lay down their arms.

News agency Ukrainska Pravda cited Vereshchuck as saying: "There can be no question of any surrender, laying down of arms."

This was in response to Russia's demands for Ukrainian forces to lay down their weapons in the eastern city.

"We have already informed the Russian side about this," Vereshchuck is reported to have said.

Kyiv mayor reports blasts in historic neighbourhood. The Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, says there have been a number of explosions in the Podilskyi district of the capital city.

Klitschko posted a photo on Twitter showing fires burning and a road strewn with debris. The mayor said emergency personnel were on site and that a large fire at a shopping centre was being extinguished.