Our live coverage of the war in Ukraine has mostly been focusing this morning on Mariupol, which Moscow today claimed had been "liberated".

Here are some of the other developments from around Ukraine:

• Families in Bucha have been searching body bags in a morgue to find the remains of loved ones, AFP reports. Four hundred bodies have been discovered in the city, north-west of Kyiv, since Russian forces withdrew. Local police chief Vitaly Lobas told the news agency that about a quarter of them were still unidentified
• Russia is "furiously bombing" Kharkiv, its mayor says. In a televised address, Ihor Terekhov said about one million people remain in the north-eastern city. Around 30% of the population has evacuated - mainly women, children and the elderly
• Also in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine's military intelligence said occupying troops had imposed a ban on any evacuations or humanitarian aid from around the border town Velykyi Burluk. In a Telegram post, external, it said locals had been warned that any volunteers trying to get aid through will be executed

In a televised meeting across a small table from his defence minister, Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to hold back from storming the Azovstal steel plant.

It's where the last Ukrainian Mariupol fighters are holding out.

Instead, the Russian president ordered his solders to block off the industrial area, so that "not even a fly can escape".

He congratulated defence minister Sergei Shoigu for taking control of Mariupol, despite fighters continuing to hold out against a weeks-long Russian onslaught which has left much of the city destroyed.

We've been reporting today on Vladimir Putin saying Russia will no longer try to storm the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol and will instead seek to blockade it.

General Sir Richard Barrons, former commander of UK Joint Forces Command's take on the news is that it's clear Ukrainian soldiers holed up in the plant would have been "really difficult" for Russia to defeat without an "enormous cost to both sides".

He says that battle is no longer "really relevant" to who controls the port city and the roads that run through it - which now connect Russia to Crimea.

Today's announcements from Russia on Mariupol were intended to show there had been "some success" on the eve of the Russian Orthodox Easter, Barrons says.

"And it allows the military not to expend much more resource on a battle for the steelworks which was military irrelevant and turn to what really matters now - the battle of the Donbas."

Asked who has the upper hand in the war right now, he says it's "very finely balanced indeed".

He says focus will now switch to the Donbas - particularly the north-east of the region, where Russia will try to encircle the Ukrainian military and get behind their positions. If the Russians can do this, it will be a significant success for Moscow, he thinks.

But if the Ukrainians can hold them off it could result in a "very difficult stalemate".

Moscow aims to starve out last Mariupol defenderspublished at 11:07 British Summer Time 21 April 2022

11:07 BST 21 April 2022

Joe Inwood
Reporting from Kyiv

Taking the port city of Mariupol has long been seen as a crucial step in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - creating a land bridge between the eastern Donbas region and the annexed Crimea peninsular.

But weeks of determined resistance have led to continued frustration for Vladimir Putin and his generals.

More importantly, the constant shelling has caused immeasurable suffering to the people of the city, not to mention its almost total destruction.

Now, it seems Russia has decided it does not need to complete the conquest and will instead try to starve out the last Ukrainian defenders.

Whether this will lead to their slow surrender, or give them a chance to break out of the complex is going to be important, not just militarily but also for Ukrainian morale.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has called for an urgent humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians trapped in Mariupol. A similar plea yesterday for 6,000 people to be taken to safety resulted in just four buses leaving the city.

Why would Putin change his plans in Mariupol?published at 10:36 British Summer Time 21 April 2022

10:36 BST 21 April 2022

Paul Adams
BBC diplomatic correspondent

It should become quickly apparent if Russian forces switch from bombarding the Azovstal plant to simply blockading it - let’s believe what Vladimir Putin is saying when we actually see it.

But if his forces do follow through, why the change of plan?

The Russian president is anxious to get on with his offensive in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

The fight for Mariupol has drained vital resources and pinned down Russian troops who could be used to pursue wider objectives.

Separated from the centre of Mariupol by the Kal’mius River, the sprawling steel plant should be relatively easy to isolate, but if Putin wants to be sure that “not a fly gets through”, he will need to leave significant forces in place.

With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowing to call off peace talks if the city’s last defenders are killed, it’s also possible that Putin wants to keep the diplomatic process - or at least the semblance of a process – alive.

There may even be an economic element to this.

Azovstal is one of Europe’s biggest steel works. Even after weeks of appalling destruction, Moscow may be hoping that there’s something of value to salvage.

George Wright
BBC News

Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian troops not to storm the Azovstal steel plant, telling them to seal the area up so even a "fly" cannot escape.

The massive, four square-mile plant has become the last bastion of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol.

But who are the fighters left inside?

The 36th Marine Brigade are holed up in the plant.

On Wednesday, its commander, Maj Serhiy Volyna, said his troops would not surrender, but he pleaded for international assistance for the 500 wounded soldiers and hundreds of women and children he said were hiding with them at the steel plant.

Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who had been defending Mariupol and were captured by Russian forces last week, were members of the brigade.

The other unit in the steelworks is the Azov Brigade, named after the Sea of Azov which links Mariupol to the rest of the Black Sea.

Azov is a militia linked to far-right nationalists which was later incorporated into the Ukrainian National Guard. Their numbers have been estimated to be around 900.

The marines teamed up with the Azov in Mariupol last week.

It's unclear how many Ukrainian troops are left in the plant, though Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said there was more than 2,000.

This morning Azov posted on Telegram that it had destroyed three tanks, two infantry fighting vehicles and an armoured personnel carrier in recent days "despite the extremely difficult situation".

Kremlin PR machine in full swing for Mariupol announcementpublished at 09:59 British Summer Time 21 April 2022

09:59 BST 21 April 2022

Jenny Hill
BBC News, Moscow

The Kremlin’s PR machine is on vigorous form as President Putin appeared on state television with his defence minister Sergei Shoigu to announce that Russia had taken the city of Mariupol.

In reality, nothing has substantially changed over the last few days. Fighters are still in the Azovstal steelworks, but this is part of the ongoing Kremlin strategy to tell the Russian people that everything is going according to plan.

Every day State TV gives upbeat reports about the progress of Russian troops and told that they’re striking Ukrainian military targets and ‘liberating’ towns and areas.

But Sergei Shoigu hasn’t been seen much of late, leading some to speculate that he’d fallen from grace with Vladimir Putin over the apparent bungled invasion. But here he was, giving his boss some good news.

Joe Inwood
Reporting from Kyiv

Just yesterday we heard from a Ukrainian marine commander saying he thought his men, inside the Azovstal steel plant complex, had days, if not hours, left.

So the news that the steel plant is not going to be stormed will be something of a relief, I think, to the men who have been defending it so determinedly.

But they are running out of ammunition and food supplies. So the question now is if they can hold out - not just militarily - but also just keeping themselves going.

If the Russians are able to seal off the entire Azovstal steelworks, then of course supplies will run out. But if the Russians use this as an opportunity to take some forces away, that may give the Ukrainian fighters an opportunity to break out.

We don't know how this is going to play out.

Ukraine's deputy prime minister has demanded that Russia allow an immediate humanitarian corridor for civilians to escape the steelworks in Mariupol where many are said to be hiding.

Iryna Vereshchuk was speaking after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces not to storm the Azovstal plant but to hermetically seal it instead so no-one can escape.

"There are about 1,000 civilians and 500 wounded soldiers there. They all need to be pulled out of Azovstal today," Vereshchuk said on social media.

On Wednesday, a marine commander in the plant sent a message to the BBC saying that injured soldiers trapped there were "rotting", without medicine and other supplies.

He called for his men to be evacuated to a third country.

We've been reporting that Vladimir Putin has cancelled plans to storm the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, where more than 2,000 Ukrainian troops have been holding out against Russian forces.

Located in Mariupol's port, the steelworks has been the last redoubt of fighters holding out against a weeks-long Russian onslaught which has left much of the city destroyed.

The Ukrainians holed up there have said they are outnumbered "dozens of times" by the Russian forces surrounding them.

Image source, .

Image source, Russian pool

More now on Russian President Vladimir Putin cancelling plans to storm the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, where the last Ukrainian troops in the city have been holding out against a Russian onslaught.

In a televised meeting, across a small table from his defence minister, Putin said there was "no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground through these industrial facilities".

Instead, he called for his forces to "block off this industrial area so that not even a fly can escape".

He added it would be "impractical" to storm the huge industrial area, where more than 2,000 Ukrainian servicemen are said to remain, and the decision was being made to safeguard the lives of Russian soldiers.

Putin also hailed Russia's "liberation" of Mariupol after Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told him Russian forces now controlled the Ukrainian port city apart from the plant.

Image source, Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to cancel plans to storm the Azovstal plant in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, saying he wants it to continue to be securely blockaded instead.

The last Ukrainian fighters are sheltering in the city's huge steel plant, reportedly with around 1,000 civilians living in dire conditions.

Putin gave the order to seal off the plant in a conversation with Sergei Shoigu, his defence minister, that was broadcast.

He congratulated him on a successful operation in Mariupol after Shoigu claimed that Russian forces had captured the city.

Shoigu had previously told Putin that more than 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were still in the plant, which has an extensive underground bunker. The fighters there - made of the Azov Battalion, which has links to the far-right, and Ukrainian marines - have been hailed by President Zelensky for holding out for weeks against a Russian onslaught.

Image source, Reuters

More now on the situation in Mariupol.

Four buses carrying evacuees managed to leave the besieged port city on Wednesday through a humanitarian corridor, Ukraine's deputy prime minister has said.

Evacuees spent the night in the city of Berdyansk and officials are waiting for them in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, Iryna Vereshchuk said on social media.

Evacuations of women, children and the elderly would continue today, she said.

"The security situation is difficult. Things may change," she added.

Efforts to evacuate 6,000 more people from the shattered port city have been largely frustrated.

Vereshchuk earlier said an exit corridor did not work as planned, because Russia had a "lack of control" over its troops.

More now from the Institute for the Study of War's overnight assessment of the war in Ukraine, which we reported on earlier (4.12).

The top US defence think tank says Russian forces did not secure any major breakthroughs in their offensive in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday.

Moscow secured minor gains, taking parts of the key frontline towns of Rubizhne and Popasna, the Institute for the Study of War reports., external

But Russian forces "have not achieved any major breakthroughs, nor have they demonstrated any new capability to conduct multiple successful, simultaneous advances", it says.

Russia made "incremental advances" in the besieged city of Mariupol, including "grinding progress" against remaining Ukrainian defenders in the Azovstal steelworks.

Moscow announced plans for a 9 May Victory Day parade in Mariupol - indicating Russian forces will declare victory in the city by that date at the latest, the think tank says.

Ukrainian forces also reported the presence of small numbers of Syrian or Libyan mercenaries fighting in Popasna - likely individual recruits fighting under the umbrella of the Wagner Group, it says.

The Wagner Group is a private Russian military company that has been active over the past eight years in Ukraine, Syria and African countries. It has repeatedly been accused of war crimes and human rights abuses.

Image source, Getty Images

If you're just joining us, here's a quick recap of the situation in Ukraine:

In Mariupol

• Russian troops are continuing their assault by air and on the ground in the besieged port city of Mariupol, with their focus on the Azovstal steelworks, which represents Ukraine's last pocket of resistance there

• An intelligence update by a top US defence think tank said Russia secured marginal gains, external on Wednesday from continued assaults on the southern city
• Efforts to evacuate 6,000 civilians from the city have continued to be largely frustrated
• This was because an exit corridor did not work as planned because Russia had a "lack of control" over its troops, said Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereschuk

Elsewhere

• A top Russian foreign ministry official told Russian media that Moscow will end its military operation when Nato stops using Ukraine to threaten it
• Russia also says it's test-launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile. President Vladimir Putin said it would provide food for thought for those who tried to threaten his country
• The US called the test "routine" and said it had been notified in advance
• The number of Ukrainians who've fled their country since the invasion has now exceeded five million, according to the UN
• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed European Council President Charles Michel to Kyiv, saying that joining the EU was Ukraine's "priority"

• Russian and Belarusian tennis players have been banned from the Wimbledon championships in London, starting in June - a move criticised by Russia and the ATP

This is Vikas Pandey and Andrew Clarance in Delhi, handing over to our colleagues Alex Therrien, George Wright and Kevin Ponniah in London.

Image source, Getty Images

Chinese President Xi Jinping has restated Beijing's opposition to sanctions such as those imposed by Western countries on Russia.

Addressing a regional economic forum, Xi said China was against long arm jurisdiction, and that tactics of extreme pressure and cutting off supplies would not work.

He condemned what he called "cold war mentalities", unilateralism and hegemonism - terms China often uses to criticise policies of the United States.

In contrast, Beijing has declined to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and has pledged to continue normal trade relations with what it describes as its comprehensive strategic partner.

Russia likely wants to demonstrate significant successes ahead of their annual 9 May Victory Day celebrations and this could affect how quickly and forcefully they attempt to conduct operations in the run-up to this date, the UK Ministry of Defence says., external

Victory Day celebrates the then USSR defeating Nazi Germany and marks a major annual celebration in Russia.

Russian forces are now advancing in Donbas as part of a renewed offensive after failing to take Kyiv.

Forces are moving towards the city of Kramatorsk, "which continues to suffer from persistent rocket attacks", the MOD says in an intelligence update.

"High levels of Russian air activity endure as Russia seeks to provide close air support to its offensive in eastern Ukraine, to suppress and destroy Ukrainian air defence capabilities," it says.

Image source, Ukraine's military

On the 57th day of the war, the Ukrainian military said Russian troops were planning to "forcibly mobilise" the local population in the southern city of Kherson. The update also says:

• Russian forces are stopping humanitarian support in the region.
• Russian troops continue to carry out an operation in the eastern part of Ukraine to establish full control over Luhansk and Donetsk.
• In Balakleya city in eastern Ukraine, Russian troops brought their wounded colleagues to a local clinic instead of taking them to a field hospital.
• This shows a "significant increase" in the number of wounded Russian soldiers in the region.
• The Ukrainian Air Force hit four targets - three UAVs and one cruise missile.
• In the past 24 hours, Ukraine's military has destroyed one tank, 10 armoured units and two vehicles, one artillery system, two special engineering units, an anti-aircraft missile system and an enemy ammunition depot.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify these claims.

Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is threatening the global food supply as the war disrupts two of the world's major wheat exporters - Ukraine and Russia account for about a third of global annual wheat sales.

Last week, Indian PM Narendra Modi told US President Joe Biden that India was ready to ship food to the rest of the world following supply shocks and rising prices due to the war.

India is the second biggest producer of rice and wheat in the world. As of early April, it had 74 million tonnes of the two staples in stock. And it's also one of the cheapest global suppliers of the cereals.

But it's not a sure thing that India can come to the world's rescue. There are concerns over an under-performing harvest this year and a shortage of fertilisers.

Read more about India's challenge here

Image source, Getty Images

Moscow's military operation will end when Nato stops using Ukrainian territory to threaten Russia, Alexey Polishchuk, a senior official in Russia’s foreign ministry, told Russian state news agency Tass, external.

"The special military operation will end when its tasks are fulfilled. Among them are the protection of the peaceful population of Donbas, demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, as well as the elimination of threats to Russia coming from the Ukrainian territory due to its capturing by Nato countries," Mr Polischuk said.

However, he did not give any details on how the Nato was threatening Russia from Ukraine's territory.

The diplomat added the operation was "running as planned" and that "all its goals will be reached".