Turning now to the Donbas region in the east of Ukraine, where Russia has begun a renewed offensive.

A journalist there, Ed Ram, says many people are exhausted and frustrated - they are growing "really tired" of a conflict that has been ongoing since 2014.

"There is a bit of pro-Russian sentiment and historically people have looked to go to Moscow, it is thought of as aspirational, but that pro-Russian sentiment is on the decline."

Locals told him that "the war has turned feelings", they feel "more Ukrainian".

On a recent visit to Kreminna - where Russia has taken control - Ram helped to evacuate 17 civilians in an armoured bus. The city was once home to 18,000 people - now only 3,500 remain, he says.

"We picked up civilians who looked very stressed, they rushed out of basements and it was an emotional scene.

"People were hugging loved ones goodbye and it was a real mix of ages - older people who haven't been able to leave and a few young people with children, clutching their pets."

He said one woman, holding a guinea pig and a cat, said she was devastated to leave but after seeing the killings in Bucha she was afraid what would happen if, or when, Russian soldiers arrive in the city.

Moscow has deported 500,000 people from Ukraine to Russia, the head of the Ukrainian parliament's humanitarian committee has told members of the European Parliament.

Mykyta Poturayev called on the Red Cross to establish contact with those missing.

"Half a million of Ukrainian citizens were deported from Ukraine to the Russian Federation without agreement from their side," he said.

"Unfortunately there is no opportunity for now even (to make) contact with these people," Poturayev told MEPs by video link.

It has not been possible to independently verify the figure given by Poturayev, who did not give details or supporting evidence.

The Ukrainian government this month said that children are being separated from their parents with a view to having them adopted by Russian families, external.

Image source, Getty Images

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called the conditions in Mariupol "truly horrific" as he called for all who can to flee the fighting through humanitarian corridors.

He said that the world witnessed weeks ago the death and destruction in Bucha once the "receding Russian tide" had lifted.

"We can only anticipate that.. this tide also, at some point, recedes from Mariupol, we are going to see far worse than what’s possible to imagine."

He called for civilians to flee through humanitarian corridors that Ukraine has deemed safe, and called the decision to leave "very difficult" but necessary.

"What gives pause is the fact that there have been agreements on humanitarian corridors established before that have fallen apart very, very quickly, if not immediately," Blinken said.

"Principally because the security has been violated by Russian forces. And so people leaving – believing they could do so safely and securely – were fired upon."

He noted that the US was helping Ukraine to assess the safety of the security corridors.

Image source, Getty Images

More now from the US defence department briefing where Pentagon spokesman John Kirby has just issued a correction to yesterday's announcement about warplanes being delivered to Ukraine.

On Tuesday, Kirby said the Ukrainians "have received additional aircraft and aircraft parts to help them get more aircraft in the air".

He declined to say which Ukraine ally had delivered the planes, but said it was not the US. The US military "have not transported whole aircraft" to Ukraine, he said.

In his correction, Kirby said Ukraine had received spare plane parts from the US and allies, but not entire planes.

Ukraine has managed to maintain its air force during more than 50 days of war. Their victory so far has been in part due to shoulder mounted surface-to-air missiles that have kept Russian aircraft at bay.

The US plans to send helicopters to Ukraine that had previously been intended for Afghanistan.

Image source, Reuters

Here's a quick catch-up of the latest news from Ukraine:

In Mariupol

• Evacuation corridors have been operating - letting some civilians flee the embattled port city for another south-eastern town, Zaporizhzhia
• But the regional governor was quoted by Reuters saying fewer buses than planned were able to reach people, and not many escapes were managed
• Officials had been hoping to bring 6,000 people out on Wednesday. The news follows other scuppered efforts with humanitarian corridors
• A deadline issued by Russia for the last Ukrainian forces in Mariupol to surrender passed at 11:00 GMT (12:00 BST), but there was no sign of the defenders laying down their weapons
• There remains an intense focus on the Azovstal steelworks, which represents Ukraine's last pocket of resistance there
• Earlier, a marine commander defending the huge facility said his troops might have only hours left. He pleaded for help - but vowed he would not surrender
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later said around 1,000 civilians were sheltering at the plant

Image source, Reuters

Beyond

• The number of Ukrainians who've fled their country since the invasion has now exceeded five million, according to the UN
• Russia 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
• Zelensky welcomed European Council President Charles Michel to Kyiv, saying that joining the EU was Ukraine's "priority"
• He was also quoted saying that he'd not seen or heard about a document that Russia claims to have sent regarding peace talks
• 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

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, Ukrainian authorities have focused on evacuating civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram that "the humanitarian corridor from Mariupol did not work as planned today".

Although dozens of people were able to flee the city to Zaporizhzhia, Mariupol's mayor hoped 6,000 would be evacuated today.

Vereshchuk said this failure was due to Russia's "lack of control over their own military on the ground".

She added that "the occupiers were unable to provide timely transportation of people to the point where dozens of our buses and ambulances were waiting".

Mariupol's city council blamed Russia's "inherent disorganisation and negligence".

Evacuation efforts will resume on Thursday, Vereshchuk said, adding "we will fight for each of you".

Image source, Mariupol City Council

Some civilians trapped for weeks in the shattered Ukrainian port city of Mariupol have been able to leave but officials say there were far fewer than hoped.

This follows several recent failures. Donetsk's governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said they'd planned for buses to evacuate some 6,000 women, children and elderly people.

But, without giving figures, he said not many had left.

In a Telegram post, external, the local authorities said Ukraine "has fulfilled all its obligations".

According to Mariupol's city council, a convoy of buses and ambulances was ready to continue the evacuation.

Image source, PA Images

Earlier, we told you the BBC had learned that Russian and Belarusian tennis players were set to be banned from this year's Wimbledon championships.

Organisers have now publicly confirmed the move, saying their aim was to "limit Russia’s global influence through the strongest means possible".

Players from Belarus face the same sanction after their country was used by Russia as a staging post for the invasion.

The ATP, which governs men's tournaments, labelled the move "unfair" and discriminatory.

The Kremlin also criticised the ban.

Men's world number two Daniil Medvedev of Russia and women's world number four Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus are the highest-ranked players to be affected.

Read more about the story here.

Image source, Getty Images

Some reaction now to Russia's test of a new nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile.

The Pentagon says the move is not a threat to the US and its allies, as Moscow "properly notified" Washington of the test under its nuclear treaty obligations.

"It was not a surprise," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby tells reporters.

A little earlier, Putin said the new Sarmat missile - capable of hitting long-range targets - was food for thought for those who try to threaten Russia.

Jonathan Beale
BBC News, Donbas

With Russia's renewed focus on the eastern Donbas region, there has been an intensification of artillery attacks and air strikes too. Russia has the advantage in the air.

What we've seen on the ground is some probing attacks by the Russians but there's been no blitzkrieg moment, there's been no lightning attacks as they tried in the north and failed.

They have taken the town of Kreminna, but they've been repelled elsewhere. They're attacking on three fronts - north, east and south - but they haven't made big advances yet. More will come no doubt.

But the Russians don't have time on their side. President Putin wants a quick win here and every single target he has set so far, they have not succeeded. They still haven't cleared out Mariupol.

At the moment it's an artillery battle and what Ukraine needs most is more artillery. That's why there are almost daily appeals from President Zelensky for more Western weapons. They can only win if those flows keep going, and they need those to keep coming every day.

If Russia can destroy Ukraine's artillery, it's certainly possible that Russia could use its tanks to advance.

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

Ukraine has been appealing for more heavy weapons, as Russia's renewed offensive in the east gets under way.

Acting US ambassador to Ukraine Kristina Kvien, who's in Poland, tells the BBC "we are always trying our best to meet what the Ukrainians are asking for".

She says "dozens of planes" are arriving every week from the US and other allies.

"We had 10 arrivals within the last 48 hours" to get weapons in as quickly as possible, but she says "it’s coming a long way, it’s heavy stuff and it takes a little time".

She says the US has recently sent anti aircraft-type weapons and will send howitzers (a short-barrelled cannon, fire shells).

Kvien adds the US is sending more ammunition and aeroplane parts "which means more of the planes that the Ukrainians have will be able to fly", as well as anti-tank weapons.

She says she understands Ukrainian President Zelensky's frustration but says "we are doing our very best to meet the requests that the Ukrainians make".

Image source, Reuters

A bit more detail now on the ballistic missile which Russia says it's testing.

It's the first launch for the Sarmat missile, says the Russian Ministry of Defence - and was considered a success.

Once tests have concluded, it will become part of Russia's strategic missiles force.

The weapon can hit targets at long range using different flight trajectories, according to the Ministry of Defence.

"Sarmat is the most powerful missile with the world's longest distance to hit targets, which will significantly enhance the combat power of our country's strategic nuclear forces," it adds.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he remains ready to swap Russian prisoners of war in exchange for safe passage for civilians and Ukrainian troops in Mariupol.

Zelensky said there are an estimated 1,000 civilians sheltering in Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant.

He added that the situation in the besieged city is getting worse, with hundreds of wounded.

Earlier on, Kremlin press secretary Dmirty Peskov accused Ukraine of holding back peace negotiations. Peskov said the ball was in Kyiv's court after Russia handed a document to Ukraine.

Referring back to Peskov's statement, Zelensky said that he had not seen or heard of the document in connection with peace talks.

As we've been reporting, people have reportedly started to leave Mariupol through humanitarian corridors to Zaporizhzhia, in south-eastern Ukraine.

Here are some pictures of the evacuation from Reuters reporters.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Dozens of civilians have boarded a small convoy of buses to flee the besieged southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.

Its mayor Vadim Boychenko announced earlier that evacuation corridors between Mariupol and Zaporizhzhia would open at 14:00 local time (11:00 GMT).

Reuters reports that people left from the planned evacuation point to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

The city's authorities said they were hoping to evacuate 6,000 people and Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said women, children and the elderly would be prioritised.

But the city's deputy mayor, Sergei Orlov, told the BBC it's too early to tell if the humanitarian corridor will be successful.

Image source, Reuters

Russia says it has test-launched its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile.

President Vladimir Putin said it would provide food for thought for those who try to threaten Russia.

He was shown on TV being briefed by the military that the missile had been launched from Plesetsk in the country's north-west and hit targets on the Kamchatka peninsula in the far east of Russia.

Image source, AFP

President Vladimir Putin has asserted that Russia will achieve its military objectives in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine that would, he says, allow people to resume their normal lives.

Speaking at a meeting in the Kremlin aimed at promoting Russia as a land of opportunity, Putin said Moscow had been forced to start a "military operation" in Ukraine because of "the tragedy" taking place in Donbas.

"I said it at the very beginning - the purpose of this operation is to help our people living in the Donbas," he said.

Addressing a girl who joined the meeting from Sevastopol in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, he said: "We will act consistently and make sure that life there will gradually become normal, will change for the better - just like it happened to you, in your life, in Sevastopol."

Putin regularly uses the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea to highlight love of the motherland.

More now on plans to evacuate 6,000 people from Mariupol today following a preliminary agreement with Russia.

The city's mayor said that evacuation corridors between Mariupol and Zaporizhzhia would be opening from 14:00 local time (11:00 GMT).

He said that residents will be able to board buses from:

• The west end of Kuprina Street, external, near Portcity Mall
• The junction of Lepors'koho Street and Peremohy Avenue, external (close to the besieged Azovstal steel plant)
• The Chyustyulya open space on the E58 highway, external (the main road east out of Mariupol)

But Ukrainian MP Dmytro Gurin, who is from Mariupol, expressed scepticism that Russia would help allow people to leave the city.

"Of course we all want this humanitarian corridor to start working but I'm pretty pessimistic about it," he said.

Image source, EPA

European Council President Charles Michel has made an unexpected visit to Kyiv, saying in a tweet, external that he was "in the heart of a free and democratic Europe".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the visit and said on his Telegram channel that Michel is "a great friend of Ukraine".

He thanked the European Council president for a "meaningful meeting", adding that sanctions against Russia, defence and financial support for Ukraine were discussed.

Michel's visit follows a trip to the Ukrainian capital last month by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Several Western leaders have also recently visited Ukraine and held meetings with Zelensky.

The president has delivered several video-link speeches to international parliaments since the war began to muster support.

Image source, Getty Images

Turning now to the impact of Russia's invasion on its sporting stars, and we've learnt that Russian and Belarusian tennis players will be banned from this year's Wimbledon championships.

Men's world number two Daniil Medvedev of Russia and women's world number four Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus are the highest-ranked players to be affected.

Players from both countries have been allowed to compete on the tennis tour but not under their national flags.

Wimbledon takes place from 27 June to 10 July.

It is understood the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) will confirm the move later on Wednesday.

Sabalenka reached the semi-finals of last year's tournament, while Medvedev reached the fourth round.

The Kremlin said that banning Russian tennis players from Wimbledon over Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine would "simply turn athletes into hostages to political prejudice".