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As many as 28,300 Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine says on Facebook.

It adds that over the past day Russia has lost some 400 servicemen.

The General Staff says in its daily update, external that Russia has also lost approximately:

• 1,251 tanks
• 3,043 armoured vehicles
• 586 artillery systems
• 199 multiple launch rocket systems
• 91 air defence systems
• 202 warplanes
• 167 helicopters
• 2,137 lorries and fuel tankers
• 13 warships and boats
• 102 cruise missiles
• 441 drones
• 43 pieces of special equipment

A court will decide the fate of the Ukrainian fighters who have surrendered at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, a separatist leader in eastern Ukraine says.

According to Russian news agency Tass, Donetsk separatist leader Denis Pushilin says "if the opponent has laid down his arms, the court decides the future fate".

He says any Ukrainians who are found to be "neo-Nazi war criminals" should face an international tribunal.

Pushilin says the top commanders at the steelworks are still inside the plant and have yet to surrender, Reuters reports, citing local media.

Image source, Reuters

The first war crimes trial of a Russian soldier following Moscow's invasion is due to begin in Kyiv today.

21-year-old soldier Vadim Shishimarin is accused of killing an unarmed civilian in the days after the invasion began. He faces life in prison if convicted.

Ukraine says it has identified thousands of potential war crimes committed by Russia, while Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.

Prosecutors say Shishimarin was driving in a stolen vehicle with other soldiers in the north-eastern Sumy region when they encountered a 62-year-old cyclist using a phone.

They allege that Shishimarin was ordered to shoot the civilian to stop them from telling Ukrainian defenders about their location.

"By this first trial, we are sending a clear signal that every perpetrator, every person who ordered or assisted in the commission of crimes in Ukraine shall not avoid responsibility," prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said.

Image source, EPA

US Pentagon spokesman John Kirby has praised the Ukrainian fighters who were holed up in the Mariupol steelworks defending the city.

As we've been reporting, hundreds of the fighters left the site in two convoys on Monday and Tuesday.

They had held on since advancing Russian troops encircled Mariupol in early March, tying up Moscow's forces in the area and denying them a clear victory in the southern port city.

Steve Rosenberg
BBC Russia editor

Image source, EPA

President Putin has presented what he calls his "special military operation" as an attempt to de-Nazify Ukraine - that's been one of the many excuses the Russian authorities have come up with to try to justify the decision to invade Ukraine.

Russian officials have claimed, without any evidence, that Ukraine has been overrun by neo-Nazis, fascists, ultra-nationalists.

Mariupol was the spiritual home of the Azov regiment, which back in 2014 did include some far-right volunteers but has since been integrated into the Ukrainian National Guard - and Kyiv insists the regiment now has nothing to do with politics.

Taking Azov fighters prisoner and potentially putting them on trial allows Vladimir Putin to claim to his people that de-Nazification is happening.

Last week one of Russia's most popular newspapers, a fiercely pro-Kremlin one, suggested that the most likely scenario now in Ukraine was what it described as a limited Russian victory. By that it meant Russia taking control of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in their entirety plus the land corridor to Crimea - but it also mentioned seizing other Ukrainian cities like Odesa and Dnipro. That is still some way off, I have to say.

For Russia military progress has been slow and the Russians are beginning to admit this. A couple of days ago I was astonished to hear, live on Russian state television, a retired colonel painting a very sombre, very realistic picture of how things are looking for Russia in Ukraine.

I wonder whether that is a sign that the authorities here are preparing viewers for bad news about how things have gone, or at least giving themselves the option of saying that at some point in the future.

Nearly 1,000 Ukrainian fighters holed up in Mariupol's Azovstal steelworks have now surrendered, according to Russia's defence ministry.

It says 694 fighters from the Ukrainian military and Azov battalion have surrendered over the past 24 hours.

The ministry says the total who have now surrendered is 959 (this includes the 265 it said left in the first evacuations on Monday).

Those leaving the steelworks are being taken to Russian-controlled territory.

Ukrainian authorities have not given an update on how many fighters have left Azovstal today.

Mariupol defenders faced an impossible choicepublished at 08:55 British Summer Time 18 May 2022

08:55 BST 18 May 2022

Lyse Doucet
Reporting from Kyiv

I think there was a sharp intake of breath right across this country when the news was announced that some of the last soldiers bunkered in the Azovstal steelworks were not just leaving but leaving to territory occupied by Russia.

It was an impossible choice - if they stayed in the steelworks they would face a certain death, but what they face now is, at best, a very, very uncertain fate.

President Zelensky for weeks and weeks had been telling the fighters "please give up if you feel you must, please don't feel you must give your lives in this fight".

Again and again the fighters of the Azov battalion said "no, we must continue to fight".

Last night President Zelensky said this mission to evacuate the remaining soldiers - and to take care of the ones who have already left - involved, in his words, the most influential international mediators. Because the only thing which has reassured many here, and most of all the families of the fighters, is that there is international involvement, that behind the scenes there is the Red Cross and the United Nations, and they are hoping against hope this can help to persuade Russia.

Mariupol is a strategic prize for the Russians but members of the Azov battalion, a group which has origins in the far right, are a prize for President Putin, who it is feared may parade them to say "see, I told you there were Nazis in Ukraine".

Hugo Bachega
Reporting from Dnipro

What will happen to the hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who have surrendered from the besieged steelworks in Mariupol and are now in Russian hands is still unclear. And that’s why their relatives are concerned.

No details of the deal negotiated between Ukraine and Russia, which put an end to the bloodiest fight in this war, have been made public. For weeks, hundreds of fighters holed up in the Azovstal’s underground tunnels and shelters put up incredible resistance, and were seen as heroes for many in this country.

They vowed to fight until the end. But, late on Monday, they were ordered to surrender.

Ukrainian authorities say the fighters could be swapped for Russian prisoners. The Russians, however, have not confirmed this. In fact, just hours after the first group left the plant, Russian officials suggested some could be questioned as war criminals, while high-profile politicians voiced strong opposition to any exchange.

They have seized on the fact that many of the fighters belong to the Azov regiment, which was set up as a far-right volunteer militia in 2014. Its members deny being neo-Nazi, and Ukraine says the regiment has been reformed and integrated into the National Guard.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia says his “special military operation” in Ukraine is an effort to “de-Nazify” the country. Any deal to exchange Azov fighters could backfire domestically.

Anna, whose brother was inside the plant, told me on Tuesday: “There are many concerns about how [the fighters] will be treated and whether they’ll manage to survive until a swap [happens].”

Oksana, the wife of a fighter, said: “It’s very worrying for me and others that they were evacuated to Russian-controlled territory… We’re very, very worried about the things that can happen to them.”

The Azovstal steelworks rescue operation will only be finished when all Mariupol defenders have been evacuated to territories under Ukrainian control, Ukraine's deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar tells the BBC.

"There are still many people left at Azovstal and we continue negotiations in order to get them out of there," Maliar says.

She says it is a sensitive operation and any command can potentially be dangerous for people's lives.

Calls from politicians in Moscow to put some of those taken from the steelworks on trial for war crimes "were most likely made for domestic propaganda in Russia", Maliar says.

"Negotiations are still ongoing and we very much hope for a positive result."

Image source, .

Image source, EPA

Sweden and Finland have formally submitted their applications to join Nato this morning.

The alliance's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg says it is "a historic moment, which we must seize", adding that the Nordic countries' membership would increase shared security.

The two nations' leaders announced their intention to apply for membership of the defence alliance on Sunday, in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Swedish parliament voted in favour on Monday, with Finland's doing the same yesterday.

Finland shares a lengthy land and sea border with Russia. Both it and neighbouring Sweden remained neutral throughout the Cold War so their applications to join Nato mark a significant change in stance.

The process could be fast-tracked to only take a few weeks but would require the support of all 30 members, ratification of which could take up to a year. The Turkish government has voiced opposition.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson are due to meet US President Joe Biden at the White House tomorrow to discuss topics including the Nato applications, European security and support for Ukraine.

Ukraine says all those being evacuated from the Mariupol steelworks will be swapped for Russian prisoners of war, but the parliament in Moscow is sending out a different signal, with the speaker saying "Nazi criminals" should not be exchanged.

A Ukrainian MP, Oleksiy Goncharenko, told the BBC that he hoped the Russians would honour the deal:

Image source, EPA

The battle for the shattered southern port city of Mariupol appears to be over. The last Ukrainian defenders of the city, who were holed-up in the Azovstal steelworks, are being evacuated from the site. But how many have managed to leave so far?

On Monday more than 260 fighters, many badly wounded, were evacuated to areas held by Russian-backed rebels.

On Tuesday, another seven buses were seen leaving the site, Reuters reports, with the convoy arriving in Olenivka, a village held by pro-Russian rebels in the east. We haven't had any figures from either Russia or Ukraine for how many people were on board those seven buses.

There were hundreds of Ukrainian defenders in the vast Azovstal site, made up of Marines and the National Guard, including fighters from the Azov regiment. There were also police, border guards and terrirotial defence units.

It's not clear how many may still remain trapped inside the industrial plant. Ukraine's Defence Minister Hanna Maliar has said Kyiv does know the number, but stressed this was "sensitive information".

Earlier this month, dozens of civilians who were with the fighters in bunkers under the steelworks were evacuated from Mariupol to both Russia-controlled and Ukraine-controlled territory.

Image source, EPA

Russia is firing long-range missiles on Ukrainian civilian and military infrastructure because its army cannot demonstrate any significant achievements on the ground, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed.

In a video address released late last night, Zelensky said there had been missile shelling in the Lviv, Sumy and Chernihiv regions, air strikes in the Luhansk region and "sabotage activity" in border areas.

"All this is not just creating tension for our state, not just testing our strength," Zelensky says.

"This is a kind of attempt of the Russian army to compensate for a series of failures in the east and south of our country.

"They cannot demonstrate success with general military action in the areas where they are trying to advance. So they are trying to show success through their missiles and other activities. To no avail as well."

Hugo Bachega
Reporting from Dnipro

Image source, Valentyn Reznichenko/Facebook

Two loud explosions were heard at about 06:00 here in Dnipro, a city in central Ukraine that has been largely spared of Russian attacks recently.

Valentyn Reznichenko, the region’s governor, says one missile was shot down by the Ukrainian air defence. The debris fell on a private garden, he says, damaging two houses and wounding a woman.

Another missile hit transport infrastructure, he says, without giving details.

One of the country’s largest cities with a population of about one million, Dnipro has become a hub for thousands of people fleeing the conflict in southern and eastern Ukraine, including those escaping the besieged city of Mariupol.

The war hasn’t brought to Dnipro the same level of suffering and destruction inflicted by Russia on other Ukrainian cities. But the constant air raid sirens, sandbags and barricades in the streets are a reminder of the conflict - as are the sporadic attacks. Earlier this month a Russian missile hit an area in the centre of the city.

Image source, .

A Russian gymnast has been banned for a year for wearing a symbol associated with support for the invasion of Ukraine while on the medal podium.

Ivan Kuliak displayed a letter "Z" on his singlet while receiving bronze for an event in Qatar in March. At the ceremony he stood beside the gold medal winner, a Ukrainian.

The Z is painted onto Russian tanks and vehicles in Ukraine and worn by pro-war Russians, including politicians.

The Gymnastics Ethics Foundation found that the 20-year-old had violated the rules of the sport's governing body.

Kuliak must also return his medal and prize money but can appeal the decision.

The evacuation of Ukrainian troops from Mariupol's Azovstal steelworks, after two months inside, is the latest setback in Ukraine's efforts to defend the port city.

Mariupol has been encircled since the start of March and is now mostly under the control of Kremlin forces.

Control of Mariupol would give Russia a land bridge to Crimea and full control of the Sea of Azov, cutting off Ukraine's maritime trade. It would also deliver a propaganda coup for Vladimir Putin.

However, the process of capturing the city has been slow and bloody.

Read here about the key moments in the siege of the city

Russia is likely to have been using thousands of Chechen fighters in the Mariupol and Luhansk areas, underlining its "significant resourcing problems in Ukraine", according to the UK Ministry of Defence.

The MoD says: "Despite Russian forces having encircled Mariupol for over ten weeks, staunch Ukrainian resistance delayed Russia’s ability to gain full control over the city. This frustrated its early attempts to capture a key city and inflicted costly personnel losses amongst Russian forces."

This left Russia needing to make "significant use of auxiliary personnel", the MoD says in its daily defence intelligence update, external.

"These forces likely consist of both individual volunteers and National Guard units, which are routinely dedicated to securing the rule of Chechen Republic Head, Ramazan Kadyrov."

It says Kadyrov likely maintains close personal oversight of the deployment, with his cousin probably acting as the Chechen field commander in Mariupol.

The MoD says using such "disparate personnel" could be contributing to a disunited command, hampering Russian operations.

Ukraine's military says that Russian forces continue to launch missile strikes at military targets and civilians throughout Ukraine.

In Mariupol - which appears to be on the verge of falling after battling a months-long siege - Russian solders are blocking units in the Azovstal steel mill, according to an update by Ukraine's General Staff of the Armed Forces.

They add that Russian forces are also attacking in Donestsk, and continue to shell border areas of Chernihiv and Sumy.

It's just after 08:00 in Ukraine, and we're resuming our live coverage. Here's a quick recap of our main story:

• Ukraine said it is doing "everything possible and impossible" to save the remaining fighters trapped in Mariupol's Azovstal steelworks - their fate remains unclear as the city appears on the verge of falling

• Hundreds of fighters were evacuated from the site over the last few days but several more are still trapped there - Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said Kyiv knew how many soldiers were still at the plant but refused to disclose the number
• The Ukraine military asked the fighters who made the last stand in Azovstal to surrender on Tuesday, bringing an end to the gruelling, three-month-old siege of the south-eastern port city

• Ukraine has said its forces will be exchanged for Russian prisoners-of-war, but Moscow has not confirmed this. A senior Russian MP has accused the Ukrainian soldiers of being Nazis and war criminals and Russia's Supreme Court is due to hear a prosecutors' request to designate the group many of the fighters belong to - the Azov Regiment - a terrorist organisation.

• Talks between the two countries to end the war have been put on hold. Russia says Ukraine has "practically withdrawn" from the negotiations, while Kyiv blames Moscow for failing to compromise

We're now bringing our live coverage of the Ukraine war to a pause. We'll be back with more live coverage of the conflict tomorrow.