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.

BBC