Mariupol: Russia accused of bombing theatre sheltering people and civilian convoy

Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of further atrocities in the besieged city of Mariupol, including an airstrike on a theatre where hundreds of displaced people were believed to have been sheltering and the shelling of a convoy of cars of civilians fleeing the city.

Mariupol has been facing a humanitarian catastrophe for days, and Russia continued to rain down fire on it and other Ukrainian cities on Wednesday, even as the two sides projected optimism over efforts at peace talks to negotiate an end to the fighting.

About 1,000 civilians were allegedly hiding inside, which was designated as a shelter for the displaced, including children and elderly people.

Local officials have said more than 2,500 have been killed. But the reality is that, because of the shelling, the dead cannot be counted.

Ukrainian officials also accused Russian forces of shelling a convoy of cars of civilians fleeing the city, wounding at least five people, including a child.

The Ukrainian military also reported the strike in a separate statement. Work was under way to confirm the number of casualties, it said. Authorities also shared a photo of a child it said had been wounded in the attack.

More than 400 people, whom Ukrainian authorities have compared to hostages, remain trapped in a Mariupol hospital seized by Russian forces.

Officials have told families to leave their dead outside in the streets because holding funerals is too dangerous.

Witnesses tell of a city in chaos, under constant bombardment, which is becoming more and more difficult to escape. Thousands of people are trying to reach the city of Zaporizhzhia, where refugees are taking shelter, but according to the Ukrainian authorities, the Russians are trying to prevent citizens from fleeing.

The right bank of Mariupol, which is divided by a river, is at the centre of a vicious battle between Ukrainian and Russian forces.

The left bank is under Russian occupation and almost completely cut off. One of the two bridges from the left bank has been destroyed and those in contact with relatives inside the city say the second bridge is the scene of intense fighting.

According to one woman whose parents are trapped in the town, 2,000 vehicles left on Tuesday and about 500 on Wednesday. She has not heard from her parents for four days. The Ukrainian authorities have told those with transport to leave Mariupol, but most of the trapped citizens either do not have cars or their cars have been destroyed by the shelling, three people with relatives inside the city told the Guardian.

A number of witnesses trapped in the city say the Russians are bombing radio and telecommunications towers, meaning that contacting people there has become increasingly difficult. Relatives of those living in the city desperately searching every day for news about their loved ones have been unable to find a phone signal.

The city lies between territory held by Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region and the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014 and from where it has launched its assault on key southern towns in Ukraine.