Besieged Mariupol without power or water, says mayor, as Ukraine accuses Russia of blocking humanitarian corridor

Civilians in the battered Ukrainian port city of Mariupol are trapped without power and water and unable to recover their dead, its mayor said Saturday, as he accused Russia of trying to "choke" the city by shutting off agreed evacuation routes.

Russia agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday to allow civilians to safely leave the southeastern cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha, where residents have endured days of heavy, indiscriminate shelling.

But the evacuations are on pause, with Ukrainian authorities accusing Russia of violating the agreement by resuming its attacks, leaving thousands of civilians trapped in what people on the ground describe as increasingly dire conditions.