Ukraine Says Russia Seized Relief Workers In Mariupol Convoy

Ukrainian leaders have accused Russia of seizing 15 rescue workers and drivers from a humanitarian convoy trying to get desperately needed food and other supplies into the bloodied port city of Mariupol.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy estimated that 100,000 civilians remained in Mariupol, scene of some of the war’s worst devastation, as Russia presses a nearly month-old offensive by bombarding cities and towns. Those made it out described a shattered city.

Zelenskyy, speaking Tuesday in his nightly video address to his nation, accused Russian forces of blocking the aid convoy despite agreeing to the route ahead of time.

The Red Cross confirmed a humanitarian aid convoy trying to reach the city had not been able to enter.

The convoy’s attempt to deliver assistance came as Russian navy vessels joined in what have been weeks of Russian air and land strikes into Mariupol, U.S. officials said.

A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to give the Pentagon’s assessment, said Russian ships in the Sea of Azov added to the shelling of Mariupol. The official said there were about seven Russian ships in that area, including a minesweeper and a couple of landing vessels.

The hands of one exhausted Mariupol survivor shook as she arrived by train in the western city of Lviv.

U.S. President Joe Biden is due to head to Europe for an emergency NATO summit Thursday on Russia’s invasion and increasingly hostile stance toward the West, where NATO members and other European allies are strengthening their defenses.

The invasion has driven more than 10 million people from their homes, almost a quarter of Ukraine’s population, according to the United Nations.