Ukraine braces for fall of Mariupol, Russian assault on east

Ukraine braced Monday for what could be the imminent fall of Mariupol to Russia as President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed "tens of thousands" of people had died in Moscow's assault on the strategic port.

With the war grinding toward its seventh week, Ukrainian forces said they were also bolstering their positions in the east ahead of an anticipated massive Russian onslaught. 

Austria's chancellor meanwhile became the first European leader to visit Moscow since the Russian invasion, saying he raised alleged war crimes in devastated areas around Kyiv that had been under Russian occupation.

Ukrainian authorities say over 1,200 bodies have been found in the area so far and that they are weighing cases against "500 suspects", including President Vladimir Putin and other top Russian officials.

Seven bodies were found Monday under the rubble of two multi-storey buildings in Borodyanka, Kyiv region, the state emergency service said in Telegram, bringing the total to 19.

French investigators arrived in Ukraine to help probe suspected Russian atrocities in the area, as the European Union earmarked 2.5 million euros ($2.7 million) to the International Criminal Court for future Ukraine cases.

Russia is believed to be trying to connect occupied Crimea and Moscow-backed separatist territories Donetsk and Lugansk in Donbas and has laid siege to Mariupol, once a city of more than 400,000 people.

"Today will probably be the last battle, as the ammunition is running out," the 36th marine brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces said on Facebook. 

"It's death for some of us, and captivity for the rest," it added, saying it had been "pushed back" and "surrounded" by the Russian army.

A pro-Russia rebel leader, Denis Pushilin, said separatist forces had already taken control of the city's port, in comments reported by the RIA Novosti news agency.

Speaking to South Korea's National Assembly by video link in an appeal for military assistance, Zelensky said Russia had "completely destroyed" the city and "burned it to ashes".

"At least tens of thousands of Mariupol citizens must have been killed," he said.

Russian forces are also turning their focus to the Donbas region in the east, where Zelensky said Russian troops were preparing "even larger operations".

"They can use even more missiles against us... But we are preparing for their actions. We will answer," Zelensky said.

Lugansk governor Sergiy Gaiday warned that the region could suffer as badly as Mariupol.