Mariupol will fall 'by lunchtime'

Putin's Chechen warlord declares Mariupol will fall 'by lunchtime' with final Ukrainian marines in his men's sights - as Zelensky renews vows to put invading Russian forces on trial saying there can be 'no peace without justice'

• Ramzan Kadyrov said the Azovstal steel plant will be overrun by Russian forces
• He said the plant, where fighters and civilians are hiding,would fall 'by lunchtime'
• Fighters in Mariupol are staging a last stand after weeks of bombardment
• Ukrainian negotiators are trying to reach a deal but peace talks have stalled
• The governor of Luhansk said Russia now controls around 80% of the region
• Putin's forces have launched an all-out assault on the Donbas region of Ukraine 
• Zelensky meanwhile said Ukraine and the EU would use 'modern technology' to find the details of all Russian soldiers thought to have committed war crimes
• Chechen warlord and Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov has said the besieged port of Mariupol will 'fall by lunchtime' as Russian forces continue to tighten the noose around the city's last Ukrainian stronghold. 
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• Mariupol would be the biggest city to be seized by Russia since invading Ukraine eight weeks ago, and the port is seen as a key strategic position for Russia's assault on the east of Ukraine.

  But Putin's forces have been forced to reduce what was once a bustling metropolis of 400,000 people to rubble, having met bitter resistance from Ukraine's armed forces and territorial defence units stationed there. 

  Now, all that remains of the Ukrainian defence in Mariupol is sheltered in the Azovstal steel plant, along with an estimated 1,000 civilians hiding as the Russian forces close in. 

  'Before lunchtime, or after lunch, Azovstal will be completely under the control of the forces of the Russian Federation,' Kadyrov, the head of Russia's republic of Chechnya said of the steel plant.

  Ukraine's defence ministry was not immediately available for comment.

  A few dozen civilians managed to leave the bombed out urban centre in a small bus convoy yesterday, but Ukraine accused Russia yet again of sealing off previously agreed humanitarian corridor, meaning fewer civilians were able to flee than hoped.