The Azov battalion, a nationalist militia prominent in the defense of Mariupol, released a video it said showed women and children sheltering in the complex. Reuters could not independently verify where or when the video was shot.
One woman holding a young child said food was running out, while an unnamed boy in the video said he was desperate to get out after two months in the bunker.
“I want to see the sun because in here it’s dim, not like outside. When our houses are rebuilt we can live in peace. Let Ukraine win because Ukraine is our native home,” he said.
Ukraine estimates tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in Mariupol and says 100,000 civilians are still there. The United Nations and Red Cross say the civilian toll is at least in the thousands.
Russia’s current offensive is focused on the Donbas, which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
A woman from Ukraine’s Kherson region holds her child after arriving at an evacuation point for people fleeing Mariupol, Melitopol and surrounding towns under Russian control on Friday.
Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Luhansk, on Saturday said Ukrainian forces were pulling back from some settlements to new defensive lines to preserve their units in the face of an intensifying barrage on all cities in the region.
Three people were killed and seven were wounded by Russian shelling in the eastern region of Kharkiv on Saturday, the region’s governor said.
The governor of a Russian border region said on Saturday that Ukraine had shelled a crossing point on Russia’s territory, causing a fire but no casualties. It was not immediately possible to confirm details of the incident or determine who was responsible.
Russia said it had shot down a Ukrainian fighter jet and destroyed three Ukrainian helicopters at an airfield in Kharkiv.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the Russian assertion. The Ukrainian military said on Saturday it had destroyed 177 Russian aircraft and 154 helicopters since the start of the war. Reuters could not verify the figures.
Russian forces made no big gains in the last 24 hours, British military intelligence said early on Saturday.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s allies were finally delivering weapons which Kyiv has asked for. The United States, Canada and Britain have all recently announced plans for new weapons deliveries.