Ukraine latest: Volodymyr Zelensky addresses G7 leaders, PM says cost of Ukraine support is price worth paying

A Ukrainian drone has destroyed two Russian patrol ships in the Black Sea, Ukraine's military chief has said.

"Two Russian Raptor-class boats were destroyed at dawn today near Zmiinyi (Snake) Island," Chief of General Staff Valeriy Zaluzhniy said.

The Ukrainian military released unverified drone footage which appears to show two ships being targeted by missiles from the air while on patrol.

Some of those who made it out of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol have been describing their experiences.

Natalia Usmanova, 37, spoke on Sunday after being evacuated from the sprawling plant and described the bombing: “I feared that the bunker would not withstand it – I had terrible fear.

“When the bunker started to shake, I was hysterical, my husband can vouch for that. I was so worried the bunker would cave in.”

Ms Usmanova recalled the lack of oxygen and the fear that had spread among the people sheltering down there.

“We didn’t see the sun for so long,” she added, speaking in the village of Bezimenne in an area of Donetsk under the control of Russia-backed separatists about 30km east of Mariupol.

“You just can’t imagine what we have been through – the terror,” she said. “I lived there, worked there all my life, but what we saw there was just terrible.”

Russian state news outlets have reported that up to 46 civilians have been evacuated from a Soviet-era steel plant in Mariupol, although this has not been confirmed by Ukrainian officials.

It’s thought that 1,000 people are still living below the sprawling complex alongside around 2,000 fighters who continue to defend the site.

The Azovstal steelworks is the only place in Mariupol that is not occupied by Russian forces.

Videos and images from inside the factory, shared with The Associated Press by two Ukranian women who said their husbands were among the fighters, showed wounded men with stained bandages, open wounds and amputated limbs.

Medical staff treating at least 600 wounded people said some of the wounds were rotting with gangrene.

In the video the women shared, the wounded men tell the camera they eat once a day and share as little as 1.5 litres of water a day among four.

Supplies inside the surrounded facility are depleted, they said.

A further 100,000 civilians remain in the city, according to Ukrainian officials.

Vladimir Putin could declare all-out war against Ukraine as army chiefs demand “pay-back” for Russia’s failures during its attack on Kiev, according to Russian sources and Western officials.

Military leaders are urging the government to abandon the “special operation” term which has been used to describe the invasion, and instead declare a full-scale war.

This would allow the Russian army to impose martial law, bring in more conscript soldiers over a longer period, and ask for more support from its allies such as Belarus.

Since February when the invasion began, Putin has called it a “special operation” and even banned the media in Russia from using the term “war”.

However, two months later, as the invasion stalls, military chiefs are frustrated.

A source close to the Russian military officials told The Telegraph: “The military are outraged that the blitz on Kyiv has failed.

“People in the army are seeking payback for failures of the past and they want to go further in Ukraine.”

There have already been warnings from the West that Putin could use Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on 9 May to declare war.

The UK will send a team of war crime experts to Ukraine to gather evidence on alleged war crimes committed by Russia.

The team, which will set off in early May, will aim to help the Ukrainian government in gathering evidence of atrocities such as those in Bucha.

Foreign secretary Liz Truss said: “Russia has brought barbarity to Ukraine and committed vile atrocities, including against women.

“British expertise will help uncover the truth and hold (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s regime to account for its actions. Justice will be done.”

Two British humanitarian workers have been reported missing while working in Ukraine.

Paul Urey and Dylan Healy are believed to have been detained by Russian forces while working in the field.

According to an NGO boss, the pair were helping with the “high risk evacutation” of Ukrainian women and children.

Speaking to Sky News, Paul’s mother said: “I begged him not to because … Russia’s bad.

“I was on FaceTime with him up to 4am on Monday morning and that was it – gone.

“Like I want to die, like I don’t know what to do any more. I don’t know. It’s horrible.

Ms Urey described her son as “too caring” and “too kind”, adding: “Something’s wrong – they’ve got him, definitely. He would contact me if he could and he can’t.”

Around 8,000 British Army troops will take part in exercises across eastern Europe to combat Russian aggression in one of the largest deployments since the Cold War.

Dozens of tanks will be deployed to countries ranging from Finland to North Macedonia this summer under plans that have been enhanced since the invasion of Ukraine.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the “show of solidarity and strength” will see UK service personnel joining with Nato allies and those from the Joint Expeditionary Force alliance, which includes Finland and Sweden, for the exercises.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the action had been long planned, but that it had been enhanced since Russia invaded its neighbour in late February.

In his late-night address, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Russian air strikes on Kyiv on the day that UN chief Antonio Guterres was present in the city.

He said it "says a lot about Russia's true attitude to global institutions".

He accused Russia's leadership of trying to "humiliate the UN and everything that the organisation represents," adding it "requires a strong response."

Russian attacks in other cities across the country "once again prove that we cannot let our guard down", he said.

"We cannot think that the war is over. We still have to fight. We still have to drive the occupiers out," he added.

Craig and Sabrina Gant have organised a fundraiser for Mr Sibley’s widow Victoria Sibley, with the goal of £5,000 almost doubled to more than £9,500 in one day.

Mr Gant wrote on the Gofundme page titled Covering funeral cost of a fallen hero:

“Hi, my name is Craig, however, many of you know me as Ganty.

“Sadly on the 23rd April 2022, Scott Sibley ‘Sibs’ was taken from us all.

“On behalf of Sibs and his family I’m setting this Gofundme page up, to try and raise funds to help cover funeral/additional costs, for our fallen hero and dear friend.

“Scott was a son, father, brother and uncle.

“To me he was a friend like no other and the bravest person I’ve had the pleasure to have known, he was as good as a brother to me.

“His life may have been cut short but he lived to the full and did things the Sibs way, right until the end.”