RUSSIA accused Ukrainian forces holed up in Mariupol for using what it described as the demands of terrorists yesterday after they offered civilians in exchange for food and water. 

Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Petrov said that the terms allegedly put forward were similar to those used by jihadist groups in Syria, proving that civilians were being held at the Azovstal steel plant as hostages. 

Russian State Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said that the civilians had been lured there by the neonazi Azov battalion under false pretences, describing the behaviour as typical of “terrorists.” 

Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered troops to place the steelworks, the last stronghold of the Ukrainian forces in the Black Sea port city, under a siege so tight that “a fly can’t get through.”

Some have managed to leave in UN-negotiated humanitarian corridors, however it is believed that some 200 civilians remain in the plant. 

Russian forces began a fresh aerial bombardment and artillery attack on the Azovstal plant soon after a ceasefire was announced. Moscow said that it had been forced to do so claiming the Ukrainian forces had used the lull in fighting to take up new positions. 

International donors pledged $6.5 billion (£5.2bn) to support Ukraine at a fundraising conference in Polish capital Warsaw yesterday. 

Kiev has received more than $12bn (£9.7bn) in weapons and financial aid since the Russian invasion on February 24, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told delegates. 

The conference was co-hosted by Poland and Sweden in co-operation with the European Union.