Russian forces invading Ukraine have reportedly taken around 500 people hostage at a hospital in Mariupol, using them as human shields to deter shelling, the Associated Press reports.
The Russians rounded up around 400 people living around the Regional Intensive Care Hospital, where about 100 staff and patients were located. Everyone was herded into a basement, where doctors set up makeshift exam rooms to treat patients.
Ukrainian military officials say Russian forces have blocked the city on its western and eastern sides in an attempt to set up a siege of the city to drive it into submission.