Ukraine says troops still holding out in besieged Mariupol

Ukraine said on Monday its forces were still holding out in the port of Mariupol, where Russia was renewing its assault in a siege believed to have killed thousands of trapped civilians.

LVIV, Ukraine, April 11 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Monday its forces were still holding out in the port of Mariupol, where Russia was renewing its assault in a siege believed to have killed thousands of trapped civilians.

"Communication with the units of the defence forces heroically holding the city is stable and maintained," Ukraine's military commander-in-chief, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said on Facebook.

"We are doing the possible and impossible for the victory and the preservation of the lives of personnel and civilians in all directions. Believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine!"

Earlier, a post on the Facebook page of a brigade of marines holding out in the city said they had run out of ammunition and were now facing death or capture, with Monday likely to be the "ultimate battle".

Petro Andryushchenko, an aide to the Mariupol mayor, said on social mediathat the marines' page had been hacked and the post was fake. Reuters could not independently verify it.

After having driven Russian forces away from the capital Kyiv this month, Ukraine is now preparing for a new Russian mass assault on eastern territory, which Russia now says is its main objective.

---