That’s a claim made overnight by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He says the US is documenting the reports to establish if Russian forces are committing war crimes as the fighting continues. In the southern port city of Mariupol, efforts to evacuate its citizens have been suspended due to Russian shelling despite designated humanitarian corridors being agreed. Reports say 400,000 people are stuck there with no food, water, power or heating. That sort of treatment will likely come to other population centres, with Western intelligence officials expecting Russia to increase the pace and strength of its attack, including on the capital Kyiv. Russia’s relentless campaign has prompted Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to plead with the West to implement a ‘no-fly zone’ over his country to stop Russia’s aerial bombing campaign. That would see NATO forces engaging directly with Russian planes and potentially shooting them out of the sky if necessary, which it isn’t prepared to do.