Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he hopes for the removal of the bodies of dead defenders and the wounded from Mariupol.

"We have reached an agreement with Turkey today. Today it is ready to take out the wounded and the dead by ships, to transport them from Berdiansk. Everything is in place to evacuate the wounded and the dead," he said in an interview with Ukrainian journalists shown as part of the telethon on Tuesday.

"We are waiting for approval from Putin. This moment depends on him. If we fail, we will know for sure that the Russian president personally does not allow this to happen," he said.