Prayers for the people of The Ukraine

UPDATE ON THINGS HAPPENING......

The first was an overnight drone attack on Moscow, which caused a blast that was reportedly heard across the capital's business district. Russian officials blamed Ukraine and said they had shot the drone down, but videos show plumes of smoke rising afterwards.

Then hours later, a fire was reported at a cargo terminal in the Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk - the same port that Ukraine admitted to attacking a couple of weeks ago. Dozens of Russian firefighters were battling to get it under control.

Some other updates to bring you:

• The UK announced it has signed £90 million in air defence contracts for Ukraine, which will provide counter-drone systems, unmanned aerial equipment, and night operation gear;

• Meanwhile, the US finally approved sending F-16 fighter jets from Denmark and the Netherlands - the day after Ukraine admitted it was not planning on using them any time this year;

• The respected Institute for the Study of War think tank says Ukrainian troops have made "tactically significant" frontline advances that have degraded Russian forces on the border between the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions;

• And Russia has banned a group of Moldovan officials from entering the country, days after Moldova kicked out dozens of Russian diplomats over allegations of spying.

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This war will never end until .........edited myself out of comment.....

Thoughts are still with the Ukrainian population wherever they have ended up and I just hope that they will be able to return home and rebuild their lives and country eventually.

Finland officially joins NATO, as Russia threatens 'counter measures'

Finland shares a 1,340km (832-mile) border with Russia, so its entry will more than double the size of NATO's border with the nation.

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Finland to join NATO 'within days' and double alliance's border with Russia

Finland will join NATO "within days", said the alliances' head, doubling the size of the organisation's border with Russia. The Nordic country finally received the green light after Turkey ratified its membership late last night; all members must vote unanimously to admit a new country into NATO. Up until now, Finland's attempts to join the bloc had been thwarted by its desire to pursue a joint bid with Sweden, which Turkey opposed. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's secretary general, said today: "All 30 NATO allies have now ratified the accession protocol." Finland, which shares an 832-mile border with Russia, will "formally join our alliance in the coming days", he said. A number of bureaucratic measures must first be undertaken, including formal letters of invitation and acceptance.

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Ukraine war: Biden's secretive trip to Kyiv was disguised as a 'golf tourney' - here's how it unfolded

The US president made a historic trip to the Ukrainian capital just days after the White House said he had no intention of doing so.

US President Joe Biden has become the latest and most powerful Western leader to visit Kyiv since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

The show of solidarity for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his people came as a surprise to many, as the White House said last week that the US president had no intention of visiting Ukraine.

Whether or not that statement was true at the time is something we will likely never know, but some details of how the president's secretive and historic visit was carried out are beginning to emerge.

Here is how the high-security operation unfolded.

Two journalists were summoned to a private meeting with the White House's communications director Kate Bedingfield on Friday.

They were informed that President Biden would be travelling to Kyiv and that they were the only two journalists who would be allowed to travel with him.

They would form the "travel pool" - meaning it would be their responsibility to share details with other news organisations.

These pool reporters were sworn to secrecy about the trip and told to look out for an email containing instructions for an early Sunday morning departure from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

The subject line would read: "Arrival instructions for the golf tourney."

The email arrived just after 3pm eastern US time (8pm UK time) on Saturday.

The journalists were told to report to the Andrews base between 2am and 2.15am eastern US time (7am and 7.15am UK time) the following morning.

The pool journalists arrived at the base and had their phones taken from them. The devices were not returned until their arrival at the US embassy in Kyiv more than 24 hours later.

They then boarded an Air Force C-32 often used to fly into smaller airports during domestic travel.

Before its departure, the plane sat in the dark next to a hangar with the shades drawn and away from the tarmac where it is typically parked for presidential travel.

Air Force One departed from the Andrews base at 4.15am eastern US time (9.15am UK time) on Sunday.

Air Force One touched down at Ramstein Air Base in Germany at 5.13pm local time (4.13pm UK time) Sunday under slightly overcast skies to refuel after an approximately seven-hour flight.

The plane remained with its shades down for the duration of its time on the ground, which lasted roughly an hour and 15 minutes.

The journalists on board remained in the press cabin the entire time and did not see Mr Biden at any point during the flight or stop in Ramstein.

Air Force One took off at 6.29pm local time (5.29pm UK time) after the sun had set and the skies were dark.

Air Force One landed at the Rzeszow-Jasionka Airport in southeastern Poland at 7.57pm local time (8:57pm UK time) on Sunday.

The airport was clear upon Mr Biden's arrival.

The journalists did not see the US president get out of Air Force One before he was quickly ushered towards an SUV.

The president's motorcade began rolling at 8.12pm local time (7.12pm UK time) on a roughly one-hour drive along a fairly empty eastbound highway.

One of the pool journalists counted at least 20 cars in the motorcade which consisted of a mix of minivans, SUVs and suburbans - and sirens were not used to avoid drawing attention.

Biden catches the train from Poland to Ukraine

Biden's motorcade arrived at the Przemysl Głowny train station at approximately 9.15pm local time (8.15pm UK time).

The motorcade pulled directly up to a train that was mostly purple with two large strips at the bottom from its exterior and large square windows with the shades mostly drawn.

A handful of the train cars were blue with a yellow stripe along the middle and were reminiscent of the trains that have brought refugees into Poland from Ukraine.

Mr Biden was dropped directly in front of his train car.

The pool journalists were escorted to their own train car and put in separate sleeper cabins, each of which contained four single bunkbed-style beds.

One of the journalists was told by a security officer that the train had approximately eight cars, including the engines.

Most of the train was occupied by a heavy security presence.

A small group of passengers awaiting a separate train on the opposite side of the tracks were huddled in conversation and occasionally glanced over, but it was unclear if they could make out any of the activity unfolding before them.

The train left Przemysl Głowny at 9.37pm local time (8.37pm UK time).

One of the pool journalists was told by an agent on board that the train crossed the border into Ukraine at roughly 10pm local time on Sunday but this was not confirmed.

Much of the journey occurred in the dark and so there was little visible beyond streetlights and the shadows of buildings in the distance.

There was no interaction between the pool journalists and White House staff traveling with the president throughout the 10-hour journey, nor any sightings of Mr Biden on his favourite mode of transport.

There were a handful of stops, at least once to pick up additional security, along the way. It was not always clear what prompted the stops, most of which were brief, and the journalists were isolated from the staff on board.

Biden arrives in Kyiv

The sun had risen as the train carrying President Biden approached the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

One of the journalists aboard described how "views from the window largely consisted of graffiti walls, barren winter trees and a colourful assortment of brick homes - many of them in pastel colours".

The train came to a stop at the Kyiv-Pasazhyrsky station at roughly 8am local time (6am UK time) on Monday.

The area around the platform had been cleared and US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, awaited Mr Biden and his staff in chilly outdoor conditions.

The president's first words after stepping off the train were: "It's good to be back in Kyiv."

The motorcade, which again was a mix of SUVs, minivans and armoured vehicles, rolled from the train station to Mariinsky Palace - the official residence of the Ukrainian president.

Along the way, the motorcade passed Kyiv's Independence Square, the site of major demonstrations in 2013 and 2014.

The president's stops consisted of a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Mariinsky Palace, a walkabout with Mr Zelenskyy at St. Michael's Cathedral, and a stop at the US embassy in Kyiv.

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Ukraine war: Russia attacks 'pompous' Zelenskyy and warns UK as president asks for more weapons

The embassy went on to mock "the ex-comedian in a green sweatshirt now on tour around Europe" - and also had a warning for the UK government. Zelenskyy is set to travel to Brussels to attend an EU summit today.

Russian officials have attacked Volodymyr Zelenskyy's "hasty" visit to Europe - dismissing his speech to MPs in Westminster as "theatrical".

The Ukrainian president made a surprise appearance in London, where he urged the UK and Western allies to provide "wings for freedom" by supplying advanced jets.

Mr Zelenskyy then travelled to Paris for talks over dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz - and he is expected to attend an EU summit in Brussels later today.

But in a strongly worded statement, the Russian embassy in London said: "Zelenskyy's pompous solicitations about the values of 'freedom' and 'human rights', which Kiev claims to be fighting for, were overtly hypocritical."

The embassy went on to mock "the ex-comedian in a green sweatshirt now on tour around Europe" - and also had a warning for the UK government.

"We would like to remind London: in the event of such a scenario the death toll of yet another round of escalation, as well as its military-political consequences for the European continent and the whole world will be on the United Kingdom's hands. Russia will know how to respond to any unfriendly actions by the British side," it said.

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Russia hints it will do something to 'gain world's attention' on 24 February

Russia's foreign minister has put out a seemingly ominous message about the anniversary of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Sergei Lavrov said Russia is planning to overshadow pro-Ukrainian events organised by the West and allied countries around the world to mark the 24 February. He added that Russian diplomats were working on something to ensure Western-led events in New York and elsewhere were "not the only ones to gain the world's attention". He didn't provide any more details. It comes after Ukraine's defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, suggested Moscow's forces may start a new offensive around the symbolically important date. In a state TV interview, Mr Lavrov added that Russia would emerge from the current situation stronger and better able to defend itself.

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There's got to be a catch somewhere': Kherson withdrawal could 'easily' be a trap, says former NATO deputy

General Sir Richard Shirreff, the former NATO deputy supreme allied commander, told Sky News this morning that there is a good chance the Russian withdrawal from Kherson is a "trap". Asked about the movement, Sir Richard said we first need to make sure that they are, in fact, pulling back from southern Ukraine. He said: "We had that pantomime briefing in the Kremlin yesterday between [Sergei] Shoigu and [Shoigu] Surovikin, the Russian commander. "But we must not take anything the Russian say at face value, so I think the first question is to understand what is going on." Sir Richard said, however, that if the Russians are withdrawing they are "defeated". "They've got significant numbers on the west bank of the Dnipro, the Ukrainians have been targeting the few bridges. "The Russians know that unless they withdraw in good order, they stand a very good chance of a major rout." Asked if the withdrawal may be a trap, Sir Richard said the Ukrainians are "right" to suspect this. "I'm not going to sit back here and say that it's not a trap. I think it could easily be - never take what the Russians say at face value. "If they've broadcast this in the way they have, then there's got to be a catch somewhere."

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At least 150,000 Ukrainians liberated, MP claims

Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko has said that at least 150,000 Ukrainians have been liberated in over 300 towns in Ukraine. In recent weeks, Ukrainian troops have piled pressure on retreating Russian forces, pressing deeper into occupied territory and sending more Kremlin troops fleeing ahead of a counteroffensive. Moscow acknowledged that it had withdrawn troops from areas in the northeastern region in recent days. Russian troops have also been abandoning the southern city of Melitopol and heading towards Moscow-annexed Crimea, the city's pre-occupation mayor said.

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The latest on the fighting across Ukraine

Russian attacks have continued over the last day, mainly in Ukraine's south and east. Here's what we know...

• Five civilians were killed in the Donetsk region yesterday: two in Opytny, one in Avdiivka, one in Soledar and one in Pervomaiskyi. A further 14 people were injured

• The Donetsk region also suffered heavy shelling overnight. Seven people had to be pulled from the rubble of a high-rise building in Kostyantynivka, and there were also attacks in Krasnohorivka, Kurakhove, Kurakhivka and Druzhkivka

• Three civilians were injured in rocket attacks in Nikopol, a city across the Dnipro River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, just after midnight

• Russian forces have begun their assaults on the key cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka in the eastern Donetsk region. Both air and ground forces are being used

• Two civilians were seriously injured today in rocket fire on the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv, which was hit before dawn. Yesterday, an afternoon attack on the city killed one person and wounded 21 others

• In the north, Kharkiv came under rocket fire overnight. An 18-year-old also had to be taken to hospital today after he picked up an unexploded shell

• The Sumy region was hit more than 60 times from Russian territory yesterday, according to its regional governor

EU condemns Russia's 'military activities' around nuclear plant

The EU's foreign policy chief has hit out at Russia's "military activities" around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Shelling hit the facility yesterday - narrowly avoiding a potential disaster - and Russia and Ukraine were quick to blame each other. Russian troops have been stationed around the nuclear plant since it was taken over early in the invasion. The EU's Josep Borrell Fontelles has accused Moscow's troops of a "serious and irresponsible breach of nuclear safety rules".

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Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 152 of the invasion...

• Ukraine predicts that it will recapture the southern region of Kherson by September. Sergiy Khlan, an aide to the head of Kherson region, said in an interview with Ukrainian television: “We can say that the Kherson region will definitely be liberated by September, and all the occupiers’ plans will fail.” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy also said Ukrainian forces were moving “step by step” into Kherson. However, other reports suggest Ukrainian soldiers are doing well just to hold the frontline in nearby villages.

• Ukraine has warned that a deal to export grain via the Black Sea will stall if there are further Russian airstrikes on key ports. Zelenskiy’s economic adviser, Oleh Ustenko, told Ukrainian television: “Yesterday’s strike indicates that it will definitely not work like that.” The caution comes after Saturday’s missile attack in Odesa where Moscow insisted it only hit a Ukrainian warship and US-supplied Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

• The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has embarked on a tour of several countries in Africa. On his first stop in Egypt he sought to reassure his counterpart Sameh Shoukry that Russian grain supplies would continue, and met with the secretary general of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, where he spoke of deepening cooperation between Russia and the Arab League. Late on Sunday night he flew to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

• Ukraine will continue doing all it can to inflict as much damage on Russian forces as possible and will not be cowed, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has vowed. “Even the occupiers admit we will win,” he said in his nightly video address on Sunday. “We do everything to inflict the highest possible damage on the enemy … we will celebrate against all odds. Because Ukrainians won’t be cowed.”

• The German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has said Russia’s war against Ukraine is also a “war against the unity of Europe”. “We must not let ourselves be divided, we must not let the great work of a united Europe that we have begun so promisingly be destroyed,” he said in a speech in the western German city of Paderborn. “This war is not just about the territory of Ukraine, it is about the double shared foundation of our values and our order of peace.”

• Nearly half a million Ukrainian children are going to school in the European Union, according to the European Commission’s department of migration and home affairs. A total of 492,647 Ukrainian children had been integrated into the national school systems of the European Union, the department said.

• Ukraine’s health ministry has said that least 18 medical personnel have been killed and nearly 900 medical facilities damaged or destroyed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The ministry said more than 50 medical workers had been wounded by Russian attacks and 123 medical facilities in Ukraine were totally destroyed by the invasion, while another 746 needed repairs.

• A Canadian citizen has died in Ukraine, Canada’s foreign ministry confirmed. Media reports suggested the Canadian was with two US citizens who recently died in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. The US and Canadian governments have not given details on how recent the deaths were, or their circumstances.

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Russia threatens NATO member and EU over Kaliningrad impasse

Russia has warned Lithuania and the European Union that it could adopt "harsh measures" against them if the transit of some goods to and from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad did not resume. "If the situation does not stabilise in the coming days, then Russia will take harsh measures against Lithuania and the EU," Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, said in a statement. "The issue has taken too long to resolve." Lithuania - which is a member of NATO - has banned the transit of goods subject to EU sanctions across its territory to and from the Baltic exclave.

Russia's top diplomat storms out of G20 meeting

Russia's foreign minister has stormed out of talks with G20 counterparts in Indonesia as he faced a barrage of criticism over his country's invasion of Ukraine. Sergei Lavrov waked out of the morning session on the resort island of Bali as German counterpart Annalena Baerbock added her voice to the stream of condemnations. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meanwhile, said: "What we've heard today already is a strong chorus from around the world... about the need for the aggression to end." It is the first meeting of G20 foreign ministers since the outbreak of war, with the host immediately telling Russia the conflict must end through negotiations. Mr Lavrov also left an afternoon session before Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba addressed the ministers virtually and was not present as Mr Blinken condemned Russia.

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@Happygirl good news

Ukraine and Moldova accepted as candidates to join European Union

Ukraine's ambition to join the European Union passes the first big hurdle as leaders of the bloc unanimously approve it as a candidate for membership. However, it could be a long time before it's able to meet the conditions necessary to be admitted.

EU leaders have accepted Ukraine and Moldova as candidates to join the bloc, opening a path to membership that's likely to take a number of years.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that it was a historic moment and a "good day for Europe".

"Your countries are part of our European family," she posted.

Ukraine's President Voldymyr Zelenskyy called it "one of the most important decisions" in Ukraine's history as an independent state.

He also said it was the "biggest step towards strengthening Europe that could be taken right now", and in a statement thanked each EU leader individually.

The move is likely to anger Russia, which has opposed the prospect of Ukraine joining and becoming closer with the West.

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Estonia says Russia has violated its airspace for first time by helicopter in highly provocative move

The Baltic state, a member of the NATO alliance, also said ongoing Russian military exercises are simulating missile strikes against its country daily.

Estonia has accused Russia of violating its airspace for the first time by helicopter, in a highly provocative move ahead of a major NATO summit.

The Baltic state, a member of the NATO alliance, also said ongoing Russian military exercises are simulating missile strikes against its country daily.

Ukraine news live: First Russian vessel destroyed by West's harpoon missile

Ukraine latest as Russian vessel destroyed in first successful use of Western-donated Harpoon anti-ship missiles against Kremlin forces; retired US Mark Hertling says the "knockout blow will come" as Ukrainian forces get new weapons.

'Ukraine has will, resoluteness and bravery' to stop Russia

Ukraine's representative to the UN has given a powerful speech to the Security Council, saying Russia "will stop at nothing" in its invasion. Diplomat Sergiy Kyslytsya said: "As Ukraine is bleeding fighting for its right to exist, there is no place for a dilemma of appeasement vs accountability. "Opting for appeasement would only put the darkest times ahead of us. "Russia will stop at nothing in its invasion of Ukraine, using any pause to make newly occupied territories its strongholds and to gather more cannon fodder to renew its attack on Ukraine. "It must be stopped by us all, the sooner the better. "Ukraine, now on the frontline, has the necessary will of its leadership, resoluteness and bravery of its army and people, as well as unprecedented international solidarity. "If we let Putin or his successor on the Kremlin throne regrow their chopped back claws, soaked in the blood of Ukrainians, the next war is imminent and the civilized world will pay three-times the price of what is being paid today. "Let’s finish off Russian fascism now."

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Ukraine war: Bridges to Severodonetsk impassable as Russia moves closer to taking control of important city

The governor of Luhansk region says the evacuation of civilians is impossible, with 70% of the city now in Russian control.

All bridges to the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk are now impassable, making it impossible to get civilians out and humanitarian aid in.

Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Luhansk region, which includes Severodonetsk, said that Russians had destroyed two of the three bridges connecting the city with Lysychansk, and the third is old and unsafe.

Mr Haidai said: "It is now fully impossible, unfortunately, to drive into the city, to deliver something to the city.

"Evacuation is impossible."

He estimated that about 70% of Severodonetsk is in Russian hands, adding that the situation for Ukrainian troops is "difficult but under control".

Mariupol residents selling their belongings to survive as US official warns Luhansk could fall 'within weeks'

Ukraine latest as workers in the town of Bucha near Kyiv have exhumed a mass grave and found bodies with their hands bound and gunshot wounds to the knees and head; and the Finnish leader says the Russians are using thermobaric bombs, which are "weapons of mass destruction".

Bodies dug up 'with hands bound and gunshot wounds to the knees'

As we reported earlier, workers have been exhuming bodies at the site of a mass grave in a forest near Bucha. The crew has uncovered seven bodies, including two that had their hands tied and gunshot wounds to the knees and head, according to the Kyiv regional police chief. "Shots to the knees tell us that people were tortured," Andrii Nebytov said as a crew worked on the exhumation of the grave close by. The site was located just behind a trench dug out for a military vehicle. Authorities say they have discovered the bodies of 1,316 people in the Kyiv region since Russian troops withdrew at the end of March. Bucha in particular gained the attention of the world as reports emerged of civilians being shot dead in the streets and mass graves discovered. It has now become one of the most high-profile sites of investigation into possible war crimes committed by Russia.

3,000 Britons fighting in Ukraine, says Georgian commander

Around 3,000 British volunteers are currently fighting on the Ukrainian side in the war against Russia, a Georgian commander has told Sky News. It is believed there are currently 20,000 foreign soldiers in Ukraine, writes our correspondent John Sparks. Seeking more information about the role played by foreign nationals, we spoke to veteran Georgian officer, Mamuka Mamuashvili. He is in charge of the Georgian Legion, another military unit under Ukrainian command comprised largely of foreigners. Mr Mamuashvili founded it when hostilities in eastern Ukraine began in 2014. Georgians form the largest proportion of foreign fighters in Ukraine with British recruits making up the second-largest contingent. The Georgian commander believes there are around 3,000 British volunteers currently fighting on the Ukrainian side - but the UK government does not officially track the number of Britons going to Ukraine. The Ukrainians may know the true figure, but it's unclear if they really check if someone claims to be British. Ukrainian officials have said little about foreign fighters who have travelled there to fight. We do not know how many foreign nationals have volunteered their services and we do not know much about where they come from - although a government-run website says individuals from eight countries, including the UK and Canada, have signed up for their new International Legion.

Mariupol residents selling their belongings to survive

People in Mariupol are selling everything they own in order to survive, according to a Ukrainian journalist. He shared images of a makeshift stall which included makeup, mugs, earphones and shoes. Mariupol is under Russian occupation after falling to Moscow's forces following weeks of near-constant bombardment. Its residents have suffered shortages of food, running water and medicines during the siege.

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UK to send 'cutting edge' rocket system despite Putin's threat - as Zelenskyy visits front line

The visit took Mr Zelenskyy near Severodonetsk, now one of the key battlegrounds in the Ukraine war. To help counter the power of Russia artillery in the Donbas, Britain is now sending a new rocket system - the M270.

The UK will send a "cutting edge" rocket system to Ukraine to help troops fight back Russia's advance in the embattled east of the country, in defiance of a threat from Vladimir Putin.

The M270 multiple-launch rocket system is now heading to the battlefield, despite Mr Putin's warning that the provision of longer-range missiles would see Russia strike harder.

It can hit targets up to 50 miles (80km) away with "pinpoint accuracy", according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The commitment came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the cities of Lysychansk and Soledar, after earlier visiting the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.

Lysychansk is in Luhansk and Soledar in Donetsk - together the eastern regions make up the Donbas, which is now Russia's focus of the war and the scene of fierce fighting.

Mr Zelenskyy shared videos from the trip and said: "I am proud of everybody I met, everyone I shook hands with, everyone with whom I connected with and had expressed my support."

In Zaporizhzhia, he visited a medical facility and spoke to people forced from their homes due to the war, including people from Mariupol - now under Russian control after a punishing siege.

Ukrainian troops to come to UK

The MoD said its latest move had been coordinated with America's recent decision to donate a variant of the same system, and that it followed requests for longer-range precision weapons to attack Russian heavy artillery.

Ukrainian troops will come to the UK to learn how to use the weapon, which is manned by a crew of three and mounted on a tracked armoured launcher.

Britain has so far donated £750m of military gear, including more than 5,000 anti-tank missiles and 120 armoured vehicles.

'New insidious attacks'

Meanwhile, Kyiv's five week-period of respite was shattered early on Sunday when two districts in the outskirts, Darnytski and Dniprovski, were attacked by missiles.

Moscow claimed it had destroyed tanks supplied by Western allies, while Ukraine said the attack had hit a rail carriage repair works. No deaths were immediately reported, but one person was taken to hospital.

The capital had not seen a similar attack since the end of April.

"The Kremlin resorts to new insidious attacks. Today's missile strikes at Kyiv have only one goal - kill as many as possible," tweeted presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.

In the east, the heart of the Russian offensive, cities, and villages in the Luhansk region were again by missile and air strikes.

Regional governor Serhiy Haidai said helicopters had attacked Girske and Myrna Dolyna, while Ustynivka was targeted by a Su-25 jet.

Other attacks were reported in Lysychansk - where Mr Zelenskyy visited - and in the eastern city of Kramatorsk in northern Donetsk.

However, Ukraine's military said it had repelled seven attacks across the Donbas, shooting down a helicopter and destroying four tanks.

A counterattack in Severodonetsk also recaptured a swathe of territory and put Ukraine in control of half of the city, according to Mr Haidai.

The city has in recent weeks become a key battleground in Moscow's bid to seize the Donbas.

The MoD said on Sunday that counterattacks there had probably blunted the "operational momentum" Russia had gained.

Another senior commander has also reportedly been killed.

Russian state journalist Alexander Sladkov said on the Telegram app that Major General Roman Kutuzov had died in eastern Ukraine, adding to a number of Kremlin military leaders who have apparently been killed in the war.

The Kremlin has not commented on the report.

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Ukraine war: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits frontline in first official appearance outside Kyiv since Russian invasion - as he sacks security chief

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has visited troops on the frontline in the northeastern region of Kharkiv in his first official appearance outside of Kyiv since the start of Russia's invasion.

In a video address later on Sunday, he praised regional officials in Kharkiv but said he had sacked the regional head of the country's top security agency, the SBU, due to his poor performance.

"He did not work to defend the city from the first days of the full-scale war but thought only of himself personally," he said.

"What were his motives? Police are investigating."

Russians are closer to capturing Severodonetsk after claiming Lyman - follow live Ukraine updates

Mr Zelenskyy also handed out commendations and gifts during his visit to the region.

"You risk your lives for us all and for our country," he told the soldiers, according to the president's office website.

His chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, posted on Telegram to say the president had also visited several destroyed residential buildings.

He added that 31% of the Kharkiv region was currently occupied by Russia, with a further 5% having been taken back by Ukraine.

Several loud explosions were reportedly heard in the city after Mr Zelenskyy's visit.

A large plume of dark smoke could also be seen rising northeast of the city centre.

The city has faced renewed Russian shelling in recent days after several relatively quiet weeks.

More than 2,000 apartment buildings have been destroyed since Russia's invasion began on 24 February, the regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

Troops locked in close-quarter combat

Meanwhile, Russian and Ukrainian troops fought in close-quarter combat in the eastern city of Severodonetsk on Sunday as Moscow's troops attempted to gain strategic footholds with the backing of intense shelling.

Mr Zelenskyy said all of the city's critical infrastructure has been destroyed by Russian artillery.

Ninety percent of buildings have been damaged, he said, with more than two-thirds of the city's housing stock destroyed.

"Taking Severodonetsk is the principal aim of the occupying contingents," he added.

Ukrainian regional officials said Russian forces were "storming" the city after trying unsuccessfully to encircle it. The mayor said the fighting had knocked out power and mobile phone services and left a humanitarian relief centre unable to operate because of the danger.

'Indescribably difficult' situation

Russia has also increased its efforts to claim nearby Lysychansk, where civilians fled to in order to escape persistent shelling.

The two cities are the last major areas under Ukrainian control in Luhansk province, which together with neighbouring Donetsk makes up the Donbas region.

Mr Zelenskyy described the situation in the east as "indescribably difficult," adding that the "Russian army is trying to squeeze at least some result'' by concentrating its attacks there.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the "liberation" of the Donbas region is "an unconditional priority".

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @roz @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @Flossy 🍰🍰🍰

SUMMARY

• Ukraine has said it will not agree to any ceasefire deal that would involve handing over territory to Russia, as Moscow intensified its attack in the eastern Donbas region. “The war must end with the complete restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” said Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak.

• The comments came as Russia said it was willing to resume peace negotiations, its lead negotiator said Sunday, but the initiative to continue them was with Kyiv. Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky claimed in an interview with Belarusian TV that “Russia has never refused talks”. “Freezing talks was entirely Ukraine’s initiative,” he said, adding that the “ball is completely in their court”.

• Polish president Andrzej Duda became the first foreign leader to address the Ukrainian parliament in person since the invasion began, backing Ukraine’s stance on territorial concessions and warning the international community that ceding any territory to Russia would be a “huge blow” to the entire west. “After Bucha, Borodianka, Mariupol, there cannot be business as usual with Russia,” he said.

• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said 50 to 100 Ukrainians were dying every day on the war’s eastern front in what appeared to be a reference to military casualties. The heaviest fighting is focused around the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk in Luhansk, one of the two regions that make up the Donbas. Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Luhansk, said in a local television interview that Russia was using “scorched-earth” tactics in the region.

• Ukraine is set to top the agenda at the four-day World Economic Forum in Davos, which kicks off on Monday with a video address from Zelenskiy. This year Russia’s “house” at the event was transformed by Ukrainian artists into a “Russian war crimes house”, portraying images of misery and devastation.

• The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, spoke with Zelenskiy on Sunday evening about Russia’s blockade of Odesa, Ukraine’s largest shipping port. The blockade of Ukraine’s ports has been a growing concern for world leaders as many continue to warn about global food security, in particular for developing countries.

• The Moscow-installed mayor of Enerhodar, a southern city of Ukraine and the location of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, has been wounded in an explosion. Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported that Andrey Shevchik was in intensive care.

• A bid by Ukraine to join the European Union would not be finalised for “15 or 20 years”, France’s Europe minister said. “We have to be honest. If you say Ukraine is going to join the EU in six months, or a year or two, you’re lying,” Clément Beaune said. “It’s probably in 15 or 20 years. It takes a long time.”

• Zelenskiy has extended Ukraine’s martial law for three months through to 23 August. Ukraine’s parliament also banned the symbols “Z” and “V”, used by Russia’s military to promote its war in Ukraine, but agreed to Zelenskiy’s call to allow their use for educational or historic purposes.

• Olena Zelenska has given a rare interview with Zelenskiy, only their second public appearance together since Russia launched its invasion. She recounts the “anxiety and stupor” she felt on 24 February, and says that even though she has barely seen her husband since, “no one, not even the war, could take him away” from her.

• Technicians linked to the Syrian military’s infamous barrel bombs that have wreaked devastation across much of the country have been deployed to Russia to help potentially prepare for a similar campaign in the Ukraine war, European officials believe. Intelligence officers say more than 50 specialists have been in Russia for several weeks working alongside officials from president Vladimir Putin’s military.

• YouTube has taken down more than 70,000 videos and 9,000 channels related to the war in Ukraine for violating content guidelines, including removal of videos that referred to the invasion as a “liberation mission”.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @Flossy 🍰🍰🍰 @roz

Remember I mentioned a couple of times in here, think I also said it could be terminal cancer [@Happygirl].

People think bruises on Putin's face are proof he's very ill.Questions have arisen concerning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health amid news that he missed his beloved annual ice hockey game.

Just read that on MSN and here is my view underneath and it's rather cheeky.....

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Flossy 🍰🍰🍰 @roz @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 etc

Thanks from me too @Happygirl Wish there was some good news.

Thank you for the ongoing information @harryflatters

It is just after 8am in Ukraine. Here is everything you might have missed:

• Ukrainian forces have retaken villages in the Kharkiv region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said in his nightly address. The liberation of Cherkaski Tyshky, Ruski Tyshki, Borshchova and Slobozhanske could signal a new phase in the war, Zelenskiy said, while cautioning against expecting “certain victories”.

• Belarus has said it will deploy special operations troops in three areas near its southern border with Ukraine. The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, said Moscow had agreed to help Minsk produce missiles and warned Belarus could “inflict unacceptable damage on the enemy”.

• The number of civilians killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war is “thousands higher” than official figures, the head of the UN’s human rights monitoring mission in the country said. The official UN civilian death toll in Ukraine stands at 3,381 as well as 3,680 injured.

• At least 100 civilians remained in the Azovstal steelworks under heavy Russian fire in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, an aide to the city’s mayor said. Ukraine’s Azov Regiment made a plea to the international community for help, saying its soldiers were trapped in “completely unsanitary conditions, with open wounds” and without necessary medication or food.

• The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, will visit Finland and Sweden on Wednesday as they consider whether to apply for Nato membership. Downing Street said they would discuss “broader security issues”.

• Ukrainian officials said they found the bodies of 44 civilians in the rubble of a five-storey building that was destroyed in March in Izium, about 120km (75 miles) from Kharkiv.

• US lawmakers in the House of Representatives have approved more than $40bn more aid for Ukraine. The legislation was due to go the US Senate with hopes high for its passage.

• Vladimir Putin will “turn to more drastic means” to achieve his objectives in Ukraine, potentially triggering his resort to using a nuclear weapon, the US director of national intelligence has said. Avril Haines told the Senate armed services committee that the Russian president was “preparing for prolonged conflict” in Ukraine and that his strategic goals have “probably not changed”.

• The UN general assembly has voted overwhelmingly for the Czech Republic to replace Russia on the top human rights body.

• Ukraine has said it will suspend the flow of gas through a transit point that it says delivers almost a third of the fuel piped from Russia to Europe through Ukraine. GTSOU, which operates Ukraine’s gas system, said it would stop shipments via Sokhranivka from Wednesday, declaring “force majeure”, a clause invoked when a business is hit by something beyond its control, Reuters reported. Russia’s Gazprom said this would be “technologically impossible”.

• Four Russian regional governors reportedly resigned on Tuesday as the country braces for the impact of economic sanctions. The heads of the Tomsk, Saratov, Kirov and Mari El regions announced their immediate departure from office, while the head of Ryazan region said he would not run for another term.

• Ukraine has been voted through to the grand final in the Eurovision song contest. At the end of their semi-final performance, the folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra thanked viewers for supporting Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.

• The number of Ukrainians who have fled their country since Russia’s invasion on 24 February is approaching six million, according to the United Nations.

• 
  
• 
  

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @Flossy 🍰🍰🍰 @roz

Summary

It is just past 7am in Ukraine and its capital, Kyiv, is still reeling from a missile attack launched the night before.

The blasts came soon after UN secretary general, António Guterres met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, admitting his organisation had failed to prevent or end the war.

Meanwhile, Nato has warned that the west needs to be prepared for the long haul and the possibility that the war will “drag on and last for months and years.”

Here’s everything you might have missed:

• Russia attacked Kyiv with two cruise missiles on Thursday evening, injuring at least ten and partially destroying a 25-storey residential building in the city’s central Shevchenkivskyi district.

• The blasts came “immediately after” UN secretary general António Guterres met with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the Ukrainian capital.

• The UN chief admitted his own organisation failed to prevent and end the war. During a press conference in Kyiv, Guterres said: “Let me be very clear. The Security Council failed to do everything in its power to prevent and end this war.”

• Joe Biden has called for a giant $33bn package of military and economic aid to Ukraine, more than doubling the level of US assistance to date. The package would include over $20bn in military aid, including heavy artillery and armoured vehicles, greater intelligence sharing, cyberwarfare tools and many more anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles. “We’re not attacking Russia. We’re helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression,” Biden said.

• The US House has given final passage to legislation that would streamline a World War II-era military lend-lease program to more quickly provide Ukraine with military aid. The measure would update the 1941 legislation Franklin Roosevelt signed into law to help allies fight Nazi Germany.

• The UK will send 8,000 soldiers to eastern Europe on expanded exercises to combat Russian aggression in one of the largest deployments since the cold war. Dozens of tanks will be deployed to countries ranging from Finland to North Macedonia between April and June.

• A British citizen has been killed in Ukraine and a second is missing, the Foreign Office has confirmed, amid reports that both were volunteers who had gone to fight in the country. The Briton who died was understood to be Scott Sibley, a former British soldier who had served in Iraq.

• A 22-year-old former US marine and American citizen, Willy Joseph Cancel, was also reportedly killed while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in Ukraine, members of his family have told CNN.
  

• Russian forces have been hitting the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol with the heaviest strikes yet while preventing wounded Ukrainian fighters from being evacuated, a local official said. “They (want to) use the opportunity to capture the defenders of Mariupol, one of the main (elements) of whom are the... Azov regiment. Therefore the Russian side is not agreeing to any evacuation measures regarding wounded (Ukrainian) troops,” Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told a briefing, according to a Reuters report.

• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it was probing a report that a missile had flown directly over a nuclear power station, adding it would be “extremely serious” if true. The IAEA director general, Rafael Grossi, said Kyiv had formally told the agency the missile flew over the plant in southern Ukraine on 16 April. The facility is near the city of Yuzhnoukrainsk, 350km (220 miles) south of Kyiv.

• The UN general assembly will vote on 11 May replacing Russia on the world organisation’s leading human rights body after its suspension over allegations of rights violations by Russian soldiers in Ukraine. Assembly spokeswoman Paulina Kubiak said the Czech Republic was the only candidate for the seat on the 47-member human rights council.

• Ukraine’s prosecutor general has named 10 Russian soldiers allegedly involved in human rights abuses during the month-long occupation of Bucha. There were 8,653 alleged war crimes under investigation, according to the prosecutor’s office.

• Moldova’s deputy prime minister, Nicu Popescu, said the country was facing “a very dangerous new moment” as unnamed forces were seeking to stoke tensions after a series of explosions in the breakaway region of Transnistria this week. Popescu said his government had seen “a dangerous deterioration of the situation” in recent days amid attacks in the region.
  

• The European Union will consider it as a violation of sanctions if European energy companies comply with Moscow’s requirement to open a payment account in roubles with Gazprombank, EU officials warned. The EU “cannot accept” that payments in euros for Russian gas are considered completed by Moscow only after they are converted into roubles, an official said.

• Nato said it was ready to maintain its support for Ukraine in the war against Russia for years, including help for Kyiv to shift from Soviet-era weapons to modern western arms and systems. “We need to be prepared for the long term,” Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato secretary general, told a summit in Brussels. “There is absolutely the possibility that this war will drag on and last for months and years.”

• Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Finland and Sweden would be “warmly welcomed” should they decide to join the 30-nation military organisation and any membership process could “go quickly”.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @Flossy 🍰🍰🍰 @roz

Sky's Mark Austin witnesses extraordinary moment of kindness amidst Kharkiv devastation

In Saltivka, a northeastern Kharkiv suburb of bombed-out apartment blocks, shocked survivors survey their wrecked lives. It is no place at all for anyone to live, but a few still do.

Lady gives the food she has just been given to another lady who has nothing, they both have nothing basically.

A group of volunteers, led by a man only known as Roman, is meeting us just north of the city centre to take much-needed aid to an area which has been worst hit - Saltivka.

When help arrives, the people are overcome. An elderly woman greets us with tears and gratefulness.

"Thank you. You were very brave to come here", she tells the volunteers unpacking a van and giving her with crackers, biscuits, bread and rice.

Her name is Ludmila Kyrichenko, she will turn 75 on 1 May and has spent the last 30 years living in Saltivka. For the last seven weeks, she has had no electricity or running water.

Before the war, Ludmila lived on the eighth building of a block of flats now scarred from the shelling.

Now, she survives below ground in a place that it would be too dignified to call a basement.

It is dark, damp with a dirt-covered floor and her bed is some sleeping bags surrounded by old clothes. Her only light source are candles, which are rapidly running out.

Everywhere we travelled here, people would emerge from their darkness: solitary, pale and looking for whatever Roman has to offer those who remain.

A man gets some toothpaste and tells the volunteers of another couple who he knows need help nearby. A stray dog is served a can of meat and jelly.

Before we leave Saltivka, another elderly lady slowly makes her way towards us. "Is the war over?" she asks Ludmila.

Ludmila tells her it hasn't, but help has arrived. Ludmila reveals this woman is 94 years old and she had been knocking on her door without an answer for some time.

But then, in an extraordinary moment, Ludmila offers this woman the food she has been holding for herself.

"I don't need it," says her neighbour.

"What do you mean you don't need it?" is the reply.

Ludmila places it in her bag and both women are in tears.

She has been given food to help her survive, and she has chosen to give that food to somebody else.

In Saltivka, this humanity is all they have left.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Flossy 🍰🍰🍰 @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @roz and anyone interested

Summary

It is just past 8am in Ukraine. Here’s what we know so far:

• Russia plans to “falsify” an independence referendum in the partly occupied southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed. Zelenskiy urged residents of areas under Russian occupation to not provide any personal information, like their passport numbers, to the Russian forces, in a video message aired late on Thursday evening.

• Russia has been hiding evidence of its “barbaric” war crimes in Mariupol by burying the bodies of civilians killed by shelling in a new mass grave, the city’s mayor said, as a US satellite imagery company released photos that appeared to match the site.

• Civilians are trapped under buildings in Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks plant, deputy commander Svyatoslav Palamar from Ukraine’s Azov regiment has said. “We have wounded and dead inside the bunkers. Some civilians remain trapped under the collapsed buildings,” he told the BBC. Some children are believed to be as young as three months old.

• US officials have dismissed Vladimir Putin’s claim that his forces have “liberated” the port city of Mariupol as disinformation. The Russian president made the claim despite an admission by his defence minister that Russia’s military was still battling thousands of Ukrainian troops holed up in Azovstal steelworks.

• Western officials said Putin is “still in a position to win” in Ukraine despite failing in his pre-war objectives. Russia had started to address some of the issues that had hindered its army at the start of the invasion, one official said.

• Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Russia rejected a proposed Easter truce, but that he remains hopeful of prospects for peace. Earlier this week Russia rejected the same request from the UN, claiming it was not “sincere” and would give Ukrainian fighters more time to arm themselves.

• Zelenskiy also told leaders of the World Bank and IMF that Ukraine will need “hundreds of billions of dollars” to recover from war. Ukraine needs $7bn each month to keep its economy afloat amid the “economic losses” inflicted by Russia, Zelenskiy said via video link. He also proposed a special war tax on Russia. World Bank president David Malpass said the physical damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure has reached $60bn.

• Germany will provide a further €37m ($40.12m) to Ukraine for reconstruction as a result of the war, Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper reported, citing development ministry sources.
  

• Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, confirmed war crimes experts are helping Ukraine “to ensure the inevitability of Russia’s responsibility”. The United States said it has also been in contact with Ukraine’s prosecutor and is assisting with the preservation and collection of evidence of war crimes committed by Russia, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said. More than 7,600 war crimes committed by Russia have been recorded, Venediktova claimed.
  

• Ukraine’s deputy prime minister apologised to residents of Mariupol for failed evacuation efforts from the besieged port city. She added that authorities will not give up. Officials estimate that 100,000 people are currently trapped in the city.

• The US defence secretary will host Ukraine-focused defence talks with allies in Germany next week, the Pentagon has confirmed. Lloyd Austin will meet allies on 26 April at the Ramstein Air Base in south-western Germany, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. The pentagon also confirmed newly disclosed ‘Ghost’ drones are part of America’s latest arms package for Ukraine.

• Russia has slapped “indefinite’ travel bans on US vice president Kamala Harris and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg as well as dozens of prominent Americans and Canadians in retaliation for sanctions imposed over Ukraine. The Russian foreign ministry said the travel restrictions on 29 Americans and 61 Canadians - which also includes defence officials, business leaders and journalists from both countries - would remain in effect indefinitely.

• UK prime minister Boris Johnson revealed that dozens of Ukrainian soldiers are training in the UK, learning how to use 120 British armoured vehicles before returning with them to fight in the war against Russia. British forces are also training Ukrainian counterparts in Poland on how to use anti-aircraft missiles, the prime minister said.

• About 120,000 civilians are blocked from leaving Mariupol, Zelenskiy said. Three school buses filled with people from Mariupol arrived in Zaporizhzhia today after crossing through territory held by Russian forces, but Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said the number of evacuees was far smaller than had been hoped for.

• Russian forces captured dozens of villages in the eastern Donetsk region on Thursday, an aide to Zelenskiy’s chief of staff said.

• The bodies of 1,020 civilians are being stored in morgues in and around Kyiv after Russian troops withdrew, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Olga Stefanishyna, told Agence France-Presse. Her comments came after police said they discovered the remains of nine civilians in the town of Borodianka, 54km (34 miles) from the capital, buried in communal graves and showing signs of torture.

• Joe Biden announced that the US will provide another $800m (£614m) military assistance package to Ukraine to “further augment Ukraine’s ability to fight in the east, in the Donbas region”. The new US weapon deliveries will include 72 howitzers and their towing vehicles along with 144,000 artillery rounds and more than 120 drones tailored for Ukraine’s needs. Biden also announced that the US will accept up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees under a new programme.
  

• Seven people were killed after a huge fire broke out at a key Russian defence research institute in Tver north-west of Moscow, according to reports. Local authorities said 25 people had also been injured in Thursday’s fire, Tass news agency reported, citing emergency services, and that at least 10 people were missing.

• @nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Flossy 🍰🍰🍰 @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @roz and anyone interested

He cannot be human can he? Those poor people. [@Happygirl] @roz @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺

It's awful this is still going on [@Happygirl].

Facing our last days, if not hours', Ukrainian commander in Mariupol pleads

A commander for the Ukrainian marines fighting in the last stronghold of Mariupol said his forces were “maybe facing our last days, if not hours” and appealed for extraction in video message published to his Facebook account early on Wednesday morning.

“The enemy is outnumbering us 10 to one,” Serhiy Volyna from the 36th Separate Marine Brigade said as he sheltered at the besieged Azovstal factory, a vast plant with underground tunnels where Ukrainian defenders are pinned down by Russian fighters.

“We appeal and plead to all world leaders to help us,” Volyna said in the video. “We ask them to use the procedure of extraction and take us to the territory of a third-party state.”

Russian forces are believed to have gradually pushed their way into the city while Ukrainian defenders bunker down at the Azovstal plant.

Volyna said the Russians had the “advantage in the air, in artillery, in their forces on land, in equipment, and in tanks”.

“We are only defending one object - the Azovstal plant - where in addition to military personnel, there are also civilians who have fallen victim to this war,” he added.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Flossy 🍰🍰🍰 @roz @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 and anyone interested

Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Ben Wallace barred entry to Russia

Russia's foreign ministry has banned Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and 10 other British government members from entering Russia. The move was taken "in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the British government, in particular the imposition of sanctions against senior Russian officials," the ministry said in a statement, adding that it would expand the list soon. Also banned from entering Russia are:

• Dominic Raab
  

• Grant Shapps

• Priti Patel

• Rishi Sunak

• Kwasi Kwarteng

• Nadine Dorries

• James Heappey

• Nicola Sturgeon

• Suella Braverman

• Theresa May

US believes Russia's flagship was hit by two Ukrainian missiles

As we have been reporting throughout the day, Russia's warship, the Moskva, is understood to have sunk as it was towed back to port during bad weather after an explosion and fire. Ukraine said it had hit the ship with missiles fired from the coast, but Russia did not confirm the attack. Now, the US believes the Moskva was hit by two Ukrainian missiles, a senior official said. This is the first time a Western official has confirmed Ukraine's claim to have carried out the attack.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @Flossy 🍰🍰🍰 @roz and anyone interested

Boris Johnson meets Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv

The UK prime minister is holding a meeting with the Ukrainian president in the capital this afternoon.

The Ukrainian embassy to the UK shared a photograph of the two leaders in talks:

As both leaders stroll through the eerily empty streets of the Ukrainian capital, surrounded by armed soldiers, a woman approaches and gives them the two ceramic jugs in the shape of the cockerel.

“I’m from London,” Johnson says, to which the woman responds with a smile.

“I know, I’m from Kharkiv.”

The ceramic rooster was first designed by the famous Ukrainian artist and sculptor Prokop Bidasiuk, who worked at the local majolica factory and created many dishes, vases, toys and other ceramic products. Bidasiuk, who was born in 1895, has had his work displayed at the National Museum of Folk Applied Arts.

When photos emerged of one of his ceramic cockerels surviving the bombardment of Borodianka, it was adopted as a reflection of Ukrainian resilience, quickly becoming a meme online.

Zelenskyy reveals PM's promise to help 'restore Kyiv' when war ends; Russia using improvised explosives to lower morale

Ukraine latest as Boris Johnson makes a surprise trip to Kyiv; an airstrike on a train station kills dozens while thousands wait to evacuate; attack condemned by world leaders;

Zelenskyy: UK ready to restore Kyiv after war ends

In his daily late-night video address to the nation, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the UK was "ready to assume patronage of the restoration of Kyiv and the Kyiv region" after the war. He also used his speech to praise Boris Johnson for his surprise visit to Kyiv. "Today, it was a great honour for me to welcome in our capital on Bankova Street, a sincere friend of Ukraine, Prime Minister of the UK Boris Johnson on behalf of all Ukrainians," he said. "His visit to our country demonstrates as clearly as possible that there are no obstacles to freedom. There are no obstacles to leadership. Boris was among the leaders who did not hesitate for a moment whether to support Ukraine." He also called on all countries to impose a complete oil embargo on Russia in order to choke out one of its main revenue streams. "Ukraine does not have time to wait," he said.

Zelenskyy: 'I'm committed to peace'

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he continues to be committed to "pressing for peace", despite Russian attacks on his civilians. His comments to the Associated Press come after days of meetings with foreign leaders.

@nabob @Pinkaholic79 💖🦄🌺 @Janet 💋🍰🍝🍹 @Flossy 🍰🍰🍰 @roz and anyone interested

• US president Joe Biden called the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, a “war criminal” and said he would call for a war crimes trial as global outrage over claims of civilian killings by Russian soldiers in the Ukraine town of Bucha continued to mount. “We have to gather the information. We have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue to fight, and we have to get all the detail [to] have a war crimes trial. This guy is brutal and what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous,” he said on Monday.

• The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the EU was ready to send investigations teams to Ukraine to document alleged Russian war crimes and crimes against humanity. She said she had spoken to Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy about the “dreadful murders” that were uncovered over the weekend.

• Zelenskiy visited Bucha, about 30km north-west of Kyiv, wearing body armour and surrounded by military personnel on Monday. He spoke of the death and destruction in the recently liberated towns of Stoyanka, Irpin and Bucha. “The cities are simply ruined,” he said, adding that authorities had begun an investigation into possible war crimes. Zelenskiy said there was information to suggest more than 300 people were killed and tortured in Bucha alone.

• The Ukrainian president warned civilian casualties may be higher in other towns. “Now, there is information that in Borodyanka and some other liberated Ukrainian towns, the number of casualties of the occupiers may be even much higher,” he said, referring to a town 25 km (16 miles) west of Bucha.

• Zelenskiy also addressed western leaders, criticising what he described as delayed action against Russia. “Did hundreds of our people really have to die in agony for some European leaders to finally understand that the Russian state deserves the most severe pressure?” he asked. Referring to military aid, he said: “If we had already got what we needed ... we could have saved thousands of people.”
  

• Zelenskiy will address the United Nations security council on Tuesday, after he said it was in Kyiv’s interest to have an open investigation into the killing of civilians in Ukraine.

• Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said evidence of civilian killings in Bucha were just the “tip of the iceberg”. Speaking at a joint press conference with the UK foreign minister, Liz Truss, he said the “horrors of Bucha, Mariupol, and other places” demand “serious G7 and EU sanctions”.

• The bodies of five civilians, including the mayor, were found with their hands tied in the village of Motyzhyn, 45km west of Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities said. The mayor, Olga Sukhenko, her husband and their son, were abducted by Russian troops on 24 March, police said. “They tortured and murdered the whole family of the village head,” Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior ministry, said.

• Zelenskiy said the country is preparing for “even more brutal activity” of Russian forces in the east and south of Ukraine. “We know what they are going to do in Donbas,” he said. Ukraine’s defence ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said Russia is attacking the cities of Rubizhne and Popasna in the eastern Luhansk region, while preparing an attack on the city of Severodonetsk and working to capture Mariupol.

• US national security adviser Jake Sullivan appeared to corroborate the claims, saying “Russia is repositioning its forces to concentrate its offensive operations in eastern and parts of southern Ukraine” and this new phase of Russia’s invasion “could be measured in months or longer”.

• The Red Cross said that a team sent to help evacuate civilians from Mariupol is being held by police in Russian-controlled territory. The team was stopped on Monday while carrying out humanitarian efforts to help lead a safe passage corridor for civilians and “is being held in the town of Mangush, 20km west of Mariupol,” ICRC spokeswoman Caitlin Kelly told AFP.

• Russia has backed a new, self-proclaimed mayor of Mariupol, who is collaborating with Russian forces, Reuters reported.

• Washington is working on more economic sanctions against Russia to be announced this week, Sullivan said, adding that “options that relate” to the country’s lucrative energy industry are on the table.

• UK foreign secretary Liz Truss said she will be working with allies to ban Russian ships from western ports, crack down on Russian banks, and agree to “a clear timetable to eliminate our imports of Russian oil, gas and coal”.

• The US will request Russia’s removal from the UN human rights council. During a visit to Romania, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, called for the international body to suspend Russia.

• The head of the office of the Ukrainian president, Andriy Yermak, said a “very big historical mistake” was made when “specific Allied countries and specific leaders started a game with Russia” 14 years ago at the Nato summit in Bucharest, according to comments published on the website of Ukraine’s presidential office.

• Russia’s latest sovereign bond coupon payments have been stopped, a source familiar with the matter and a spokeswoman for the US Treasury told Reuters, putting it closer to a historic default. The latest sovereign bond coupon payments have not received authorisation by the US Treasury to be processed by correspondent bank JPMorgan, the source said.

• Cyber hacking group Anonymous has claimed to have leaked the personal data of 120,000 Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine. “Personal data of 120,000 Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine was leaked,” the group said in a statement on Twitter on Monday.

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Just seen all this on the news [@Happygirl] absolutely horrifying.

Russia accused of 'genocide' in Bucha; Moscow denies killing civilians; Putin's troops 'complete pullback from areas in north'

Human rights group finds evidence of war crimes in Ukraine

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Sunday that it has documented "apparent war crimes" committed by Russian forces against civilians in Ukraine. HRW said it had found "several cases" of war violations in Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Kyiv. “The cases we documented amount to unspeakable, deliberate cruelty and violence against Ukrainian civilians,” said Hugh Williamson, HRW's Europe and Central Asia director. “Rape, murder, and other violent acts against people in the Russian forces' custody should be investigated as war crimes.” These, it said, included one case of repeated rape; two cases of summary execution - one of six men - and other cases of unlawful violence and threats against civilians between 27 February and 14 March. "Soldiers were also implicated in looting civilian property, including food, clothing, and firewood. Those who carried out these abuses are responsible for war crimes," the report added.

'Killers, executioners, rapists, marauders who call themselves an army'

In his latest public address, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that hundreds of civilians were "killed, tortured and executed" in Bucha, with "bodies on the streets. Boobytrapped area. Even the bodies of the dead are boobytrapped".

"Concentrated evil has visited our land. The killers, executioners, rapists, marauders who call themselves an army. And who deserve only death after what they've done," he said.

He also further accused Russia of war crimes and invited Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy to visit Bucha to see "what the police of concessions to Russia has led to in 14 years".

Ukrainian mayor killed 'execution style', according to reports

The mayor of Motyzhyn, which is 50km from Kyiv, has been killed in an execution-style killing with her husband and son, according to the Associated Press. Olga Sukhenko and her family were reportedly shot down and thrown into a pit in a forest. Mrs Sukhenko and her family were reported as kidnapped by Russians on 23 March and taken in an unknown direction.

Bodies of 410 civilians removed from towns in Kyiv, Ukrainian official claims

The bodies of 410 civilians have been removed from towns in the Kyiv area that were recently retaken from Russian forces, Ukraine's prosecutor-general has said.

UN chief 'deeply shocked' by images of dead civilians in Bucha

The United Nations secretary-general says he is "deeply shocked" by images of dead civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha. Writing on Twitter, Antonio Guterres called for an independent investigation that "leads to effective accountability". Witnesses and officials said Russian troops killed almost 300 civilians as they withdrew from the town near Kyiv. "I am deeply shocked by the images of civilians killed in Bucha, Ukraine," Mr Guterres said, echoing the outrage felt by Western officials. "It is essential that an independent investigation leads to effective accountability," he added.

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Kyiv denies launching airstrike on Russian territory - as hopes of evacuation from besieged Mariupol today fade

Ukraine has denied launching an airstrike on Russian territory - as hopes of an evacuation out of Mariupol faded after a humanitarian team headed to the besieged city.

The International Committee of the Red Cross had planned to deliver aid to the southern port city today, but said this afternoon that its "effort has been and remains extremely complex". It will attempt the operation again on Saturday.

It came after reports emerged this morning that Ukrainian helicopters had destroyed a fuel depot in Belgorod in Russia, which Kyiv denies.

In other developments:

• Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine were due to resume today • Joe Biden announced the release of a record 180 million barrels of oil to cool crude prices • Vladimir Putin ordered 134,500 new conscripts into the Russian army, although the defence ministry says this has nothing to do with the war and is part of its spring draft • Ukraine's defence ministry said Russian forces killed 148 children during shelling and airstrikes since the invasion started in late February, although those numbers cannot be verified

Tens of thousands still trapped in Mariupol

Up to 5,000 people have been killed in Mariupol and an estimated 170,000 are still trapped and struggling without food, water, or electricity, according to the mayor.

The Red Cross said earlier a team of three cars carrying nine staff members were en route, in the hope of leading a convoy of about 54 Ukrainian buses and a number of private vehicles out of the city.

Ukraine had previously said Russian forces blocked scores of buses sent to evacuate people late on Thursday - and seized 12 lorries full of humanitarian supplies.

Russia vowed to open a humanitarian corridor to Zaporizhzhia, but Ukraine says this has not happened.

While Russian troops build up outside Mariupol, Kyiv says Ukrainian forces are still holding the city - a gateway to the Black Sea which links a strategic corridor between Donbas and the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula.

Ukraine denies airstrike on Russian territory

Regional Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said this morning Ukrainian helicopters crossed the border at low altitude and that the resulting blaze injured two workers.

He added that some areas in the city, north of the border, were being evacuated following the attack.

Footage posted online of a fire at the depot in Belgorod has been geolocated by Sky News.

Ukraine has said it will "not confirm or deny" it carried out the airstrike.

"For some reason they say that we did it, but according to our information this does not correspond to reality," security council secretary Oleksiy Danilov said.

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Here is a quick re-cap of where thing stand:

• The White House said that the US has evidence that the war against Ukraine has been “a strategic disaster” for Russia. “We have seen incontrovertible evidence that this has been a strategic disaster for Russia,” director of communications Kate Bedingfield said, adding that Russia is “working to re-define the initial aims of their invasion.”

• Ukrainian forces are preparing for new Russian attacks on the Donbas region in the southeast after they repelled Russia’s assault on the capital Kyiv, President Zelenskiy said, confirming Russian troops continue to leave the country’s north but described the move as a tactical withdrawal. “We must also realise that for the Russian military, this is part of their tactics ... We know that they are moving away from the areas where we are beating them to focus on others that are very important. On those where it can be difficult for us,” he said in a late-night address. Describing the “extremely difficult” situation in Ukraine’s south and in Donbas, Zelenskiy said Russian troops are “accumulating the potential for strikes. Powerful strikes.”

• A humanitarian corridor is set to be opened on Friday morning to allow civilians out of the besieged port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine. “The Russian armed forces will reopen a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia on April 1 from 10am,” or 7am GMT, the Russian defence ministry said. The decision came after “a personal request from the French president and German chancellor to Russian President Vladimir Putin”, it said.

• Meanwhile, a convoy of Ukrainian buses set out for Mariupol to try to deliver humanitarian supplies and bring out trapped civilians, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said.

• Russia is redeploying elements of its forces from Georgia to reinforce its invasion of Ukraine, British military intelligence said on Thursday. “It is highly unlikely that Russia planned to generate reinforcements in this manner and it is indicative of the unexpected losses it has sustained during the invasion,” the ministry added.
  

• Russian forces are not withdrawing, but regrouping, Nato’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said. Stoltenberg also said the alliance had yet to be convinced Russia was negotiating in good faith in peace talks in Istanbul because Moscow’s military objective since launching its invasion of Ukraine had not changed.

• The Pentagon added Russia may be repositioning some of its forces around Kyiv to send them to the eastern Donbas region. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Russia has moved a “small number” - perhaps 20% - of its troops from around Kyiv after failing to capture the city. Kirby said the “best assessment” is that the troops are “going to be repositioned, probably into Belarus, to be refit and resupplied and used elsewhere in Ukraine.”

• Kirby added it was not clear that Russia’s convoy of military vehicles to Kyiv, which once stretched some 40 miles, even exists anymore after failing to accomplish its mission. “I don’t even know if it still exists at this point … They never really accomplished their mission,” he said.

• US President Joe Biden said that Russian President Vladimir Putin “seems to be self-isolated” and noted “there’s some indication that he has fired or put under house arrest some of his advisers,” without citing evidence.

• Putin has threatened to halt contracts supplying Europe with a third of its gas unless they are paid in Russian currency. Putin signed a decree saying foreign buyers must pay in roubles for Russian gas from 1 April. He said contracts would be halted if these payments were not made. Germany and France rejected the demands. Government ministers said it was an unacceptable breach of contracts and amounted to “blackmail”.

• EU and Chinese leaders will meet for a first summit in two years on Friday with Brussels keen for assurances from Beijing that it will neither supply Russia with arms nor help Moscow circumvent western sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine. EU officials close to the preparations of the summit said any help given to Russia would damage China’s international reputation and jeopardise relations with its biggest trade partners - Europe and the United States.
  

• Russian forces have reportedly left the Chernobyl power plant, the Ukrainian Atomic Energy Ministry said, citing Chernobyl personnel. Russian troops began leaving the site after soldiers got “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches at the highly contaminated site, Ukraine’s state power company said. Energoatom said the Russians had dug in the forest inside the exclusion zone around the now-closed plant and “panicked at the first sign of illness,” which “showed up very quickly,” and began preparing to leave, Energoatom said.

• Britain and its allies have agreed to send more lethal military aid to Ukraine to help defend it against Russia’s invasion, the British defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has said. As part of the agreement, armoured vehicles and long-range artillery will be sent.

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Putin’s advisers afraid to tell truth as Russian troops accidentally shoot down own aircraft, spy chief says

Sir Jeremy Fleming, the head of GCHQ, used the rare public speech to say it increasingly looks like Russia's President Vladimir Putin "has massively misjudged the situation" in Ukraine.

Demoralised Russian soldiers in Ukraine have accidentally shot down their own aircraft, sabotaged their own kit, and refused to carry out orders, a British spy chief has revealed.

Sir Jeremy Fleming, the head of GCHQ, said President Vladimir Putin's advisers are afraid to tell him the truth about how badly things are going.

In a rare public speech on Thursday in Australia, the senior intelligence officer also said:

• Wagner Group, the private military company with suspected links to the Kremlin, is understood to be prepared to "send large numbers of personnel into Ukraine to fight alongside Russians" • Wagner mercenaries would likely to be used as "cannon fodder" to try to limit Russian military losses • There are indications that Russian cyber attackers are "looking for targets" in the countries that oppose Moscow's actions

The British intervention came as a US official also said accurate information about Russia's failures on the battlefield is not making its way to President Putin "because his senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth".

This included not letting him know his military was using conscripts in Ukraine, the official said.

Sir Jeremy made similar remarks in his speech at the Australian National University in Canberra.

"It increasingly looks like Putin has massively misjudged the situation" in Ukraine, he said.

He listed these missteps as misjudging the Ukrainian resistance, underestimating the strength of the Western response, underplaying the economic consequences, and over-estimating the abilities of his military to secure a quick victory.

Russians 'shot down own aircraft'

Revealing details about the state of the Russian military operation, Sir Jeremy said: "We've seen Russian soldiers - short of weapons and morale - refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment, and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft."

GCHQ did not offer any further details, such as how many aircraft and whether it includes fast jets and attack helicopters.

The information is understood to be based on intelligence.

Russian attacks intensify despite pledge from Moscow to pull back troops

Ukrainian forces are preparing for new attacks in the east as Vladimir Putin builds up troops there after suffering setbacks in the capital of Kyiv, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed skepticism about promises made in peace talks.

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