Freedom of Information

[DaffyVina]

'Very, very difficult' to get access to Mariupol - Red Cross
Photo of Steve McAndrew -Copyright: BBC

Steve McAndrew from the Red Cross in Lviv told the BBC that the organisation was doing all it could to reach people in the besieged city of Mariupol.

Earlier today, Mariupol's city council reported that an art school in the city, where about 400 people were sheltering, was attacked.

McAndrew said the reports out of Mariupol "are troubling" and the latest he had heard was that around 350,000 people are trapped in the city.

He added that his colleagues are trying to get into Mariupol, but "it's very, very difficult" to gain access.

McAndrew said the Red Cross has several facilities to provide support in Lviv, for example, but one of the difficulties it is facing at the moment is ensuring those who need it can get to them safely.

"They can be safe with us, they just need to get to us, but we need to get to them", he added.



Russian forces clamp down on some protests
Earlier we reported that protests have been taking part in several Ukrainian cities under Russian control.

The demonstrations appear to have been peaceful, but images on social media show Russian forces arresting people and dispersing crowds in places like Enerhodar.

Crowds of protesters gathered in the city after Mayor Dmytro Orlov alleged that Russian troops had abducted his first deputy, Ivan Samoydyuk.

"We do not know what condition he is in," Mr Orlov said on Telegram. "He has not been in touch since yesterday."

One video allegedly taken in another city, Berdyansk, shows people being detained and beaten by Russian forces. The BBC has not been able to independently verify these images.



Speed of refugees fleeing Ukraine is unprecedented - UNHCR
Photo: Civilians trapped in Mariupol are evacuated in groups under the control of pro-Russian separatists Copyright: Getty Images
The speed of refugees fleeing Ukraine is "unprecedented" in recent history, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says.

"My colleagues I speak to, who have worked in crises for decades, say they have never seen this number of people moving so fast," Matt Saltmarsh, head of news and media for the UNHCR, tells the BBC.

Numbers are not yet on the levels of conflicts such as Syria yet, but "Syria has been at war for many years now", he adds.

The UNHCR doesn't have a presence in the besieged city of Mariupol, but the UN and other groups are trying to negotiate a safe passage from the city to ensure that civilians can leave safely, he says.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, earlier said that 10 million people have now fled their homes in Ukraine.

Asked how much aid this could look like, Saltmarsh says it is "hard to quantify".

"I think the primary need now is for shelter. Making sure people have somewhere to stay, ensuring they have a blanket, food and water," he says.

[DaffyVina]

Shell blast damages housing block in northern Kyiv
Shelling has badly damaged a 10-storey housing block in northwestern Kyiv, injuring five residents, the capital’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says.

Russian forces in Irpin, a few kilometres away, have previously fired rockets and shells at housing in the city.

Reporters in the Svyatoshyn district saw that the block’s windows had been blown out, there was fire damage, several cars were incinerated and the blast had left a crater nearby.

In a video clip Mayor Klitschko said there was also a kindergarten nearby, and “thank God there are no fatalities”.




Some Chernobyl workers finally able to leave
Photo: A Russian soldier near Chernobyl -Copyright: Russian defence ministry / Getty Images
Image caption: Russian soldiers seized Chernobyl nuclear plant on the first day of the war

After being effectively held hostage by Russian troops for more than three weeks, 64 workers at the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine have finally been able to leave.

They have been replaced by 46 employees who volunteered to travel to the plant.

Around 200 shift workers and members of the Ukrainian National Guard were stuck at the power plant since 24 February - the first day of the war - when Russian troops seized it.

With the Russian side unable to guarantee their safety if they tried to leave the plant, the workers were trapped with food and medicines in short supply. They were forced to sleep on whatever they could find - the floor, tables, and a few small camp beds.

During their ordeal, the plant lost its connection to the power grid after fighting in the region damaged an electricity cable.

There were fears that the loss of power could lead to a failure of the cooling system for the spent nuclear fuel which is stored at the site, although experts said that a major disaster was unlikely.

Chernobyl was the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986, when one of its four reactors exploded leaking radioactive material into the environment.

The plant continued to function until 2000, when it was finally decommissioned.

Photo of Temporary sleeping quarters for the national guard
Image Caption: Conditions are tough for the Ukrainian workers and national guard members at the power station




No let-up in bombardment of Mariupol - governor

Refugees leave the city of MariupolImage caption: Refugees leave the city of Mariupol
The intense Russian bombardment of Mariupol is continuing, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko says.

"They keep attacking. [The] bombardment, air strikes, and shooting in the city are constant. Now there is fighting, shooting, going on right in the city," he tells the BBC. He heads the Donetsk region where the port city lies.

"Today we received information that some people - I won't give their names - who were involved in getting information and helping evacuate people, they found themselves under fire, there are casualties among them unfortunately. They were evacuating people.

"[They were] people who need to move around, volunteers... that the occupiers know well are civilians, unarmed people - but they look for whatever pretext they can find to shoot at peaceful people."

[DaffyVina]

David Beckham hands over social media channels to Ukrainian medic

Former football star David Beckham has handed his social media accounts on Instagram and Facebook to Iryna, head of the Regional Perinatal Centre in Kharkiv.

Iryna says that during peacetime she is a child anaesthesiologist, and on the first day of the war all the pregnant women and mothers had to be evacuated to the basement of the hospital.

She says "unfortunately, we can't take babies who are in intensive care to the basement, because they rely on life-saving equipment".

Iryna adds the first days were the most difficult, learning how to work with bombings and missile strikes, and says her workday is 24/7 now.



22:33 20 Mar
Kyiv houses and shopping district shelled - Klitschko
Residential houses and a shopping district were shelled in Kyiv late on Sunday, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

"Several explosions in the capital's Podilskyi district," Klitschko said on his Telegram channel.

"According to the information we have at the moment, several homes and one of the shopping centres [were hit]. Rescue teams, medics and the police are already on site."



23:35 20 Mar
One dead in Kyiv shelling - Klitschko
More now on reported shelling of residential houses and a shopping district in Kyiv late on Sunday.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko says one person has been killed in Podilskyi district.

Rescuers are extinguishing a large fire in one of the shopping centres, he wrote on social media.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian emergency services (SES) released images of rescue and firefighting in the area.

Eyewitnesses spoke of several explosions.

Identifying information regarding the alleged victim who was killed is being investigated, the emergency services said.

[DaffyVina]

0:00
Russia demand for Mariupol surrender rejected

Civilians trying to flee Mariupol on 18 MarchImage caption: Civilians trying to flee Mariupol on 18 March
Russia's Ministry of Defence has called on the embattled city of Mariupol to surrender by 05:00 local time (03:00 GMT) on Monday morning - a proposal that Ukraine has rejected.

According to Russia's state-owned Ria Novosti news agency, the ministry has said that it will open humanitarian corridors to allow residents to leave by 10:00 local time (08:00 GMT) if it receives a written response to the proposal.

Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, the head of Russia's National Center for Defense Management, was quoted by Ria Novosti as saying that local officials would face a "military tribunal" if they don't agree to the surrender terms.

Early on Monday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that there can be "no question" of surrender.

"We have already informed the Russian side about this," she was quoted as saying by Ukrainska Pravda.

On Saturday, Mariupol's City Council accused Russia of illegally taking "several thousand" residents to Russia by force.




Slovenian diplomats to return to Kyiv
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša has announced that previously evacuated embassy staff will be returning to Kyiv.

In a tweet on Sunday, Janša said that the returning diplomats are volunteers.

"We are working to make the [EU] do the same," he added. "[Ukraine] needs diplomatic support".

On 15 March, Janša, along with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, visited Kyiv and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Following the meeting - the first by Western leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February - the Czech leader told Ukrainians that they were "not alone".




1:08
In pictures: Ten million flee Russian invasion
The United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR) says 10 million Ukrainians have now fled their homes because of the war - almost a quarter of the population.

It described the speed and scale of the displacement as "unprecedented" in recent decades.

Nearly 3.5 million people have left the country since Russia invaded last month. Almost twice that number have sought refuge in safer parts of Ukraine.

An old woman reads at a gym converted for accommodation for refugees in Lviv -Copyright: Getty Images

A Ukrainian evacuee sleeps in the railway station in Przemysl, near the Polish-Ukrainian border -Copyright: Getty Images

Women and children arrive at Przemysl train station -Copyright: Getty Images

A young man sleeps at a converted gym for refugees in Lviv -Copyright: Getty Images

A woman and daughter disembark from a bus near the Ukrainian-Polish border - Copyright: Reuters




1:21
Beijing will not send weapons to Russia - Chinese ambassador to US

The Chinese ambassador to the United States says that China will not send weapons and ammunition to support Russia’s war in Ukraine and that Beijing would “do everything to de-escalate the crisis”.

Qin Gang's comments come after US President Joe Biden warned his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Friday that there would be "consequences" if Beijing provided material support to Moscow.

Beijing denied reports last week that it was open to providing Moscow with armaments as "disinformation", but China has been reluctant to rebuke Russia for its invasion.

Speaking to US broadcaster CBS, Gang complained that public condemnation by the West "doesn't help" and that "good diplomacy" was needed.

[DaffyVina]

The wounded children of Putin's war
Survivors from the bombardment of Mariupol have received treatment in the nearby city of Zaporizhzhia where some of the youngest victims of the war are bearing the physical and mental scars of the conflict.

At the hospital the BBC's Wyre Davies heard from one doctor who said that he hated Russia for carrying out the invasion.



3:13
Four dead following Kyiv shelling
Rescue workers at site of damage
State Emergency Services of UkraineCopyright: State Emergency Services of Ukraine
More now on reports of shelling on Sunday that targeted residential houses and a shopping district in Kyiv.

Emergency services in the capital say that at least four people have been killed in the attack, up from a previous death toll of one.

In a post on his Telegram channel, the capital's mayor Vitali Klitschko said that rescue workers are still putting out a large fire at the site of the attack.

Images released by emergency services show a rescue operation underway at a Kyiv shopping mall, but the BBC has not been able to verify the reports on the ground.



3:31
Report of ammonia leak at Sumy factory
There has been an ammonia leak at a chemicals plant in the besieged northeastern city of Sumy, the regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyy has said.
Zhyvytskyy warned those within a five-kilometre radius of the Sumykhimprom plant should leave the area as the gas is hazardous.
The official did not say what had caused the leak in the 04:30 local time (02:30 GMT) post on his Telegram channel.

7:02
Ammonia leak contained: Official
Earlier this morning, we reported there were concerns in the city of Sumy about an ammonia leak at a chemical plant.
The region's governor said it'd been caused by Russian shelling, and had warned people within a five-kilometre radius to leave the area.
However, authorities have managed to contain the leak after two hours, Dmytro Zhyvytskyy said.
"Emergency crews are working to settle the ammonia cloud. There is no threat to the population," he said on Telegram.



6:05
Ukraine misses Mariupol surrender ultimatum
Several hours have now passed since a deadline set by Russia for Ukraine to give up the besieged port city of Mariupol, where 300,000 people are believed to be trapped with dwindling supplies.

What had Russia said?
The Russian military had given Ukraine until 05:00 Moscow time (02:00 GMT) on Monday to announce the city's surrender, promising that in return it would would safeguard two humanitarian corridors for civilians to leave the city.

How did Ukraine respond?
Ukraine rejected the ultimatum. "There can be no question of any surrender, laying down of arms," the country's deputy prime minister was quoted by Ukrainska Pravda news outlet as saying.
Speaking to the BBC, an advisor to the city's mayor said Russia's promises could not be trusted and the defenders would fight to the last soldier.

What could happen now?
It's not clear.
Moscow did not specify what its troops encircling the city would do if the surrender ultimatum was rejected.

[DaffyVina]

7:48
'Loud bangs, then a wall of energy' in Kyiv

James Waterhouse - Kyiv correspondent, BBC News

Photo: Firefighters tackle a blaze at a shopping centre after a Russian shelling in the Podilskyi district of Kyiv - STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE
Firefighters tackle a blaze at a shopping centre in the Podilskyi district of Kyiv after reported Russian shellingImage caption: Firefighters tackle a blaze at a shopping centre in the Podilskyi district of Kyiv after reported Russian shelling
The authorities tell us that at least six people were killed when a shopping centre and a number of houses were hit in the Podilskyi district of Kyiv, about eight miles (13km) north from where we are.

There were a series of very loud bangs at about 22:30-23:00. You almost don't initially react because you get used to it, then you're met with a wall of energy - the wind that hits the side of the building and the windows.

It's hard to tell what that was, whether it was an anti-missile system that the city has been deploying in recent weeks, or if it was an impact. But we woke this morning to those images of burning buildings.

It is a commercial part of the city, surrounded by residential areas. Regardless of whether it was the intended target, the concern is that, with Russia not having the air superiority it would like, with it not potentially - according to Western experts - having the capacity to surround Kyiv like in other cities, this will be the tactic for a while: Russian forces will get in positions to launch heavier artillery strikes and effectively try to bombard the city into submission.

The UK Ministry of Defence says it believes Kyiv remains Russia’s top prize in this war, despite the army's frustrated advances elsewhere.




8:30
'Russia is trying to starve Mariupol' - Ukraine MP

Hugo Bachega -BBC News, Lviv

Hundreds of people are thought to be trapped in the basement of a theatre shelled by Russian forces last weekImage caption: Hundreds of people are thought to be trapped in the basement of a theatre shelled by Russian forces last week
Dmytro Gurin, a member of the Ukrainian parliament who is from Mariupol, tells me he believes Russia is trying to starve the city to force its surrender.

Ukraine has rejected a Russian deadline for its forces to stop fighting in the besieged port city, saying there could be no question of soldiers laying down their arms. Gurin has said the city, where an estimated 300,000 people are trapped, will not surrender.

"Russians don't open humanitarian corridors, they don't let humanitarian convoys enter the city," he says.

"We clearly see now that the goal of the Russians is to start to [create] hunger [in the city] to enforce their position in the diplomatic process, and if the city does not surrender, and the city will not surrender, they won't let people out."

Gurin says teams are still unable to clean through the rubble of a theatre which Ukrainian officials say was bombed by Russia last Wednesday. Hundreds of people are believed to remain trapped in the basement, which withstood the attack. Moscow denies targeting the building.

"The services cannot clean this rubble because the shelling never stops and bombing never stops. It’s really dangerous," he says.

Gurin could not give an estimate on how many people had managed to flee the area as "we don't have connection with Mariupol".




8:46
Russian shelling hit 50-ton tank of ammonia
Image: A Ukrainian service member stands next to a bomb crater in the town of Okhtyrka -Copyright: Reuters
Image caption: The Sumy region has been bombarded by Russian strikes
More now on an ammonia leak at a chemical plant near the city of Sumy, which we reported earlier had been contained.

Officials have said that a 50-ton tank of the poison gas was damaged when the Sumykhimprom facility was hit by Russian shelling, and that this created an ammonia cloud.

The cloud affected an area of about 2.5km (1.5 miles), the region's governor, Dmytro Zhyvytskyy, said.

He said one injury had been reported - a worker at the plant. Residents of the nearby city of Novoselytsya were advised to shelter because of the wind direction.

Ammonia is largely used to make fertilizer and is corrosive. It can cause pain and burns to the airway and injuries to the eyes.




9:15
Watch: Kyiv shopping centre hit by Russian missile
Video content
Video caption: Kyiv shopping centre hit by Russian missile.
Ukrainian authorities say at least six people were killed when a shopping centre and a number of houses were hit in the Podilskyi district of Kyiv.

Video released by Ukraine's State Emergency Service captured the moment when the centre was bombed.

Firefighters were later seen trying to rescue people stranded beneath the rubble.

Warning: This video contains distressing images.




10:04
Curfew announced for capital Kyiv
A new curfew has been announced for the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

The curfew will be in place from 20:00 (18:00 GMT) today until 07:00 (05:00 GMT) on Wednesday, the city's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, wrote on the messaging app Telegram.

"I ask everyone to stay at home - or in shelters when the alarm sounds," he said.




11:49
In pictures: Kyiv shopping centre hit
Kyiv was hit by a number of large explosions late on Sunday, which included strikes on several houses and a shopping centre in the north-west of the city.

Photo: A man stand looking at the burning and destroyed Retroville shopping mall after a Russian attack on the north-west of the capital, Kyiv, on 21 March 2022 - Copyright: AFP
Image caption: The 10-storey building was hit by a powerful blast that caused a large fire

A man with his bicycle walks between debris outside the destroyed Retroville shopping mall in a residential district, after a Russian attack on the Ukranian capital, Kyiv, on 21 March 2022 -Copyright: AFP
The burnt-out Retroville shopping centre was still smoking on Monday morning

Ukraine army chaplain Mikola Madenski walks through debris outside the destroyed Retroville shopping mall in a residential district after a Russian attack on the Ukranian capital Kyiv on 21 March 2022 -Copyright: Getty Images
Image caption: A Ukrainian army chaplain walks past the twisted bits of metal and other debris strewn across the area

Ukranian serviceman walks between debris inside the Retroville shopping mall after a Russian attack on the north-west of the capital, Kyiv, on 21 March 2022 -Copyright: Getty
Image caption: All of the south side of the building was destroyed

Ukranian serviceman walks between debris inside the Retroville shopping mall after a Russian attack on the north-west of the capital, Kyiv, on 21 March 2022 -Copyright: Getty Images
In wake of the strikes, a new curfew is due to come into effect later on Monday

[DaffyVina]

13:30
Kremlin behind hoax calls to UK ministers - No 10

Ben Wallace and Priti Patel both received hoax calls last weekImage caption: Ben Wallace and Priti Patel both received hoax calls last week
Downing Street has publicly blamed the Kremlin for being behind hoax calls targeting British ministers.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Priti Patel said they had been targeted by calls from imposters last week while No 10 revealed an unsuccessful attempt was also made to contact Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries.

The prime minister's official spokesman said: "The Russian state was responsible for the hoax telephone calls made to UK ministers last week.

"This is standard practice for Russian information operations and disinformation is a tactic straight from the Kremlin playbook to try to distract from their illegal activities in Ukraine and the human rights abuses being committed there.

"We are seeing a string of distraction stories and outright lies from the Kremlin, reflecting Putin's desperation as he seeks to hide the scale of the conflict and Russia's failings on the battlefield."

Wallace had previously said he believed Russia was behind a call he received, claiming to be from the Ukrainian PM, but this is the first time the UK Government has directly blamed Vladimir Putin's administration.

Senior Westminster sources fear the Russians may attempt to doctor footage obtained in the calls in an attempt to embarrass the UK.



13:48
Russian troops fire on protesters in Kherson
Russian troops have dispersed a demonstration in the occupied southern city of Kherson by firing on protesters, media reports say.

Video footage has appeared on social media showing the protesters on a city square, with people running and the sound of automatic gunfire.

Some reports say stun grenades were also used.

Several people are reported to have been injured.

The city has seen regular protests against the occupation since Russian troops took over at the beginning of March.

It is the largest of only a handful of cities captured by Russian forces since the invasion last month.




14:18
Concentration camp survivor 'killed in Kharkiv attack'
The administration of the Buchenwald memorial centre in Germany has said a man who survived a number of concentration camps during World War Two was killed in the bombing on his home in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv on Friday, according to his relatives.

Boris Romantschenko, who was 96, "actively campaigned for the memory of the crimes of Nazism and was vice president of the Buchenwald-Dora International Committee", they said in a series of tweets.




14:33
Russian forces shell port city Odesa, Ukrainian officials say

The authorities in Ukraine's biggest port, Odesa, say Russian naval forces in the Black Sea have shelled some residential buildings on the outskirts of the city.

It's the first time buildings have been hit there.

A spokesman for the regional military administration said there had been no casualties.

The Russian navy has been blockading Odesa, which is seen as a major strategic and symbolic target for Russia.




15:06
Russian TV pumps out support for forces battling 'Nazis'

Steve Rosenberg -BBC Russia editor

In its coverage of Ukraine, Russian state TV continues to broadcast an alternative reality.Reports regularly allege that Russian forces are battling "Nazis", "neo-Nazis" and "ultra-nationalists", as if the Ukrainian government has been overrun by fascists, which is simply not true.

TV news here portrays Russian soldiers as heroes defending the "Motherland" and protecting Russian citizens and Russian-speakers in Ukraine.

The news bulletins continue to avoid calling this a "war" or a Russian "invasion". They stick to the Kremlin line, that what’s happening is a "special military operation".

And there is much finger-pointing at America and Europe.

Following calls in the West for an international tribunal to investigate Vladimir Putin over his actions in Ukraine, Russian state TV has now suggested that Western leaders - from George W Bush to Boris Johnson - be tried for war crimes.

Does the public believe what it’s being told?

Many Russians do. In Russia, television is the most powerful tool for shaping public opinion.

And since almost all independent Russian news sources have either been blocked or shut down, accessing an alternative view is increasingly difficult.




16:18
Images said to show damage from Odesa shelling
Photo: Firefighters tackling fire after shelling in Odesa - Copyright: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Earlier we reported that, according to officials in Odesa, Russian naval forces have shelled residential buildings on the outskirts of the port city.

Ukraine's emergency services have released footage of what they say is some of the damage.

The city has so far not faced the bombardment and fighting that other areas have experienced. But it's a key port, not far from the border with Moldova, and is considered a strategic target if Moscow is attempting to expand its control along the Black Sea coast.

Photo: Damage after shelling in Odesa -Copyright: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Firefighters working in Odesa



17:54
'Why was she killed that way?'
Video content
Video caption: Mikhail showed Panorama where his wife diedMikhail showed Panorama where his wife died
BBC Panorama has traced some footage of a missile strike in the southern city of Mykolaiv, which was posted on social media earlier this month.

At the site of the blast, the team found Mikhail, 64, who lost his wife in the attack. They had been trying to flee when she was hit.

Mikhail believed it was a Russian cluster bomb.

“How could they do this?” he said in floods of tears, walking around his damaged home.

Mikhail and Lyudmila, 60, were together for 42 years.

Mikhail has now moved 130km (80 miles) west, with his son, to Odesa, to escape the continuing bombardment of his city. However, residents of Odesa are also preparing for a possible attack.




8:27
Four children wounded as buses hit by shelling - Ukrainian governor
Buses evacuating civilians from front line areas have been hit by shelling, says the governor of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, according to Reuters.

Oleksandr Starukh says "four children were taken to hospital" and has blamed Russian forces.

The BBC has not been able to verify these claims.

[DaffyVina]

19:06
Jerusalem religious leaders unite in peace call

Yolande Knell -BBC Middle East correspondent, Jerusalem

Photo: Inter-faith leaders in Jerusalem (21/03/22) - Copyright: Reuters
This was an unusual interfaith line-up in the heart of Jerusalem: Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Druze leaders in their traditional dress.

But their prayer for peace in Ukraine took place in a symbolic location: Moscow Square, outside a compound of the Russian Orthodox Church.

“We are here to express first of all our solidarity to the people of Ukraine who are suffering this terrible war that we cannot understand and justify at all,” says the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

A letter to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow signed by 150 faith leaders from around the world is taped to the compound gate, urging him to use his influence with the Kremlin.

“In light of your close connection with President Vladimir Putin, we call on you to request that he take immediate steps to de-escalate the conflict,” it reads.

“Religion should be a force for peace, do not let it play into the war of nations,” comments Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein.

He says when a request was made to meet the Russian Orthodox Church leaders, the interfaith group had been told they were praying. “May God hear their prayers, and may they pray for the right thing,” he adds.

[DaffyVina]

[b]5:36 22 Mar -What's the latest?[/b]
It's 07:30 in Kyiv. If you're just joining us, or catching up, here's a round-up of the latest developments:

Biden warning: The US president says there are clear signs Vladimir Putin may be preparing to use chemical and biological weapons in Ukraine. Biden says the Russian leader "had his back to the wall" as a result of Ukrainian resistance, and there was a danger he could resort to more severe tactics
Zelensky defiant: Ukraine's president says his country will never bow to ultimatums from Russia - after Moscow said it would allow people out of Mariupol if Ukraine surrendered the besieged city. He's also called again for direct talks with President Putin "in any format" to end the conflict
Russia steps up air assault: The Ukrainian military says Russia has boosted its aerial presence in Ukraine's air space in the past 24 hours
Russian casualties claim: A Russian news outlet that briefly published what it said were the official numbers for the number of servicemen killed in Ukraine - nearly 10,000 dead and over 16,000 wounded - has said it was the victim of a hack
UK hoax video: A video clip from a Russian hoax call made to the UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has been published online


5:51 22 Mar Russian troops have ammunition stock for just three days - Ukraine
In its daily update, Ukraine's ministry of defence said that Russian forces have stockpiles of ammunition and food that will last "no more than three days".

Here is what else their statement says:

Russian forces have three days worth of fuel supplies, which are replenished by tank trucks. They have been unable to meet the needs of gathering troops.
Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Air Force has struck nine Russian air targets - one aircraft, six unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and two helicopters.
In Okhtyrka, a small city in Sumy Oblast in central Ukraine, 300 Russian servicemen refused to carry out hostilities on Ukraine, and have left the area of the operation.
Ukrainian forces defended 13 attacks and destroyed 14 tanks, eight infantry fighting vehicles, two multi-purpose towing vehicles, three artillery systems and four other vehicles.
The BBC could not independently verify these claims.

[DaffyVina]

6:26 22 Mar
Video shows Russia-backed militia launch thermobaric rocket
This footage - verified by the BBC - shows thermobaric rockets, also known as vacuum bombs, being launched in Ukraine.

The video, from the People's Militia of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, shows the rockets being fired from a Russian-made TOS-1A multiple rocket launcher.

Thermobaric weapons are controversial because they are much more devastating than conventional explosives of similar size, and have a terrible impact on anyone caught in their blast radius.


6:37 22 Mar
Watch: The Belarusian dissidents going to Ukraine to fight Russia
Video content
Video caption: Ukraine war: Belarusian dissidents fight against Russia in UkraineUkraine war: Belarusian dissidents fight against Russia in Ukraine
"Today I'm going to cross the Ukrainian border and fight against our common old enemy - Moscow troops."Pavel Kulazhanka is one of many Belarusian dissidents who has left life behind to fight alongside Ukrainian forces against Russia.

He says it is also "a fight for their motherland - Belarus."
"Without a free and independent Ukraine, there is no independent and free Belarus."


6:47 22 Mar
Rescuers race to extinguish fires across cities - Ukraine emergency services
Rescue teams in Ukraine are racing to put out fires and clear the rubble from destroyed buildings across major cities, Ukraine's State Emergency Services (SES) said on Tuesday.

Search works and clearance operations were carried out in the capital city Kyiv and Shevchenkivskyi districts of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine.

SES units have also been extinguishing fires in apartment buildings, private facilities, and other buildings caused by shelling, in cities such as Kyiv, Slobidsky in the northeast and industrial districts of Kharkiv.

Pyrotechnic units also continued disposing of undetonated explosive devices, the SES said.