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War in Ukraine: Street in Bucha found strewn with dead bodies
Published3 hours ago

Ruined car in Bucha, 1 April
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption, Bucha has been devastated

Journalists entering a Ukrainian town which saw fierce fighting with Russian forces have found dead bodies of men in civilian clothes strewn on a street.

An AFP news agency reporter in Bucha, near Kyiv, counted at least 20 bodies. At least one man had his hands tied.

Ukrainian forces regained control of the town this week and photos show widespread devastation.

BBC journalists in another part of Ukraine found the bodies of two civilians killed by Russian forces.

Warning: Some readers may find content in this story distressing including a photo lower down.

Earlier this week the BBC's Jeremy Bowen and his team counted a total of 13 bodies, some of whom may have been Ukrainian soldiers, along a stretch of road between the villages of Mria and Myla.

Ukraine says Russian forces have made a "rapid retreat" from around Kyiv, with one official saying the whole region around the capital has been retaken since the invasion began on 24 February.

The invasion has seen thousands killed in ferocious fighting and has made refugees of at least four million Ukrainians. Western states have responded with tough sanctions against Russia and military supplies for Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to justify his attack by arguing that Ukraine, a former Soviet state with Nato and EU ambitions, was a constant threat and Russia could not feel "safe, develop and exist".

In Bucha, where a photographer for Reuters news agency also recorded dead bodies, holes gaped from apartment blocks hit by shelling and crushed cars littered the streets.

Sixteen of the 20 bodies seen by AFP lay either on the pavement or by the verge. Three were sprawled in the middle of the road, and another lay on his side in the courtyard of a destroyed house.

An open Ukrainian passport lay on the ground next to the person who had his hands tied behind his back with a piece of white cloth. Two other people had white cloth tied around their upper arms.

Warning: There is a photo below that some readers may find distressing

A Ukrainian official told AFP the dead men could have been killed in a bombardment or shot by Russian soldiers, and police would investigate.

But the town's mayor, Anatoly Fedoruk, told AFP by phone that all of the 20 dead had been shot in the back of the head. He added that other bodies still lay inside the wrecks of cars destroyed by shelling.

The town, he said, had buried 280 people in mass graves as a result of the Russian invasion.

Journalists witnessed bodies lying on the street
IMAGE SOURCE,AFP
Image caption, Journalists witnessed bodies lying on the street

Battle for Irpin: Russian forces pushed out of Kyiv suburb
By Orla Guerin
BBC News, Irpin, Ukraine
Published1 day ago

The battle-scarred town of Irpin now stands as an example of Ukrainian resistance, and of Russian defeat. President Putin's forces managed to enter the town but didn't manage to push through it. If they had, Kyiv would have been their next stop - the capital is just a short drive away, 13 miles (21km) down the road. Blocking the Russian advance here was critical.

We reached the city centre under armed escort, driving through streets strewn with rubble and downed power lines - and devoid of life.

Ukrainian forces gave us a careful tour - avoiding some main roads. We were told Russian forces might be present in the forests on the outskirts, though the Mayor, Oleksandr Markushyn, insists the town itself is completely under Ukrainian control.

Troops proudly showed us a Russian armoured personnel carrier which had been torn to shreds, its turret upturned. Another burnt out Russian vehicle was just down the road. But we were moved quickly from place to place because of the ongoing risk of Russian shelling.

Most of the 70,000 people who used to live in this middle class commuter city fled over the past month - darting out of basements, running the gauntlet of relentless Russian shelling.

Many may have little left to come back to. President Putin claims he is not targeting civilian areas, but the destroyed homes of Irpin give the lie to that.

Damaged residential building in Irpin
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS
Image caption, Many residential buildings in Irpin have been damaged or destroyed

We saw extensive damage in residential areas, including one high-rise block where a shell had punched a neat hole right through a corner apartment. There was a child's red toy car on the ground, close to a forsaken playground. There were cars with bullet-riddled windscreens, and charred houses where the roofs have been ripped off.

Some of the dead still lie beneath the rubble. Others were buried hastily in courtyards and parks because a proper funeral was impossible. The mayor estimates that between 200-300 civilians were killed here, some directly targeted as they fled. The final death toll is likely to be higher.

The Russians had held 20-30% of the city, but the resistance here was dogged. Ukraine's defence ministry has recognised "the mass heroism and resilience of the residents and the defenders" with the honorary title "Hero City of Ukraine". The title dates from World War Two when it was awarded by the Soviet Union to several cities.

Inside the city, as heavily armed police and troops kept watch, there was a palpable layer of tension.

This victory was hard-fought, but troops we spoke to conceded that the Russians could be back at some point.

"Yes, I believe that," said Serhiy Smalchuk, whose day job is TV presenting. "They need Kyiv, right, because Putin will lose if he doesn't take over Kyiv. So, perhaps they will try but we are prepared in case they come back, and we will defeat them."

"We don't know what they are thinking," said Ivan Kolehin, a young territorial defence recruit. "I don't think they will try again any time soon. Their ground forces have been removed but their artillery can still hit us."

Ivan had a day job in marketing before he took up arms. He seemed to be struggling to process the battle for Irpin, and the fact that he is still alive.

"I never thought I would live," he said. "On our third day we heard a whistle and they started to bomb us directly. We sat in the basement and the ceiling started to crumble. We were pretty scared."

Now he worries for the future of the city.

"It's still not safe here, but in due time we will rebuild," he said. "Probably it will take years, considering the damage. I am trying not to think about the fact that every house that was destroyed was built by someone, sometimes with their own hands."

He had Russian friends in the past, but not anymore.

"I hate the Russians from the depths of my heart," he said. "There are no excuses for this."

Woman in a wheelchair evacuated from Irpin
IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Image caption, Civilians are still being evacuated from Irpin

Moscow now says it will drastically reduce its attacks around the capital, and focus on the eastern Donbas region. In reality the Kremlin had little choice, as its offensives around the capital had ground to a halt.

But in time Russian forces may regroup and target the capital again. If they do, the "hero city" will once again be in their path, and in the line of fire.

As we left Irpin a trickle of civilians were evacuating on foot, crossing a river bed on planks of wood balanced precariously on rubble and boulders. This is the wreckage of a bridge, blown up by Ukrainian forces to block the Russian advance - another sacrifice made by Irpin.

An ambulance was waiting for two elderly women, carried up the river-bank on stretchers - survivors of a merciless and failed Russian assault.

Further up the road a departing column of Ukrainian troops - with the swagger of victory - broke into an obscene chant about President Putin.




21:33
Pope issues thinly-veiled criticism of Putin

Pope Francis appeared to criticise Russian President Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine earlier, saying a "potentate" - a ruler - was stirring up conflict for nationalist interests.

Speaking in Malta, the Pope said: "Once again, some potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, is provoking and fomenting conflicts, while ordinary people sense the need to build a future that will either be shared or not be at all."

Asked earlier by a reporter on the papal plane about a possible trip to Kyiv, the Pope said a visit to Ukraine's capital was "on the table".

23:27 2 Apr
Russia has increased air activity in south-eastern Ukraine - UK MoD
Russia has stepped up air activity towards south-eastern Ukraine in the past week, the UK Ministry of Defence says in an intelligence update.

It echoes a warning a few hours ago from President Zelensky, who said Russia wants to seize the south and east of the country.

However, the Ministry of Defence says Ukrainian forces are mounting a significant challenge to the Russians in the air - hampering their ability to secure the region on the ground.

0:20
Russia seeks to seize Ukraine's east and south - President Zelensky

Russia wants to seize Ukraine's eastern and southern regions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned.

In a video address late on Saturday, he said: "What is the goal of the Russian troops? They want to capture both Donbas [in the east] and the south of Ukraine.

"What is our goal? Protect ourselves, our freedom, our land and our people."

Zelensky also praised Ukrainian forces defending the besieged southern port of Mariupol, which has been virtually wiped out by weeks of heavy Russian bombardment.

The Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol and other Ukrainian cities allowed Kyiv to "gain priceless time", helping to weaken Russia's military capabilities, the president said.

Earlier this week, Russia announced that it would "drastically reduce" combat operations around the capital Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv, and instead focus on Ukraine's eastern regions.

1:45
'The rest of Europe can do it too' - Lithuania drops Russian energy
Lithuania’s energy ministry on Saturday said the country would no longer import natural gas from Russia - saying it was breaking "energy ties with the aggressor".

"If we can do it, the rest of Europe can too," President Gitanas Nauseda tweeted.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has been demanding that foreign buyers pay for Russian gas in roubles, threatening to cut off supplies.

2:28
Prospect of talks between Putin and Zelensky closer - Ukraine negotiator
With new evidence emerging of civilian killings in the Kyiv area and the continuing fighting elsewhere in Ukraine, is there any hope of a peace agreement?

Ukraine's chief negotiator said on Saturday that the talks had advanced far enough for President Volodymyr Zelensky to potentially speak to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Davyd Arakhamia reported progress at talks between delegations by video link on Friday, saying Russia had accepted Ukrainian proposals on all issues except Crimea, the territory Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Draft documents were at such a stage, he said, that the two presidents could hold consultations directly, but work was continuing on several issues apart from the document itself.

There was no immediate comment from Russia. Its chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said after Friday's talks that Russia's positions on Crimea and Donbas had not changed.

Russia insists that Ukraine recognise Crimea as Russian, and recognise the independence of the Donbas, where Russian-backed rebels control a large chunk of territory.

4:36
Is this the start of a new security era in Europe?

Katya Adler
BBC Europe Editor

Yes and no.

Nato is re-invigorated, the EU has been elevated into a credible geopolitical player, and its richest and most powerful member, Germany, suddenly said goodbye to World War Two sensitivities and announced huge investments in its military.

But for all Brussels' talk of the EU building "strategic sovereignty", it looks to Washington when faced with Russian threats.

EU defence plans, designed to complement - or to partly replace - Nato, are nothing new. And so far, they've never worked.

All the countries agree that it makes sense to pool resources and know-how. Yet, no nation wants to go first.

But the EU has its raison d'être back. Designed originally as a peace project, its vision fell by the wayside in recent times.

In that regard, this moment really is a new reality.


4:53
BREAKING
Loud explosions in Ukraine's port of Odesa - reports
Reports are now coming of loud explosions in Ukraine's southern port of Odesa.

Smoke was seen in the strategic city on the Black Sea coast on Sunday morning, a Reuters witness said.

Washington Post correspondent Isabelle Khurshudyan, who is in Odesa, tweeted: "Loud explosions in downtown Odessa right now. My hotel room windows just shook. Not clear what that was."

Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for Odesa's regional military administration, urged city residents to stay in shelters.

"We will overcome. Hell to enemies!" he wrote in a Facebook post.


6:58
Odesa explosions - what we know
Some more now on the multiple loud explosions heard in Odesa early this morning that we've been reporting on.

Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, has confirmed on his Telegram channel that "Odesa was attacked from the air" by missiles, some of which he says were "were shot down by air defence".

An AFP news wire reporter heard explosions in the port city at 06:00 local time (03:00 GMT), followed by at least three thick columns of smoke and flames visible in an apparently industrial area.

The target of the strike has not yet been confirmed.


7:27
Ukraine: Six Russian attack attempts in east
In the Ukrainian army's daily operational update, its military officials have given details of Russian attacks in the eastern Donbas region.

"On the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, the defenders of Ukraine repulsed six enemy attacks, destroyed four tanks, six units of armoured vehicles and seven units of enemy vehicles," military officials said in a Facebook post.


7:44
Russian negotiator: It's too early for top meeting

Some more now on the peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.

Yesterday, Ukraine's chief negotiator said negotiations had advanced far enough to make a meeting between presidents Volodoymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin a possibility (see our post at 02:28).

Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky is now suggesting that this is not the case.

"The draft agreement is not ready for submission to a meeting at the top," Medinsky has posted on his Telegram channel.

Ukraine war: Family’s bid to reach safety ends in tragedy
By Abdujalil Abdurasulov and Mal Siret
BBC News
Published8 hours ago

Photo of Ksenia and Maksim Iovenko
IMAGE SOURCE,SUPPLIED
Image caption, Ksenia and Maksim met while working at the same travel agency in Kyiv


The drone footage shows three cars speeding along an empty main road just outside the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, when they suddenly turn around and race back - all except one.

This white car turns, but then stops. A man steps out and raises his hands. Then his body falls to the ground. Moments later, Russian soldiers approach. An elderly woman and child leave the car, and a soldier walks them away.

The man on the ground was Maksim Iovenko. The 31-year-old was shot dead by Russian forces that were positioned at the roadside. His wife Ksenia, who was in the car, was also killed.

Their six-year-old son and the elderly friend of the family who were with them escaped, although she was wounded and remains in hospital. (Both families asked us not to name them.)

"Until I saw the video, I still had some hope," Maksim's father Sergiy Iovenko tells the BBC in Kyiv, where he lives. "I was hoping that he was alive."

The incident happened on 7 March, when Maksim and his family joined a convoy of about 10 cars of civilians trying to reach Kyiv from the western outskirts of the city, which had become a conflict zone.

It was filmed by a Ukrainian territorial defence group doing aerial reconnaissance, and widely shared.

Video
Media caption, Video captured by a Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance group appears to show Russian forces shooting at civilians

When a friend of Maksim's who was part of the convoy called Sergiy to tell him the news, Sergiy says he immediately knew something was wrong. There was silence when he picked up the phone, and eventually the friend said: "Stay strong, your son and daughter-in-law are gone."

Maksim lived in Kyiv and worked for a travel agency, which is where he and Ksenia met. Sergiy describes his son as a family man with a kind heart who liked to sing karaoke. But his biggest hobby was his family, he says. "He loved his son very much, and this was his passion."

Like many other Ukrainians, Sergiy says he and his family didn't believe Russian President Vladimir Putin would invade. Once Putin did, Maksim thought Kyiv would be one of the first cities to be shelled.

Having discussed the situation with an old school friend, Maksim and his family moved west to the friend's second home, or dacha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, not far from the E-40 highway where the shooting would happen. Maksim told his father he thought it would be quieter there.

"It turned out the opposite," Sergiy says.

While Russia's main focus appeared to be on the east and south of the country, Russian forces also started bombing towns and cities to the west of the capital, such as Irpin, Bucha and Hostomel - close to where Maksim was staying. Sergiy says he would often hear the sound of the heavy bombing from his home in Kyiv.

Maksim wouldn't say much about conditions at the dacha, Sergiy says. "He would say, 'it is quiet, peaceful, all is normal.'"

Maksim and his friend, also called Maksim, would take turns patrolling the area overnight, Sergiy says. Power outages and poor mobile signal meant regular contact was difficult. As the bombing continued, they moved into the basement, leaving only to buy food.

Map shows the E-40 highway in Ukraine, connecting Kyiv with Zhytomyr to the west

Then, on 7 March, they lost all power. With no electricity, heating or food, Maksim, Ksenia and other families staying in the area decided to return to Kyiv. They knew they risked running into Russian troops along the highway, but they thought they could make it through safely.

Maksim's car was third in the convoy, made up of about 50 people in total, including other children. In the windows of his car, he had put handwritten signs on white paper that read: "Children." His friend was part of the same convoy, and it was his mother who was in the car with Maksim and Ksenia, and he was able to tell Sergiy what happened.

When the shooting started, Maksim's car was hit. "The car's engine stalled," Sergiy says. "My son jumped out of the car, he raised his hands and started shouting that there was a child in the car, so that the child would be saved."

It's not clear why the rest of the convoy fell behind the first three cars, but Sergiy believes many of those driving behind turned back when they saw the cars in front turning and heard the gunshots.

After the shooting, Maksim's body was left on the highway and Ksenia's was left in the car. Maksim's son and his friend's mother were told by Russian soldiers to walk back along the road. When they got a safe distance from the Russian soldiers, she called her husband, who came to take them to safety. They returned to the dacha, and were evacuated safely to Kyiv the next day.

The boy is with his grandmother in a safe location in Ukraine but away from Kyiv, where Sergiy remains.

On Friday, Sergiy received a call informing him that the area had been re-taken by Ukrainian forces. There was more bad news.

"They burned everyone. Burned the cars as well," Sergiy says.

A team of BBC journalists taken to the same stretch of road saw many burned cars and bodies. Among them was Maksim's car, riddled with shrapnel and reduced to a shell by fire, with the burned remains of a body inside it and one on the road beside it, still wearing a wedding ring.

Sergiy says he is heartbroken by what has happened, and by what his grandson has had to witness.

The child remembers seeing the Russian soldiers with their weapons and is receiving support from family and specialists, Sergiy says.

"The only words he said when he got to a safe place, to his grannies, were: 'We won't be sleeping in a basement any longer, will we? And there won't be any scary men?'"

8:03
No casualties reported after Odesa air strikes

Some more information now on the missile strikes targeting the city of Odesa that we've been reporting on this morning.

In a post on his Telegram channel, Ukrainian military official Vladislav Nazarov says that so far there are no known casualties following the attack.

Nazarov adds that critical infrastructure facilities were damaged but didn't give any more details on the target.

8:53
Russia claims Odesa attack targeted infrastructure
Another update on the missile strikes that hit the Ukrainian city of Odesa this morning.

The Russian defence ministry is now saying that its forces destroyed an oil refinery and three fuel storages with high-precision sea and air missiles in the Odesa region, Interfax news agency reports.

It said that the facilities were being used by Ukraine to supply its troops near the city of Mykolaiv.

As we reported in our earlier post, Ukrainian officials say that there are no known casualties from the early morning strike.


9:07
In pictures: Smoke billows from Odesa oil facilities

Image shows smoke rising over ground
Copyright: AFP

Photographs are now emerging from Odesa showing the impact of the multiple Russian air strikes that hit the port city earlier this morning.
Russia says it targeted oil facilities in the region that Ukraine was using to supply its troops.
Ukrainian officials say there are no known casualties so far.

Image shows flames and smoke rising out of ground
Copyright: AFP


Image shows man with dog watching smoke rise
Copyright: AFP

Image shows man on motorcycle in front of thick smoke rising out of ground in distance
Copyright: AFP

9:44
Oil refinery in central Ukraine completely destroyed - governor
An oil refinery in a different location in Ukraine - in Kremenchuk city in the centre of the country - has been completely destroyed in a Russian attack, the governor of the Poltava region has said on television, Reuters news agency reports.

"The fire at the refinery has been extinguished but the facility has been completely destroyed and can no longer function," Lunin Dmytro Lunin was quoted as saying.

The Kyiv Independent newspaper tweeted that a missile attack on 1 April destroyed the oil refinery - the biggest in Ukraine.

Kremenchuk is a key industrial site in central Ukraine.

9:56
UK wants to give Ukraine anti-ship missiles - report

The UK government wants to supply Ukraine with anti-ship missiles to sink Russian warships, and ease the pressure on coastal cites they are bombarding from the sea, the Sunday Times is reporting.

The newspaper described the plan as part of a "gear change" in the West's response to the war.

It said UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told ministers that he wanted to supply the weapons to prevent Russian forces from advancing on the southern port city of Odesa.

Russian missile strikes hit the city this morning

10:13
It looks exactly like war crimes - Zelensky adviser

Video content
Video caption: Zelensky spokesman describes heartbreaking scenes in Ukraine

Russian forces could be leaving behind evidence of war crimes as they retreat from territories around Kyiv, an adviser to Ukrainian president Volodmyr Zelensky has said in an interview with the BBC.

Sergey Nikiforov described the images coming out of the towns of Bucha, Hostomel, and Irpin - near Kyiv - as "heartbreaking".

He says Ukrainian forces have found mass graves, people with their hands and legs tied up, and the bodies of civilians executed with bullets in the back of their heads.

"It's very hard to understand why this is happening," he said. "It's pure brutality. There's no military necessity to do all this."

The BBC's Jeremy Bowen has been on the ground in Bucha, the streets of which he reports are littered with corpses and burned-out tanks.


10:49
Scenes Russians leaving behind defy belief - UK minister

The UK's Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has described some of the reports emerging from territories around Kyiv given up by Russian forces as "horrendous".

"It defies belief that in Europe in the 21st Century that these sort of acts could be committed," Shapps said in a BBC interview.

"I think it's important that even in these war-torn times that this is documented as far as possible because it's important we have the ability as a global community to follow up on this afterwards."

In the town of Bucha near Kyiv a journalist from AFP news agency has identified more than 20 corpses, many of which were strewn on the street and dressed in civilian clothes.

Earlier this week the BBC's Jeremy Bowen counted 13 bodies on another short stretch of road also near Kyiv, two of which were confirmed to belong to civilians killed by Russian forces.


11:24
Calls for sanctions in response to Bucha 'massacre'
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has asked the world to respond to the "massacre" that he says has occurred in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv.

"Russians aim to eliminate as many Ukrainians as they can," he said in a Twitter post, calling on the G7 group of the world's richest nations to impose sanctions on Russia in response.

Separately, the President of the EU Council Charles Michel has also used the word "massacre" to describe the scenes revealed in Bucha after Russian forces retreated from the town.

Michel says the EU will be imposing sanctions in response and is assisting in efforts to gather evidence for use in international courts.


11:53
UK: Investigate indiscriminate civilian attacks as war crimes

"Indiscriminate attacks" by Russian forces against Ukrainian civilians should be investigated as war crimes, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says.

Referencing what she describes as "appalling acts" by Russia in towns such as Irpin and Bucha, Truss pledged the UK's full support for investigations by the International Criminal Court.

"We will not allow Russia to cover up their involvement in these atrocities through cynical disinformation and will ensure that the reality of Russia's actions are brought to light," she said.

Meanwhile, the UK's ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, has said that, while the full extent of rape in the conflict is not known, "it’s already clear it was part of arsenal".

"Women raped in front of their kids, girls in front of their families, as a deliberate act of subjugation. Rape is a war crime," she added.


13:25
Germany condemns killings in Bucha as 'terrible war crime'

As we've been reporting, world leaders have today been condemning the scenes in areas left behind by Russian forces as they retreat from around Kyiv.

"This terrible war crime cannot go unanswered," German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said in an interview with Bild newspaper.

Habeck added: "I think that a strengthening of sanctions is called for. That's what we are preparing with our EU partners."

Writing on Twitter, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: "Appalled by reports of unspeakable horrors in areas from which Russia is withdrawing.

"An independent investigation is urgently needed. Perpetrators of war crimes will be held accountable."

Multiple reports of Russian violence against civilians have emerged from Bucha near Kyiv, including an unconfirmed claim by Ukrainian officials that the town has been forced to bury 280 people in mass graves.


13:46
Questions over Russian Bucha denials
Will Vernon
BBC News, Moscow

The official Telegram channel of the Russian Defence Ministry has shared a claim that reports of civilian deaths in the town of Bucha are "fake".

Videos from the city, which was recently retaken by Ukrainian forces, show civilians lying dead in the street, some of them apparently with their hands tied, have shocked the world.

The reposted report claims that Russian forces left the city on 30 March – "where have these pictures been for 4 days? The fact that they were absent only confirms that this is fake".

The post then claimed that one video from Bucha shows signs of being faked. It says that during two points, the corpses in the footage move.

BBC Moscow journalists watched the footage and saw no evidence of movement from the bodies. The BBC also played the footage slowed down, and again no sign of movement was seen.

The Russian Defence Ministry have not yet commented officially on the situation in Bucha. The report mentioned above was reposted by the ministry.

The post then claimed that, after Russian forces left Bucha, "The Ukrainian Armed Forces subjected the city to artillery strikes, which also could have led to civilian deaths." A mass grave found in the city, it says, was created by the Ukrainians.

The Ukrainians accuse Russian forces of war crimes in Bucha, including the killing of civilians.

12:38
Polish doctor saves family's sight after bombing
Kasia Madera, BBC News, Lublin, Poland

Video content
Video caption: Ukraine war: Mum describes bomb crashing into her family homeUkraine war: Mum describes bomb crashing into her family home
It was the morning of 11 March in the eastern Ukrainian region of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, when a bomb crashed into Olena Selichzianowa's home - and her family.

Speaking in Russian, the mother of five-year-old twin boys, Nazar and Timur, describes how she fell to her knees, pulling her sons beneath her to protect them from the pieces of shrapnel. After the bomb's impact she recalls nothing.

All three were blinded by the flying fragments that cut into their arms and faces. Their skin was badly burned, a small shard of glass embedded itself in one of Olena's eyes and her leg was broken.

The family were pulled from the wreckage and taken to a nearby hospital, but their wounds were so serious they had to be moved quickly.

Nazar and Timur playing
Copyright: BBC
Image caption: Nazar and Timur have had several surgeries to try to save their sight

In Lviv, eye specialist Dr Nataliya Preys was made aware of this family's injuries. Dr Preys sent images of the wounds to her former teacher in Poland, Professor Robert Rejdak, at the Medical University of Lublin.

He knew the three needed to be treated immediately. But the fighting in Ukraine meant it would take a week for Olena, Nazar and Timur to reach Poland.

"They have come from hell," Professor Rejdak told us. "The mum was completely blind, she could only reach out to touch her children. The children were so hungry and tired when they first arrived that they only ate, slept and cried."

He is visibly moved as he recounts their first meeting. Then, his expertise as a leading surgeon at one of Europe's largest eye hospitals takes over.

"We decided to operate on mum. I performed bilateral cataract surgery. The surgery was really complicated because of the wounds, because of a piece of glass inside one eye.

"Fortunately the surgery went really perfectly and Olena sees almost fully two days after. The healing process is perfect so I hope it will be even better - but at least now she can see her boys and look around."

The little boys' journey to health will take longer. Nazar has lost his eye.

13:08
Russia pounds another port city - Ukraine official
Following air strikes by Russian forces on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, we are now receiving reports of an attack on another port city, Mykolaiv.

Anton Herashchenko, an aide to Ukraine's interior minister, said that local authorities had reported several rocket attacks on Mykolaiv, Reuters reports.

Russia's military has been targeting Ukraine's southern ports - including Odesa and Mykolaiv - in an apparent attempt to block Ukraine from the Black Sea and to create a land corridor from Russia to the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow took control of in 2014.

14:06
Russian soldiers die after Kharkiv locals hand out poisoned pies, Ukraine says

Two Russian soldiers died and 28 were hospitalised after local people in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine gave them pies laced with poison - according to the Ukraine Ministry of Defence.

In an intelligence update, it described Ukrainians as "resisting the occupiers by all available means" and claimed the affected troops were from Russia's 3rd Motorised Rifle Division.

The ministry also said a further 500 Russian troops were hospitalised with "severe alcohol poisoning of unknown origin".

The BBC has been unable to verify the claims.

14:46
Bucha scenes a punch to the gut, says US secretary of state

View of the extensive damage of a building, following the Russian army's retreat from the area during its invasion, in Bucha, Kyiv region, Ukraine April 2, 2022 in this image obtained from social media
Copyright: Reuters

We've been reporting the claims of a deliberate massacre in Bucha, near Kyiv, and now US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has described scenes of bodies on the street as a "punch to the gut".

"You can't help but see these images as a punch to the gut," Blinken told CNN.

"This is the reality of what's going on every single day as long as Russia's brutality against Ukraine continues," Blinken said.

Earlier, Ukraine's foreign minister accused Russian forces of killing hundreds of people in the town.

Dmytro Kuleba said in comments posted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "We are still gathering and looking for bodies, but the number has already gone into the hundreds. Dead bodies lie on the streets.

"They killed civilians while staying there and when they were leaving these villages and towns."

He urged the G7 group of wealthy nations to impose "devastating" new sanctions on Russia.


15:01
Village head found dead after abduction, says Ukrainian deputy PM
The head of a Ukrainian village abducted by Russian soldiers last month has been found dead, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said.

The abduction of Olha Sukhenko, head of the village of Motuzhyn in the Kyiv region, and her husband was announced by Ukraine's attorney general on 26 March.

Speaking on Sunday, Vereshchuk said that both had been "killed in captivity" by Russian forces, the AFP reported.

It comes after Russian forces withdrew from a number of areas around Kyiv that they have been occupying in recent weeks.

Vereshchuk claimed that 11 local community leaders in the regions of Kyiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Donetsk are also known to have been kidnapped.

"We are informing the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN, all possible organisations, just like for the other civilians who have disappeared," she said.

She also urged "everyone to do everything in their power to get them back."


15:18
Macron: Bucha images are unbearable and Russia must answer for crimes
French President Emmanuel Macron has described the images from Bucha as "unbearable".

Macron shared his compassion for Ukrainians and the victims, adding: "The Russian authorities will have to answer for these crimes."

The French leader - who faces a national election this month - has spoken regularly with Russian President Vladimir Putin throughout the build-up to the invasion and subsequently, and has positioned himself as a broker for peace.