US President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin is "a war criminal" for launching Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in the sharpest condemnation yet by a US official of Putin’s actions.
"He is a war criminal," Mr Biden told reporters at the White House.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the President was "speaking from his heart" after seeing images on television of "barbaric actions by a brutal dictator through his invasion of a foreign country".
The White House had previously been hesitant to declare Putin's actions those of a war criminal, saying it was a legal term that required research.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Mr Biden's comments were "unacceptable and unforgivable rhetoric".
The US President also announced $800 million of new assistance for Ukraine including 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 100 grenade launchers and an unspecified number of drones.
Follow the latest updates in Thursday's live blog.
"My heart breaks from what Russia is doing to our people," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address, calling for more sanctions on Russia after Russian forces destroyed a theatre in Mariupol where hundreds of people were sheltering
The Russian defence ministry denied bombing the theatre or anywhere else in Mariupol on Wednesday.
In Kyiv, residents huddled in homes and shelters amid a citywide curfew that runs until Thursday morning, as Russian troops shelled areas in and around the city, including a residential neighbourhood 2.5km from the presidential palace.
A 12-storey apartment building in central Kyiv erupted in flames after being hit by shrapnel.
The Ukrainian president offered his condolences to the Irish premier over the death of Irish journalist Pierre Zakrzewski during a call on Wednesday.
Both Volodymyr Zelensky and Micheal Martin tweeted that the pair had spoken, the day after US network Fox News cameraman died when the vehicle he travelling in was hit.
Mr Martin is currently in Washington DC on the second day of his trip to the US as part of the St Patrick's Day celebrations.
The Taoiseach told the Ukrainian leader that everyone in Ireland admired his leadership in the face of the war waged by Russia and stands in full solidarity with the besieged country.
During the 20-minute scheduled call, Mr Martin told Mr Zelensky that Ireland would show its support in any way the country could.
Urging pressure be kept on Russia, the PA news agency understands that Mr Zelensky was also very appreciative of the support from Ireland, including the country's visa waiver scheme and the display of solidarity to mark St Patrick's Day.
He also offered sympathies to the Taoiseach and family of Mr Zakrzewski.
It is understood the Taoiseach told Mr Zelensky: "From the people of Ireland, the admiration of you and your people is very high. We as a government reflect that. They are behind you."
Ukraine handed over nine captured Russian soldiers to secure the freedom of the mayor of the city of Melitopol, who was detained last week, the Interfax news agency quoted a senior official as saying on Wednesday.
The office of President Zelensky earlier said mayor Ivan Fedorov had been released but gave no details.
"Ivan Fedorov was released from Russian captivity... for him, Russia received nine captured soldiers who were born in 2002 and 2003. These are actually children," Interfax quoted press aide Darya Zarivnaya as saying.
Ukraine had said Mr Fedorov was kidnapped last Friday by Russian forces.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has spoken to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to express his "grave concern" about the war in Ukraine, Lambeth Palace has said.
The Most Rev Justin Welby urged Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to publicly call for peace, when the two spoke via video call on Wednesday.
Patriarch Kirill has long had friendly ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
He has previously called for an end to "fratricidal" conflict in Ukraine.
In a historic address to Congress, the Ukrainian president reminded America of the 'evil' of 9/11 as he implored lawmakers to 'do more', report Rozina Sabur and Nick Allen.
Read the full story here.
Sergei Lavrov says a deal is close but cautious Kyiv keeps its distance from the so-called Austrian solution.
Read the full story here.
Maxar Technologies, a US satellite company, distributed satellite imagery it said was collected on March 14 which showed the word "children" in large Russian script painted on the ground outside the Mariupol Drama Theatre which was bombed today.
Maxar said it would distribute new images of the theatre as soon as it has them.
Mariupol’s city council said in a statement that a Russian jet had dropped a bomb on the theatre, where up to 1,200 civilians were sheltering, late on Wednesday afternoon.
Vladimir Medinsky, a strident culture minister who railed against the West’s ‘unfair’ view of Russia takes his place at talks to decide the fate of war in Ukraine, reports James Kilner.
Read the full story here.
David Cameron was asked whether he regretted his involvement with Russia, including a speech at the State University of Moscow in 2011 where he said Britain and Russia would be "stronger together".
Mr Cameron said to Channel 4 News that when he became prime minister "there was a sense that you had to try and find a way of working with these people".
The US held a meeting with European and other allies today to discuss a task force set up to pursue Russian oligarchs and violators of sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland met virtually with representatives from Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the European Commission.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said US President Joe Biden's characterisation of Vladimir Putin as a war criminal was "unacceptable and unforgivable rhetoric", the Russian news agency TASS reported.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the President was "speaking from his heart" after seeing images on television of "barbaric actions by a brutal dictator through his invasion of a foreign country."
The Biden administration is not seeing Russia take any actions to de-escalate its invasion of Ukraine that would suggest progress in talks between Russian and Ukrainian leaders, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said today.
’Different’, ‘erratic’ and ‘unhinged’ are just some descriptions of the Russian President’s recent demeanour, reports James Kilner.
Read the full story here.
US President Joe Biden said that Vladimir Putin is "a war criminal" for launching Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"He is a war criminal," Mr Biden told reporters following an event at the White House.
Earlier today, the US President announced new assistance for Ukraine including 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 100 grenade launchers, 20 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenade launchers and mortar rounds and an unspecified number of drones.
Vladimir Putin is turning to mercenaries and foreign armies to form a second wave of fighters in Ukraine, in an acknowledgement that Russian forces have taken significant casualties in the war so far, report Dominic Nicholls and Claudia Rowan.
Find out how Russia has been forced to turn elsewhere for more fighters.
Russian forces have released the mayor of Melitopol who they detained last week, the Ukrainian President's chief of staff confirmed today.
"The mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, has been released from Russian captivity," Andriy Yermak said in an online post.
Ukraine had said Mr Fedorov was kidnapped last Friday by Russian forces.
Russia's defence ministry denied it had carried out an air strike against a theatre in Mariupol, the Russian news agency RIA reported.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, described the strike on the theatre, located in a park in the centre of Mariupol, as “another horrendous war crime”.
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, discussed the Ukraine conflict with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the Russian church said in a statement.
"A detailed discussion of the critical situation in Ukraine took place," the Russian church said, adding that the pair discussed "the humanitarian aspect" of the crisis.
Earlier on Wednesday, Patriarch Kirill spoke with Pope Francis.
Emergency services said rescue workers had found the bodies of five people, including three children, during searches carried out today of residential buildings damaged by shelling in the northern city of Chernihiv.
The bodies were found in the ruins of a dormitory building.
Shelling by Russian forces caused a fire and damaged private homes and a gas line in Kyiv's Podil district on Wednesday evening, mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
The fire has been contained and emergency and rescue workers at the scene have not identified any casualties, he said in an online post
Vladimir Putin may be stringing Kyiv and the West along with talk of peace, while sending yet more troops to Ukraine to pursue his bloody war, writes James Crisp.
Read the full story here.
President Joe Biden said that the US was sending more anti-aircraft, anti-armour weapons and drones to Ukraine to assist in defence against the Russia invasion.
He said the additional $800 million of security assistance announced today would bring the total for the week to $1 billion.
Authorities in Ukraine’s besieged city of Mariupol say Russian forces have bombed out the local drama theatre, potentially trapping hundreds of residents in a bomb shelter underneath, reports Nataliya Vasilyeva.
The US called for 'such horrific attacks' to end and said they are 'considering all available options' to ensure Russia faces accountability, report Colin Freeman and India McTaggart.
Read the full story here.
Vladimir Putin issued a warning to Russians he described as traitors and said the West wanted to try to use them as a "fifth column" to destroy the country.
Addressing government ministers nearly three weeks into Russia's war in Ukraine, Putin angrily attacked the West and those Russians he said were abetting it.
Three people were killed and five wounded after shelling caused a fire at a market in the eastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine's State Emergencies Service said.
The fire was later extinguished, it said in an online statement.
The world could face its biggest oil supply "shock" in decades as major crude exporter Russia is hit by sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, the International Energy Agency warned today.
The Paris-based agency, which advises developed countries on energy policy, lowered its forecast for international oil demand for 2022, saying surging commodity prices and sanctions on Russia are expected to "appreciably depress global economic growth".
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Russia to stop the military actions it started in Ukraine on February 24.
"The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on Feb 24, 2022 in the territory of Ukraine," the judges said.
The judges added Russia must also ensure that other forces under its control or supported by Moscow should not continue the military operation.
Russia's media watchdog Roskomnadzor blocked access to the BBC's main news website today, with Moscow's foreign ministry warning of more retaliatory measures against the media.
"I think this is only the beginning of retaliatory measures to the information war unleashed by the West against Russia," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram.
Roskomnadzor listed the BBC News website as blocked in Russia.
Russia has opened at least three criminal cases against people for spreading what it called fake news about the Russian army on Instagram and other social media, the country's investigative committee said today.
Russia's parliament earlier this month passed a law making public actions aimed at "discrediting" Russia's army illegal and banning the spread of fake news.
Nato defence ministers have tasked military commanders to come up with plans to bolster the alliance's eastern flank after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said today.
"On land, our new posture should include substantially more forces in the eastern part of the alliance, at higher readiness, with more pre-positioned equipment and supplies," Mr Stoltenberg told reporters.
However, he said the alliance was not planning to send forces to Ukraine, after Poland called for it to deploy a peacekeeping mission.
"We call on Russia, on President (Vladimir) Putin to withdraw its forces, but we have no plans of deploying Nato troops on the ground in Ukraine," Mr Stoltenberg said.
It is too early to disclose any set of potential agreements between Moscow and Kyiv on resolving the conflict in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Psekov said today.
The comment came after the Financial Times reported that Ukraine and Russia had made significant progress on a tentative 15-point peace plan.
The newspaper cited three people involved in the talks as saying the plan included a ceasefire and Russian withdrawal if Kyiv declares neutrality and accepts limits on its armed forces.
President Joe Biden will address Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's speech to US lawmakers, but his opposition to imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine has not changed, the White House said.
Zelensky urged Congress to do more to protect his country from Russia's invasion in an video address today, including another appeal for a no-fly zone over his country.
Ukraine's military said children are among the casualties from an alleged Russian strike on a Mariupol evacuee convoy.
The Governor of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region shared photos and video of the aftermath of the Russian strike on the evacuee convoy.
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis held talks today about the conflict in Ukraine and urged negotiations to continue to reach a "just peace".
"The sides emphasised the crucial importance of continuing negotiations and expressed hope for reaching a just peace as soon as possible," the Patriarch's office said in a statement.
The statement said the two church leaders also discussed how to handle the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
The 75-year-old head of the Russian Orthodox Church is a key pillar of Vladimir Putin's ruling apparatus and has buttressed the Kremlin's authoritarian tendencies by denouncing opposition protests and blessing Russia's conflicts abroad.
Shortly after the start of Russia's operation last month in Ukraine, Patriarch Kirill called Moscow's opponents in Ukraine "evil forces".
Russia has attempted to use its support for reviving the Iran nuclear deal as leverage to minimise sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, reports Nick Allen.
The overlapping diplomatic crises have drawn in nations from around the world with a range of complicated relationships and agendas.
Here is what each of the main players want from each other and why.
Britain is supplying starstreak anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine, Ben Wallace confirmed today.
"We are supplying them - they will go into theatre," the Defence Secretary said to the BBC.
Last week, Mr Wallace said a decision in principle had been taken to supply the weapons system.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke today with General Nikolay Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, in the first high-level contact between Washington and Moscow since Russia invaded Ukraine, the White House said.
Prima ballerina Olga Smirnova has quit the Bolshoi in Moscow to join the Dutch National Ballet, it was announced today, making her the first Russian to quit the fabled company over the war in Ukraine.
"Smirnova was outspoken in her recent denouncement of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is making it untenable for her to work in her native country," the Dutch company said in a statement.
Smirnova is one of the biggest stars of the Bolshoi and had already expressed her opposition to the war on messaging app Telegram earlier this month.
The compromise would meet Putin's demand that Ukraine never joins Nato, reports James Crisp.
Read the full story here.
International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan has visited Ukraine where he held a video call with President Volodymyr Zelensky, the court announced today.
The pair met virtually, the Hague-based court tweeted. "We agreed all efforts are needed to ensure international humanitarian law is respected and to protect the civilian population," Khan said.
Khan on Friday urged parties to Ukraine's conflict not to use heavy, high-explosive weapons in populated areas as the Russian military continued its bombardments of homes and civilian infrastructure.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke today with Nikolay Patrushev, the secretary of Russia's Security Council, and warned him about the consequences "of any possible Russian decision to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine," the White House said.
Sullivan told Patrushev that if Russia was serious about diplomacy, then it should stop attacking Ukrainian cities and towns, the White House said in a statement.
Ukraine's position at peace talks with Russia includes demands including a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops that must be discussed in direct talks between the two countries' presidents, a Ukrainian negotiator said today.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that the West would not succeed in what he called its attempt to achieve global dominance and dismember Russia.
If the West thinks that Russia will step back, it does not understand Russia, Putin said on the 21st day of the war against Ukraine.
He also admitted rising prices - as a result of sanctions - were harming people's wages and pledged support to families with children. He warned that a rise in inflation would be seen.
Putin also claimed that most countries do not support sanctions on Russia, and defiantly said the West's sanctions 'blitzkrieg' against Russia had failed.
Russian forces have shot and killed 10 people standing in line for bread in Chernihiv, a city in northern Ukraine, the US embassy has said.
The US embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, tweeted on Wednesday afternoon: "Today, Russian forces shot and killed 10 people standing in line for bread in Chernihiv. Such horrific attacks must stop. We are considering all available options to ensure accountability for any atrocity crimes in Ukraine."
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine told President Joe Biden Wednesday that being the leader of the free world also means being "the leader of peace."
In a somber address to the US Congress appealing for more military help to fight off the Russian invasion, Zelensky said this war is not just about his country but about "the values of Europe and the world."
"I am addressing President Biden. You are the leader of the nation, of your great nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace," Zelensky said, switching to English for the final passage of his speech.
Zelensky called for more sanctions in his speech, including penalties on all politicians in the Russian Federation.
He said American companies must leave the Russian market immediately "because it is flooded with our blood".
He added: "I am addressing President Biden ... I wish you to be the leader of the world. Being a leader of the world means to be the leader of peace."
Zelensky showed Congress a video which started with shots of the Ukraine before the invasion and life as normal.
It then started showing images of dead bodies, bombed buildings, elderly people being helped by soldiers, children crying.
It included some of the famous images which have emerged during the war so far, such as an image of a pregnant woman in the encircled city of Mariupol and a father crying over the body of his dead child.
It was set to emotive music and ended with the words: "Close the skies over Ukraine."
A video of Ukraine that includes footage during and before the war is now playing to Congress. "I ask you to watch one video, the video of what Russian troops did," pleads Zelensky.
"I have a dream," Zelensky said, as he encouraged the US to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
"Is this a lot to ask for, to ask for a no-fly zone over Ukraine?"
The president has encouraged US citizens to "remember Pearl Harbour" and "remember September 11th" when thinking of the Ukrainian people.
"Our country experiences the same every day," he said. "Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death."
Zelensky greeted the US on behalf of "brave Ukrainians" who have fought Russian invasion.
He began his address by saying: "Right now the destiny of our country is being decided.
"Russia has attacked not just us, not just our land, not just our cities, it went on a brutal offence against our values."
The US Congress gave President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine a standing ovation Wednesday as he began an address to lawmakers on Russia's invasion of his country.
"Slava Ukraina," or glory to Ukraine, House speaker Nancy Pelosi said, as lawmakers gathered in a joint session stood and clapped enthusiastically for Zelensky, appearing by videolink from the besieged capital Kyiv.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President, will address the US Congress shortly after 1pm.
Zelensky's livestreamed address will be among the most important in a very public strategy in which he has invoked Winston Churchill, Hamlet and the power of world opinion in his fight to stop Russia.
Nearing the three-week mark in an ever-escalating war, Zelensky has used his campaign to implore allied leaders to "close the sky" and impose a no-fly zone to prevent the Russian airstrikes that are devastating his country.
It has also put Zelensky at odds with President Joe Biden, whose administration has stopped short of providing a no-fly zone or the transfer of military jets from neighboring Poland as the US seeks to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia.
Instead, Biden will deliver his own address following Zelensky's speech, in which he is expected to announce an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine, according to a White House official. That would bring the total announced in the last week alone to $1 billion. It includes money for anti-armor and air-defense weapons, according to the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The refugee minister has told MPs he expects "thousands of people" to arrive next week under the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme.
Asked if checks will be carried out by councils on accommodation under the Homes for Ukraine scheme before Ukrainians are housed in the UK, Lord Richard Harrington told the Commons Home Affairs Committee: "It may not be possible."
He added that "next week ... I'm expecting thousands of people to come but it will be their responsibility and, particularly where there's a possibility of vulnerability with children, this sort of thing, that would take priority".
Asked by the committee if he could give assurances that Ukrainian refugees will not be housed in hotels, he replied: "I honestly can't give you that undertaking. I'd like to but it's not our intention. But if all else fails, it's our duty to make sure they've got a roof over their head and they're fed properly."
Vladimir Putin's “emotional state is normal”, the Kremlin has said after analysts questioned whether he was acting with a sound mind.
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said the Russian president’s working day was “extremely irregular, there is no fixed hour”.
Answering a question on Putin’s emotional state following his invasion of Ukraine, Peskov said Putin typically works “from morning until late, late at night”.
But he insisted: “The emotional state [of the president] is normal.”
It comes after a string of politicians and experts questioned the rationale behind his escalating war in Ukraine amid mounting attacks on cities and civilians. Milos Zeman, the Czech president, described Putin as a “madman” after the invasion.
Local authorities are set to receive ￡10,500 per refugee for the first year to support Ukrainians through education, English language support, safeguarding and social care, the Commons Home Affairs Committee was told.
Under current plans the Government is not asking councils primarily to help with accommodation, as it intends to rely on the more than 120,000 people who have expressed interest so far under the Homes For Ukraine scheme.
Labour MP Clive Betts asked: "Isn't there a potential real problem there? That if there is a concentration of refugees coming to certain areas, where there may already be enormous pressure on things like child mental health, school places, that it will simply not be possible to give them the sorts of services they actually need?"
The Lord Harrington of Watford, minister for refugees, replied: "We're going to have to - we're going to have to find school places and we're going to have to find extra social workers."
A Russian woman who burst into a TV studio to denounce the Ukraine war during a live news bulletin told Reuters on Wednesday she was worried for her safety and hoped her protest would open Russians' eyes to propaganda.
In her first television interview since her extraordinary on-air protest on Channel One on Monday evening, Marina Ovsyannikova said that she had no plans to flee Russia and that she hoped she would not face criminal charges.
"I believe in what I did but I now understand the scale of the problems that I'll have to deal with, and, of course, I'm extremely concerned for my safety," Ms Ovsyannikova, an editor at Channel One, told Reuters.
"I absolutely don't feel like a hero... You know, I really want to feel that this sacrifice was not in vain, and that people will open their eyes."
She was fined 30,000 roubles ($280) on Tuesday hours after the Kremlin denounced her protest as "hooliganism".
Following Boris Johnson's meeting with the UAE's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, Downing Street said they discussed energy supply but did not confirm whether or not the Prime Minister raised human rights concerns.
A No 10 spokesman told reporters this lunchtime: "The Prime Minister set out his deep concerns about the chaos unleashed by Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and stressed the importance of working together to improve stability in the global energy market.
"The leaders welcomed the longstanding partnership between our two countries and discussed opportunities to increase collaboration between the UK and UAE on energy security, green technology, and trade.
"They also agreed on the need to bolster our strong security, defence and intelligence co-operation in the face of growing global threats, including from the Houthis in Yemen."
Liz Truss said there was no guarantee sanctioned oligarchs like Roman Abramovich would be free to return to the UK after the Russian war with Ukraine ends.
The Foreign Secretary also said she did not think the conflict was "near the end", in comments made on Sky News.
Put to her that Mr Abramovich could return once Russian troops had withdrawn, Ms Truss said: "No, I haven't said that. Because I'm saying even if the war was to end - and I fear we are not near the end, at this stage - huge devastation has been caused, lives have been lost as a result of this war.
"And there will need to be a reckoning with all the people who supported Putin, including Abramovich."
She said the UK was working with allies "in the G7 and beyond" to ensure oligarchs have "nowhere where it is legitimate for them to live their lifestyles, have their yachts or have their planes".
The UK had "cumbersome" sanction legislation before changes were made this week, Liz Truss has admitted.
Fielding questions on why Britain had taken longer than some of its allies to target individual wealthy Russians with Kremlin links, the Foreign Secretary told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The specific issue here is that we have - or had - some very cumbersome legislation.
"We essentially had unlimited damages if oligarchs sued us, so that made it very difficult for the Government to build the evidence cases against these oligarchs.
Ms Truss said the changes made by the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act, which received royal assent on Tuesday, "eliminated" the "huge risk" of the UK Government having to pay "very high damages" to Russian elites contesting British sanctions.
Nato allies will continue to send defensive weapons to Ukraine and are unanimous in supporting Kyiv, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday as he arrived for a meeting with his counterparts in the alliance.
"We remain united in our support of Ukraine," he told reporters. "We condemn Russia's unprovoked and unjustified invasion ... We support their (the Ukrainians') ability to defend themselves and will continue to support them."
Mr Austin added that Nato's pledge to defend all allies was "ironclad".
Ukraine is not a member of the military alliance and its president Volodymyr Zelensky accepted on Tuesday that his country would not become a member.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that a demilitarised Ukraine with its own army along the lines of Austria or Sweden was being looked at as a possible compromise.
"This is a variant that is currently being discussed and which could really be seen a compromise," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by RIA news agency.
The reference to demilitarisation appeared to relate to the idea of neutral status for Ukraine. Kyiv officials have yet to comment.
Ukraine was promised by Nato as far back as 2008 that it would one day become a member of the alliance. Russia has said it cannot allow that to happen, and both the Ukrainian president and Prime Minister Boris Johnson have ruled it out for the immediate future in the past 24 hours.
It comes as Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov this morning voiced hope for talks with Ukraine saying that Zelensky recently made a number of "very interesting statements" that show a "more realistic assessment of what's going on."
Russian forces on Wednesday targeted the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia, where thousands of refugees are taking shelter after escaping the besieged port city of Mariupol, regional officials said.
"Civilian objects have been bombed for the first time in Zaporizhzhia," the regional governor Alexander Starukh wrote on the Telegram social media platform.
"The rockets landed in the area of the Zaporozhye-2 railway station," he added, specifying that there were no known casualties.
The city of Zaporizhzhia is the first safe port of call for those fleeing Mariupol, which lies 55 kilometres (34 miles) from Russia's border. Many then head to the country's west, to Poland or other bordering countries.
Mariupol is facing a humanitarian catastrophe, as 400,000 inhabitants are left with no running water or heating and food runs short.
Around 20,000 people left the city on Tuesday through a humanitarian corridor but many others are trapped.
A senior Ukrainian official said it was an "open question" whether a "humanitarian corridor" would be opened on Wednesday to evacuate more civilians from the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine's deputy prime minister, added in a video address that Russian forces were in control of a hospital which they captured on Tuesday in Mariupol.
Some 400 doctors, other staff and patients there were being held hostage, she said, and Russian troops had opened fire from artillery positions on the grounds of the hospital.
Russian missiles targeting civilian areas are using previously unseen technology to ensure they reach their targets.
Moscow is deploying specially designed decoy systems not used in previous conflicts, according to US intelligence officials.
Ukrainian air defence systems have struggled to deal with Russia’s short-range ballistic missiles, thought to be responsible for many of the civilian casualties in Kyiv and Kharkiv.
Intelligence officials in the US said that Moscow’s Iskander-M missiles, thought to be fired from mobile launchers in Belarus and Russia, are deploying the decoy systems to fool Ukraine’s air defence systems.
Ukraine has dismissed an attempt by former German chancellor Gerhard Schr？der to mediate with Russia as “absolutely useless” and a “PR exercise”, Justin Huggler reports in Berlin.
Mr Schr？der, who is under fire over close ties with the Kremlin, flew to Moscow and met with Vladimir Putin last week in a private bid to broker peace. Details of the talks have not been made public.
Germany’s Bild newspaper quoted an unnamed source close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky describing the trip as a “PR exercise at our expense”.
“Further talks by Schr？der make no sense for Ukraine. It's sad to see the whole thing go wrong,” Andriy Melnyk, the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, told Spiegel magazine. “There was some hope of results, otherwise nobody in Ukraine would have agreed to listen to him. But the results were absolutely useless.
“Nothing new was reported that we didn't already know from our own talks with the Russian side. It's sad to see the whole thing go wrong.”
Listen to the latest episode of The Telegraph's Ukraine: The Latest daily podcast.
In this episode: Dominic Nicholls, Theo Merz and Danielle Sheridan on the latest news and reaction as a Russian journalist protests on state TV, analyses how Ukraine appears to be winning the drone war, and Ukrainian based in London, Val Voshchevska, describes what it's like living this conflict from afar.
Russia has said there is "some hope" of compromise in peace talks following its invasion of Ukraine.
"The negotiations are not easy for obvious reasons," Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said told the RBC news channel on Wednesday. "But nevertheless, there is some hope of reaching a compromise."
"Neutral status is now being seriously discussed along, of course, with security guarantees," he said.
Ukraine has also expressed cautious optimism on peace talks, saying negotiations "sound more realistic". It says it will not surrender or accept Russian ultimatums.
Mr Lavrov said key issues included the security of people in eastern Ukraine, the demilitarisation of the country and the rights of Russian-speaking people in Ukraine.
The former head of MI6 said that only China's president Xi Jinping can influence Putin to stop his invasion into Ukraine.
"Of all the people in the world that can assert influence on Vladimir Putin, who is in his bunker and who is obsessed by achieving greatness through the restoration of the Russian Empire..., of all the people that can talk sense to him, it's Xi," Sir Alex Younger told BBC Radio 4.
"Vladimir Putin needs Xi and of course Xi, while he feels he has to align himself at the high level with what Russia is doing because of their new alliance, must be deeply disturbed by what is going on," said the former head of the Secret Intelligence Service from 2014 to 2020.
He added that the situation in Ukraine is "seriously compounding the economic problems that China face" and carries a "huge reputational risk" for China.
He added: "Putin does not have a reverse gear. He gambled... he went into this war with a false premise, and he needs to be seen to be bringing something back from it."
The Bishop of Dover has criticised the Government's policy for refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.
In comments to the Canterbury Diocesan Synod, Rose Hudson-Wilkin said: "We see on our screens the plight of the people of Ukraine. And I want to tell you this, that deep inside me there has been a rage."
Criticising the UK Government's response, she said: "I'm a great tennis fan and there are John McEnroe's favourite words when he was a player: 'You cannot be serious!' I have heard myself say that when I have listened to Government, my Government, our Government, talking about visas and applying for visas.
"People are running for their lives and we're asking them to find a place and apply? My goodness, you cannot be serious. Should we still be looking through our domestic lens about what our people will say if too many people come to our country?
"I say that because I believe passionately that this is God's world and we are here as God's children to reach out and to build relationships, to name evil when we see it."
A ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine must be the precursor to any successful peace talks, Liz Truss has said.
The Foreign Secretary said "it is very difficult for the Ukrainians to negotiate with a gun against their heads", as she accused Russian President Vladamir Putin of "seeking peace while at the same time continuing with this appalling war that he instigated".
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme Putin was "clearly an extremely dangerous man".
It comes after Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President, said peace talks with Russia were sounding more realistic, but more time was needed.
The UN's top court is set to rule later on Ukraine's urgent request for Russia to immediately halt its invasion, with Kyiv claiming that Moscow falsely accused its pro-Western neighbour of genocide to justify the war.
The International Court of Justice will hand down its judgment at 1500 GMT on Wednesday in The Hague after Ukraine filed an urgent application shortly after Russia's attack on February 24.
Ukraine accuses Russia of illegally trying to justify its war by falsely alleging genocide in Ukraine's Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
Kyiv wants the court, which was set up after World War 2, to take provisional measures ordering Russia to "immediately suspend the military operations."
The hearing on Wednesday comes as the number of refugees fleeing Ukraine topped three million and Russian forces step up strikes on residential buildings in Kyiv.
Russia snubbed hearings on March 7 and 8, arguing in a written filing that the ICJ "did not have jurisdiction" and that "it was acting in self-defence" in Ukraine.
Emergency services in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region said on Wednesday that at least 500 residents of the city of Kharkiv have been killed since Russia invaded on February 24.
It comes after Russian forces launched more than 60 strikes overnight Monday into Tuesday on Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, according to regional administration chief, Oleh Sinehubov. The strikes hit the city's historical center, including the main marketplace.
He said the bodies of dozens of civilians were pulled from destroyed apartment buildings.
On Tuesday evening, Ukrainian forces repelled Russian troops who tried to storm Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, from their positions in Piatykhatky, a suburb 15 kilometers (9 miles) to the north, the regional administration chief, Oleh Sinehubov, said on Telegram.
He said the Kharkiv's defenders were able "to push the enemy back beyond its previous position," in what he described as a "shameful defeat" for Russia.
The Foreign Secretary has said sanctions from the UK and other western nations are having a "debilitating affect on the Russian economy" but urged allies to go further.
Liz Truss told Sky News: "What we know is that Vladimir Putin's plans are not going according to plan.
"He is not making the progress expected, and we know the sanctions we've put on are working.
"They are having a debilitating affect on the Russian economy.... Those sanctions are really beginning to bite."
Ms Truss said further British sanctions should be expected, saying "we've got more individuals on our list" as well as companies to target, but called for allies to do more.
She noted that the European Union had sanctioned three Russian banks compared with the UK and US targeting 10 major banks, and said "we'd like to see them sanction even more banks", while also arguing that more sanctions could come "collectively" from the 141 countries that voted against Russia at the UN General Assembly.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said she is sceptical about peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, insisting Russian President Vladimir Putin had to be stopped at all costs.
"I am sceptical about the peace talks whilst Putin is still waging war in Ukraine. He has to implement a ceasefire and withdraw his troops for those peace talks to be taken to be taken seriously," Truss told the BBC.
Putin has to be stopped "at all costs", she said.
Boris Johnson has downplayed his chances of getting Gulf states to increase their oil production during his trip to the region, as he attempts to reduce reliance on Russia.
Speaking to broadcasters on his trip to Abu Dhabi, the Prime Minister said: "It's not just a question of looking at the Opec countries and what they can do to increase supply, though that is important, there's also the issue of Emirati investment in UK wind farms, already huge, what more can they do.
"When we look at the dependency the West in particular has built up on Putin's hydrocarbons, on Putin's oil and gas, we can see what a mistake that was because he's been able to blackmail the West and hold western economies to ransom - we need independence."
He said the Government would be setting out its energy strategy "next week" to include a "massive jump forward on renewables, more nuclear, using our own hydrocarbons more effectively" and sourcing fossil fuels from outside Russia.
Several explosions rocked Kyiv early on Wednesday, according to AFP journalists in the city, with emergency services saying two residential buildings were damaged and two people wounded.
The blasts came as Russia intensified attacks on the Ukrainian capital, which was placed under curfew late on Tuesday due to what its mayor called a "difficult and dangerous moment".
At least three loud explosions were heard just after dawn in the western part of the city, and thick clouds of smoke billowed into the sky.
"Two residential buildings were damaged in an overnight bombardment in the central part of Kyiv, Shevchenkivskyi district. Two people reported wounded, 35 evacuated," the Ukrainian state emergency service said on Telegram.
The prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, who travelled to Kyiv on Tuesday despite the war, have called for Ukraine to be given EU candidate status.
The three made the call early on Wednesday morning following a meeting with President Zelensky.
Poland has also called for the establishment of a peace-keeping mission - led by Nato or another, unspecified international body - that could provide humanitarian aid while possessing the ability to defend itself.
Boris Johnson has said there is "no way Ukraine is going to join Nato anytime soon" but stressed that the decision had to be for the country's president to take.
Speaking to broadcasters at the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi, the Prime Minister said: "I talked to Volodymyr [Zelensky] again yesterday and of course I understand what he is saying about Nato and the reality of the position.
"And everybody has always said - and we've made it clear to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin - that there is no way Ukraine is going to join Nato anytime soon.
"But the decision about the future of Ukraine has got to be for the Ukrainian people, and Volodymyr Zelensky is their elected leader and we will back him.
"And the most important thing is that Putin's aggression, his absolutely barbaric attacks on Ukraine should stop and they should not be seen to have succeeded, and they won't succeed."
Drone footage appears to show a civilian motorist being shot by Russian soldiers just outside Kyiv after he got out of his car and put his hands up.
The shocking video was obtained by German public service broadcaster ZDF.
It said the images had been obtained from a Ukrainian military surveillance drone.
Read the full story here.
Russian warships around midnight fired missiles and artillery at the Ukrainian sea coast near Tuzla, to the south of Odesa, Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said.
"They fired a huge amount of ammunition from a great distance," he said on Wednesday.
Mr Gerashchenko said Russia wanted to test Ukraine's coastal defence system.
He said there was no attempt to land troops, but did not say whether any of the shelling hit anything.
Taiwan's government said it has a duty to stand with other democracies.
Late on Tuesday, Taiwan's Foreign Ministry announced a second $11.5 million donation to help Ukrainian refugees after an initial donation this month of $3.5 million. President Tsai Ing-wen has gifted one month of her salary.
"During this conflict, the Taiwanese people have shown boundless compassion," the ministry cited Foreign Minister Joseph Wu as saying at an event attended by several senior Taipei-based Western diplomats, including the de facto European Union ambassador.
China's government on Wednesday lambasted Taiwan's humanitarian aid for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia as "taking advantage of others' difficulties" after the island announced it was sending more funds donated by the public for refugees.
The war in Ukraine has garnered broad sympathy in Taiwan, with many seeing parallels between Russia's invasion and the military threat posed by China, which views the democratically governed island as its own territory.
Taiwan has joined in Western-led sanctions on Russia.
Asked about Taiwan's aid and sanctions at a news conference in Beijing, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said Taiwan's government was trying to latch onto the issue for its own purposes.
"The Democratic Progressive Party authorities are using the Ukraine issue to validate their existence and piggy back on a hot issue, taking advantage of others' difficulties," she said, referring to Taiwan's ruling party.
"Their attempts to incite confrontation and create hostility through political manipulation will not succeed."
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Russia was redeploying forces from as far afield as its eastern military district, Pacific fleet and Armenia.
"It is also increasingly seeking to exploit irregular sources such as private military companies, Syrian and other mercenaries," it said in a tweet on Tuesday night.
"Russia will likely attempt to use these forces to hold captured territory and free up its combat power to renew stalled offensive operations."
Flames gutted an apartment building in the Svyatoshynskyi district of western Kyiv as emergency workers climbed ladders to rescue people.
Thick, dark smoke choked the air. A firefighter at the scene confirmed one person had died and that several had been rescued alive, but more remained trapped inside. A young woman sobbed outside the charred building, where shocked residents assessed the damage.
"People are dying, and the worst thing is that children are dying," said Andriy, a firefighter at the scene who would only give his first name, before heading back into the burning building.
Ukraine said a Russian general had been killed during the storming of Mariupol.
Maj. Gen. Oleg Mityaev, who commanded the 150th motorised rifle division, died on Tuesday, said Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko.
There was no confirmation from Russia on the fourth reported death of a Russian general in Ukraine.
In the east, Russian forces blasted downtown Kharkiv with artillery, hitting the city's historical centre, including its main marketplace.
Rescuers were pulling the bodies of dead civilians from destroyed apartment buildings.
After days of relentless Russian shelling of Mariupol, an estimated 20,000 civilians used a humanitarian corridor to flee the port city.
The route runs west for more than 260km (160 miles) to the Ukraine-held city of Zaporizhzhia.
Russian troops seized a hospital in Mariupol and took about 500 people hostage during another assault on the southern port city late on Tuesday, regional leader Pavlo Kyrylenko said.
The soldiers drove 400 people from neighbouring homes into the Regional Intensive Care Hospital and about 100 doctors and patients also are believed to be inside, he said.
Japan will revoke Russia's most-favoured nation trade status as part of further sanctions against Moscow, two people with direct knowledge with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
The Government is set to announce the decision on Wednesday, public broadcaster NHK reported. The Group of Seven (G7) nations, which includes Japan, said on Friday that they would seek the move.
With the revocation of the most-favoured status, Japan would raise tariffs for certain seafood products such as sea urchins and crab imported from Russia by passing legislation during the current session of parliament, the Mainichi newspaper reported.
In 2021, Russia accounted for 81pc of sea urchins and 47.6pc of crab imported by Japan, according to government data.
Japan has already slapped sanctions on Russia-bound exports of chips and high-tech equipment, as well as on dozens of Russian and Belarusian officials, business executives and banks by freezing their assets.
The US Senate unanimously approved a resolution late on Tuesday seeking investigations of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime for war crimes over the invasion of Ukraine.
The bipartisan measure from Senator Lindsey Graham said the Senate strongly condemned the "violence, war crimes. crimes against humanity" being carried out by Russian military forces under Putin's direction.
It encourages international criminal courts to investigate Putin, his security council and military leaders for possible war crimes.
First introduced almost two weeks ago, the Senate resolution will not carry the force of law, but is another example of Congress providing the Biden administration with political support to take a tough line against Putin's aggression.
The International Criminal Court has announced it has launched an investigation that could target senior officials believed responsible for war crimes and other violations over the war.
Nato is set to tell its military commanders on Wednesday to draw up plans for new ways to deter Russia, including more troops and missile defences in eastern Europe, officials and diplomats said.
Defence ministers will order the military advice at Nato headquarters, just over a week before allied leaders, including US President Joe Biden, gather in Brussels on March 24.
Ministers will also hear from their Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov, who is expected to plead for more weapons from individual Nato countries.
Joe Biden will announce on Wednesday that the US is delivering a new round of military assistance to Ukraine, according to a person familiar with the decision.
The US president is expected to detail the assistance during a speech on the situation in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also scheduled to deliver video remarks to Congress on Wednesday morning.
While officials are anticipating that Mr Zelensky could once again call on the US and West to send Ukraine fighter jets or help establish a "no-fly" zone, the Biden administration is looking to send Ukraine "more of what's been working well", including anti-armour and air-defence weapons.
Since taking office, Mr Biden has committed $1.2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, including $550 million in just the past two weeks, according to the White House.
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