The World Health Organisation advised Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens housed in the country's public health laboratories to prevent "any potential spills" that would spread disease among the population, the agency told Reuters on Thursday.
Biosecurity experts say Russia's movement of troops into Ukraine and bombardment of its cities have raised the risk of an escape of disease-causing pathogens, should any of those facilities be damaged.
Like many other countries, Ukraine has public health laboratories researching how to mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases affecting both animals and humans including, most recently, Covid-19.
WHO would not say when it had made the recommendation nor did it provide specifics about the kinds of pathogens or toxins housed in Ukraine's laboratories.
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New satellite photos appeared to show that a massive convoy outside the Ukrainian capital has split up and fanned out into towns and forests near Kyiv, with artillery pieces raised into firing position in a potentially ominous movement of the Russian military.
The photos emerged amid more international efforts to isolate and sanction Russia
Satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed the 40-mile (64km) convoy of vehicles, tanks and artillery has broken up and been redeployed, the company said.
Armoured units were seen in towns near the Antonov Airport north of the city. Some of the vehicles have moved into forests, Maxar reported, with towed howitzers nearby in position to open fire.
The convoy had massed outside the city early last week, but its advance appeared to stall as reports of food and fuel shortages circulated.
US officials said Ukrainian troops also targeted the convoy with anti-tank missiles.
Still, the immediacy of the threat to Kyiv was unclear. A US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russian forces moving towards Kyiv had advanced about 3 miles (5km) in the past 24 hours, with some elements as close as 9 miles from the city.
The official gave no indication that the convoy had dispersed or otherwise repositioned in a significant way, saying some vehicles were seen moving off the road into the tree line in recent days.
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US President Joe Biden on Friday will call for an end of normal trade relations with Russia and clear the way for increased tariffs on Russian imports as punishment for its invasion of Ukraine, five people familiar with the matter said.
Removing Russia's status of "Permanent Normal Trade Relations" with the US would significantly escalate pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the largest conflict in Europe since the Second World War.
The move would be coordinated with G7 countries and require an act of Congress, one source said. Lawmakers in both houses of Congress have expressed support.
The US Senate on Thursday voted to approve legislation providing $13.6 billion to help Ukraine finance ammunition and other military supplies, as well as humanitarian support.
Ukraine's stiff resistance against Russia's invasion could be a model for Taiwan to defend itself. writes The Telegraph's Asia correspondent Nicola Smith
Ukraine’s strong resistance against the Russian invasion could be a model for Taiwan to learn from if China decides to violate its “sovereignty” in an attack, a senior US defence official has told a Senate hearing.
China claims democratic Taiwan as its own territory and has threatened to invade. The US, which views Taiwan as a strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific even though it does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taipei, is the island’s biggest arms supplier.
It has long advocated for Taipei to focus on “asymmetric” capabilities of small, portable and survivable weaponry that could inflict maximum damage on a larger invading force.
"I think the situation we're seeing in Ukraine right now is a very worthwhile case study for them about why Taiwan needs to do all it can to build asymmetric capabilities, to get its population ready, so that it can be as prickly as possible should China choose to violate its sovereignty," Mara Karlin, Assistant Secretary of Defence for Strategy, Plans and Capabilities, said.
Meanwhile in Taipei, Chiu Kuo-cheng, the defence minister, warned that a conflict with China would be a disaster for all sides, regardless of the outcome.
China has largely backed Russia in invading Ukraine, a conflict that has parallels in Beijing's approach to Taiwan, while the government in Taipei has shown overwhelming support for Kyiv.
"Nobody wants a war," Mr Chiu said.
“It would take much preparation and assessment to engage in war, so China should really think it through beforehand. When fighting gets started, it would be severe for everyone. From ancient wars to recent ones, there are winning sides that only result in a miserable victory because of the heavy toll.”
Twitter will place labels on, and limit the spread of, posts from Belarus state media and their senior staff, the company said.
The aim is to curb misinformation from Russia's ally in its invasion of Ukraine.
Social media services including Twitter in recent years have started labelling accounts of state broadcasters and news websites to note that the organisations are government backed. Labelled accounts and their posts are limited in search results and recommendations on Twitter.
Yoel Roth, Twitter's head of site integrity, said the company would label about 15 Belurasian outlets.
"We've seen evidence that these outlets as well as their affiliates in Russia have engaged in information warfare, and are employing media and other assets that they control to propagate favourable narratives and to confuse and distract the public about what is going on," Mr Roth said.
WHO says it had collaborated with Ukrainian public health labs for several years to promote security practises that help prevent "accidental or deliberate release of pathogens".
"As part of this work, WHO has strongly recommended to the Ministry of Health in Ukraine and other responsible bodies to destroy high-threat pathogens to prevent any potential spills," WHO, a United Nations agency, said.
WHO would not say when it had made the recommendation nor did it provide specifics about the kinds of pathogens or toxins housed in Ukraine's laboratories.
The agency also did not answer questions about whether its recommendations were followed.
Ukraine's laboratory capabilities are at the centre of a growing information war since Russia began moving troops into Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova repeated a longstanding claim that the US operates a biowarfare lab in Ukraine, an accusation that has been repeatedly denied by Washington and Kyiv.
Zakharova said documents unearthed by Russian forces in Ukraine showed "an emergency attempt to erase evidence of military biological programmes" by destroying lab samples.
Russia’s poisonous past suggests Ukraine is right to fear a chemical weapons attack
The World Health Organisation advised Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens housed in the country's public health laboratories to prevent "any potential spills" that would spread disease among the population, the agency has told Reuters.
Biosecurity experts say Russia's movement of troops into Ukraine and bombardment of its cities have raised the risk of an escape of disease-causing pathogens, should any of those facilities be damaged.
Like many other countries, Ukraine has public health laboratories researching how to mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases affecting both animals and humans including, most recently, Covid-19. Its labs have received support from the US, EU and WHO.
Vladimir Putin ‘plotting chemical weapons attack in Ukraine’
The UN Refugee Agency estimates more than 2.3 million refugees have left Ukraine since Russia shocked the world by invading its pro-Western neighbour on February 24, and some 1.9 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced.
Overall, at least 71 children have been killed and more than 100 wounded in Ukraine since the war began, said Lyudmyla Denisova, the Ukraine parliament's point person on human rights.
The situation in Mariupol is particularly dire, with 10 days of constant attacks leaving more than 1,200 civilians dead, according to the mayor.
The UN said in addition to Mariupol, two other Ukrainian maternity hospitals had been attacked and destroyed, including one in Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv.
Mariupol's city council reported new Russian air attacks on Thursday on residential buildings and aid agencies say it faces an "apocalyptic" situation, with no water, power or heat for more than a week.
Moscow's military advances have sparked fears the capital Kyiv could soon be surrounded.
Russian forces were encircling at least four major Ukrainian cities on Thursday and armoured vehicles rolled up to Kyiv's north-eastern edge, where suburbs including Irpin and Bucha have endured days of heavy bombardment.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said half the population had fled, adding that the city "has been transformed into a fortress".
"Every street, every building, every checkpoint has been fortified," he said.
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