Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned against attempts by the West to use Russians who oppose his rule to bring about the "destruction of Russia".

       "But any people, and even more so the Russian people, will always be able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors and will simply spit them out like a gnat that accidentally flew into their mouths, spit them out on the pavement," Putin said in a speech to Cabinet members and regional leaders.

       He said "a natural and necessary self-purification of society will only strengthen our country".

       It comes as US President Joe Biden announced an additional $800 million for Ukraine's military and said Putin is a "war criminal".

       Fighting continued in Kyiv's suburbs, depriving thousands of people heat and clean water.

       Powerful explosions thundered in the region around Kherson, a strategic port near the Black Sea. Ukrainian military forces have dealt a punishing blow to Russian air assets stationed at the airport in Kherson, which Russian troops seized early in the war, the Ukraine military's General Staff said on Wednesday night.

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       UK military intelligence has said Russia's invasion of Ukraine has largely stalled on all fronts:

       Japan's military said on Thursday that it had spotted four large Russian amphibious warfare ships moving close to its islands as they travelled west, possibly towards Europe.

       Pictures of the amphibious transport - typically used for landing expeditionary forces ashore - published by Japan's defence ministry showed what appeared to be military trucks loaded onto the deck of one of the vessels.

       "We don't know where they are heading, but their heading suggests it is possible [they are bound for Ukraine]," a Japanese defence ministry spokesman said.

       A Japanese Self-Defence Force maritime patrol first detected the Russian vessels - which can carry dozens of tanks, other military vehicles and hundreds of troops - on Tuesday and monitored them as they passed West from the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan through the narrow Tsuruga Strait separating Japan's main Honshu island from Hokkaido island on Wednesday.

       It is unusual for Russian ships to pass through the strait so close to Japanese territory, the military spokesman said.

       Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways said on Thursday it was not routing flights through Russia's airspace, joining a growing number of Asian airlines avoiding the area after the invasion of Ukraine, despite longer flight times.

       Cathay declined to comment on when it stopped flying over Russia. Mainland Chinese carriers are continuing to use Russian airspace, according to FlightRadar24, but Korean Air Lines said on Tuesday it would reroute flights, citing operational and safety concerns.

       At least one person has been killed, and three wounded after a downed missile hit a residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine's emergency services said.

       Officials across Ukraine are struggling to count the number of civilians killed after being targeted in homes, hospitals, ambulances and food queues since the start of the war.

       Authorities said 103 children had been killed since the Russian invasion began.

       President Joe Biden has called Russia's Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" for the unfolding onslaught in Ukraine, where hospitals and maternity wards have been bombed.

       Mariupol Theatre was a heap of smouldering bricks and mortar on Wednesday night. At least 1,000 civilians may have been sheltering from Russian bombs when the building was all but destroyed.

       Satellite photos released by Maxar Technologies (below) show the Russian word “children” clearly written in large script on the ground outside the theatre.

       But declaring someone a war criminal is not as simple as just saying the words. There are set definitions and processes for determining who is a war criminal and how they should be punished.

       The White House had been avoiding applying the designation to Putin, saying it requires investigation and an international determination.

       After Mr Biden used the term, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the president was "speaking from his heart" and renewed her statements that there is a process for making a formal determination.

       In popular usage, though, the phrase has a taken on a colloquial meaning as a generic term for someone who is awful.

       "Clearly Putin is a war criminal, but the president is speaking politically on this," said David Crane, who has worked on war crimes for decades and served as chief prosecutor for the UN.

       The term war criminal applies to anyone who violates a set of rules adopted by world leaders known as the law of armed conflict. The rules govern how countries behave in times of war.

       Thirteen buses carrying around 300 refugees from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol have arrived in Russia's Rostov region, Russia's Interfax news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying on Thursday.

       Ukrainian military forces have dealt a punishing blow to the airport in Kherson, which Russian troops had seized early in the war, the General Staff said late on Wednesday.

       It said the Russians were trying to remove any surviving military equipment.

       Ukraine's military said it hit the airport on Tuesday. Satellite photos taken by Planet Labs PBC and analysed by The Associated Press show helicopters and vehicles on fire at the air base.

       Russia seized the southern port city without a fight in the first days of the war. Control over Kherson allows Russia to restore fresh water supplies to Crimea; Ukraine cut off the water after Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014.

       The General Staff said Russia's ground offensive on major Ukrainian cities had largely stalled.

       Delegations from Ukraine and Russia held talks again on Wednesday by video.

       Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's adviser, Mikhailo Podolyak, said Ukraine demanded a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Russian troops and legal security guarantees for Ukraine from a number of countries.

       "This is possible only through direct dialogue" between Mr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said on Twitter.

       An official in Mr Zelensky's office told The Associated Press the main subject under discussion was whether Russian troops would remain in separatist regions in eastern Ukraine after the war and where the borders would be.

       The official said Ukraine was insisting on the inclusion of one or more Western nuclear powers in the negotiations and on the signing of a legally binding document with security guarantees for Ukraine. In exchange, the official said, Ukraine was ready to discuss a neutral status.

       Vladimir Putin, in a speech to Cabinet members and regional leaders, warned against attempts by the West to use Russians who oppose his rule to bring about the "destruction of Russia".

       The Russian president said: "But any people, and even more so the Russian people, will always be able to distinguish true patriots from scum and traitors and will simply spit them out like a gnat that accidentally flew into their mouths, spit them out on the pavement.

       "A natural and necessary self-purification of society will only strengthen our country."

       Rescued Melitopol mayor Ivan Fedorov was swapped for nine captured Russian soldiers aged 20 and 21.

       Dasha Zarivna, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian presidency, said on Ukrainian television late on Wednesday that the released Russians were extremely young.

       "These are basically children, conscripts, who according to the Russian defence ministry are not present in Ukraine," Ms Zarivna said.

       "But the whole world sees again that they are there."

       The mayor of Ukraine's southern city of Melitopol has been released, days after Kyiv said he was abducted by invading Russian forces.

       Ukraine handed over nine captured soldiers to secure his freedom.

       According to the Ukrainian president and parliament, mayor Ivan Fedorov was abducted on Friday by Russian soldiers occupying Melitopol because he "refused to cooperate with the enemy".

       A video posted on Telegram showed President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking to him on the phone and telling him he was "happy to hear the voice of a man alive".

       Mr Fedorov replied he was "much better".

       "Thank you for not abandoning me. I will need one or two days to recover and then I will be at your disposal to contribute to our victory," he said.

       The mayor was seized while at the city's crisis centre dealing with supply issues.

       Mr Zelensky on Saturday called on the leaders of France and Germany to help secure his release.

       The mayor of Dniprorudne, another town in southern Ukraine, was also abducted on Sunday, drawing strong condemnation from the European Union.

       Ireland has issued more than 5,000 PPS numbers to Ukrainian refugees since the war began, allowing them to work and access state support.

       The country has also confirmed the opening of new support centres in three cities for refugees fleeing the conflict.

       The Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys, said on Thursday that three city centre hubs, in Dublin, Cork and Limerick, would help Ukrainian refugees obtain PPS numbers and social welfare support and give them access to other state services.

       Ireland has already taken in more than 7,000 refugees since the war began.

       Justice Minister Helen McEntee said Ireland had granted temporary protection to more than 3,000 people, primarily through a reception facility at Dublin Airport.

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