Today so far …
Local officials in the besieged city of Mariupol have said that at least 300 people are known to have been killed in the bombing on 16 March of the Drama Theatre. About 1,300 were believed to have been sheltering the building, with just 150 survivors having staggered out of the rubble immediately after the attack.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said she hopes some civilians will be able to leave besieged Mariupol in private cars today. Those who manage to leave Mariupol will find buses awaiting in the nearby city of Berdiansk which will take them to the city of Zaporizhzhia, Vereshchuk said.
The northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv has in effect been cut off by Russian forces, the regional governor said this morning.
The UK’s ministry of defence said Ukrainian forces have reoccupied towns and defensive positions up to 35 kilometres east of Kyiv. In an earlier report, the ministry said Ukraine is striking “high value targets” that is forcing Russian forces to divert resources to defend their supply lines.
Russia is claiming that it used “Kalibr” cruise missiles to destroy a major fuel depot outside Kyiv. Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the depot was used to supply Ukraine’s armed forces in the centre of the country, and that the missiles were fired from sea.
The Mayor of Borispyl says 20,000 civilians have fled the city near to the international airport on the outskirts of Kyiv. Earlier in the week he had called for resident to evacuate, saying it would make military operations easier.
Governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Valentyn Reznichenko, has reported that there is “serious destruction” after two missiles hit a Ukrainian military unit on the outskirts of Dnipro.
Ukrainian forces have been bolstered by the destruction of the major Russian landing ship as it brought in supplies to its troops. Dramatic pictures showed billowing fire and black smoke as the ship, docked in Berdyansk on the Azov Sea, was hit by Ukrainian ballistic missiles.
The Kremlin has said that the Russian military will submit proposals to President Vladimir Putin on how the country should strengthen its defences in response to Nato reinforcing its eastern flank.
Russia has also said “nothing terrible will happen” if it were to be expelled from the G20 group of countries.
US president Joe Biden will travel to a town near the Polish-Ukrainian border later today, in an attempt to signal Western resolve.
A group of veteran Russian human rights activists plan to publish an open letter calling on Russia to end its war in Ukraine, declaring it “our common duty” to “stop the war, protect the lives, rights and freedoms of all people, both Ukrainians and Russians”.
Ukrainians fleeing the war in their homeland will be able to access healthcare and some benefits as soon as they arrive in Scotland. Health Secretary Humza Yousaf explained the move was part of efforts to ensure that those fleeing the Russian invasion receive the “warmest welcome possible”.
Some 20,100 visas have been issued under the Ukraine family scheme as of 5pm on Thursday, the UK’s Home Office said. The UK’s resettlement scheme for those fleeing Ukraine has been called a “disgrace” by a Briton in Lviv who said few in the country knew about its existence.
Finland’s national railway operator will suspend services between Helsinki and Saint Petersburg in Russia on Monday, closing one of the last public transport routes to the European Union for Russians.
Belgium’s prime minister Alexander De Croo said this morning that European leaders would discuss measures to reduce the impact of high energy prices on consumers as a knock-on effect of Russia’s war on Ukraine