Russia-Ukraine latest news: West must understand ‘danger’ of sending Kyiv weapons, warns Kremlin

The Kremlin has issued a chilling warning to the West saying it must understand the “danger” of sending arms to Ukraine.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the European Union and other countries of violating their “so-called principles and values” by backing the supply of “deadly weapons”.

Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, failed to agree on a 24-hour ceasefire during talks in Turkey.

It comes after Russian airstrikes on a children’s hospital and a maternity hospital killed at least three people, including a six-year-old girl, in the city of Mariupol.

Officials had previously said 17 people were injured, including doctors.

Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, accused Russia of “genocide” calling the attack “beyond atrocity”.

The Kremlin has claimed the hospital contained no patients but was a military base taken over by armed Ukrainian nationalists.

​​Follow the latest updates below.

11:16 AM

China eases exchanges rate controls to protect yuan after rouble loses 40% of value

China is easing government exchange rate controls to let the Russian rouble fall faster in value against the Chinese yuan to help insulate Beijing from economic sanctions on Moscow.

The margin by which the ruble is allowed to fluctuate against the yuan in state-controlled daily trading will be doubled in size to 10 per cent above or below the day’s opening price starting Friday, the China Foreign Exchange Trade System announced.

The ruble has lost about 40 per cent of its value since Western governments cut off some Russia banks from the international SWIFT payment system in retaliation for President Vladimir Putin’s Feb. 24 attack on Ukraine. Russia’s central bank was blocked from using its foreign currency reserves to defend the exchange rate.

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China has avoided joining other governments in criticizing Putin’s attack and has criticized Western sanctions. Chinese companies give no sign they are joining Western counterparts in pulling out of Russia, but economists say they are likely to try to take advantage of pressure on Moscow to try to strike better deals.

Holding the exchange rate steady would require China’s central bank to subsidize Russian buyers of Chinese goods by giving them more yuan for their rubles than market forces said Moscow’s currency was worth.

The latest change would allow Chinese exchange rates to keep up with the ruble’s abrupt daily fluctuations.

11:14 AM

In pictures: Ukraine fights on

11:06 AM

Free trains for Ukrainians leaving Poland for Germany

Polish state railway company PKP said on Thursday it was offering free tickets to Ukrainians travelling onwards to parts of Germany.

As of Wednesday, Ukrainian citizens can travel free by second class on the nine daily intercity trains linking the Polish cities of Warsaw, Przemysl (via Krakow) and Gdynia to the German capital Berlin and the border town of Frankfurt (Oder).

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 and the massive influx of refugees into Poland, PKP has put on more trains from the Ukrainian border and allowed people fleeing into the country to use them for free.

An estimated 300,000 Ukrainians have travelled into Poland that way since February 26.

Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Szefernaker told state television on Thursday that many refugees were camping in Polish train stations, hoping to travel on to other European Union countries.

11:01 AM

UK to simplify Ukraine refugee process after backlash

Downing Street will simplify the much-criticised visa process for refugees fleeing Russia’s war in Ukraine from next week.

“From Tuesday, I can announce that Ukrainians with passports will no longer need to go to a visa application centre to give their biometrics before they come to the UK,” Home Secretary Priti Patel told parliament.

11:00 AM

Russia deliberately blocking Mariupol evacuation, Ukrainian official says

Russia is deliberately preventing the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol because it has failed to seize the strategic Black Sea port city, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said on Thursday.

Ukraine said earlier on Thursday that an aid convoy to the city had to turn back because of fighting. Russia has denied targeting civilians in what it calls a “special operation” in Ukraine.

10:57 AM

Russia-Ukraine talks yield no progress as war enters third week

Russia’s war in Ukraine entered the third week on Thursday with none of its stated objectives reached, despite thousands of people killed, more than two million made refugees and thousands cowering in besieged cities under relentless bombardment.

The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine met on Thursday in Turkey, the highest level contact between the two countries since the war began on February 24, but they made clear no progress had been made.

Ukraine’s Dmytro Kuleba said he had secured no promise from Russia’s Sergei Lavrov to halt firing so aid could reach civilians, including Kyiv’s main humanitarian priority – evacuating hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the besieged port of Mariupol.

Lavrov showed no sign of making any concessions, repeating Russian demands that Ukraine be disarmed and accept neutral status.

He said Kyiv appeared to want meetings for the sake of meetings, and blamed the West for intensifying the conflict by arming its neighbour.

10:33 AM

Mariupol under attack from the air, says city council

Mariupol is under attack from the air, its city council has said with missiles raining down on residential buildings.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said a humanitarian convoy trying to reach Mariupol had to turn around due to fighting.

10:25 AM

Japan U-turns on Uniqlo outlets in Russia

Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing Co is suspending its Russian operations temporarily, it said on Thursday, reversing its previous position and adding that it condemned acts of aggression.

While numerous brands announced their exits from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Fast Retailing’s founder had told Japanese media that the company would continue operating its 50 stores in Russia because “clothing is a necessity of life”.

But on Thursday it said: “While continuing our Uniqlo business in Russia, it has become clear to us that we can no longer proceed due to a number of difficulties.

“We condemn all forms of aggression that violate human rights and threaten the peaceful existence of individuals.”

10:20 AM

Russia bombs two hospitals in Zhytomyr

10:19 AM

Russia changes its line on Ukraine hospital bombing

Russia on Thursday shifted its stance over the bombing of a Ukrainian hospital in the city of Mariupol, with a mix of statements that veered between aggressive denials and a call to establish clear facts.

Ukrainian’s president on Wednesday accused Russia of carrying out genocide after officials said Russian aircraft had bombed the hospital, burying patients in rubble despite a ceasefire deal for people to flee the besieged city.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked for comment in the immediate aftermath, told Reuters news agency: “Russian forces do not fire on civilian targets.”

On Thursday he said the Kremlin would look into the incident.

“We will definitely ask our military, because you and I don’t have clear information about what happened there,” Peskov told reporters. “And the military are very likely to provide some information.”

Other Russian officials took a more aggressive line on Thursday, rejecting the hospital bombing as fake news.

“This is information terrorism,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, went further, saying the building that was hit was a former maternity hospital that had been taken over by Ukrainian troops.

“That’s how fake news is born,” he said, adding that Russia had warned on March 7 that the hospital had been turned into a military object from which Ukrainians were firing.

10:15 AM

Key takeaways from Ukraine talks with Russia

Here are some of the key takeaways from the talks so far between Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his Kremlin counterpart Sergei Lavrov

• Russia will continue its invasion until Ukraine meets their demand, Kuleba said.

• Lavrov accused the West of supplying Ukraine with chemical weapons.

• Ukraine will not surrender, Kuleba said.

• Lavrov claimed the Mariupol hospital shelled by Russian airstrikes, which killed a six year old girl and at least two others, housed no patients but Ukrainian radicals.

10:04 AM

Ukraine and Russia fail to agree to 24 hour ceasefire

Ukraine and Russia have failed to agree to a a 24 hour ceasefire following a meeting between the two country’s foreign ministers.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he had done his best to find a diplomatic solution to the “humanitarian tragedy unfolding on the battleground and the besieged cities”.

He said he had raised the issue of a 24 hour ceasefire with his counterpart Sergei Lavrov but they made no progress since “there are some other decision makers for this matter in Russia”.

On Mariupol, Mr Kuleba said: “The city is being bombarded from the air, it is being hit by artillery fire. I came here with a humanitarian purpose to arrange a humanitarian corridor in and from Mariupol for civilians who want to flee this area of fear and struggle. “

Lavrov did not commit to humanitarian corridors in Mariupol.

09:52 AM

YouTube, Google Play suspend payment-based services in Russia

Alphabet Inc’s YouTube and Google Play store are suspending all payment-based services in Russia, including subscriptions, as Western sanctions start to pose banking challenges in the country.

Google and YouTube had recently stopped selling online advertising in Russia following similar pauses by Twitter Inc and Snap Inc after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“As a follow-up, we’re now extending this pause to all our monetization features, including YouTube Premium, Channel Memberships, Super Chat and Merchandise, for viewers in Russia,” YouTube said in a statement on Thursday.

YouTube channels in Russia will still be able to generate revenue from viewers outside of Russia through ads and paid features, which include Super Chat and merchandise sales. Free apps on Google Play also remain available in Russia, according to a company support website.

09:48 AM

Finland president to speak to Putin on Friday

Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto will speak on the phone with Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Friday, he told reporters on Thursday, after meeting with members of parliament to discuss options to strengthen national security.

09:45 AM

Russia to ‘pay a price’ for Ukraine invasion, say Kamala Harris

US Vice President Kamala Harris will discuss issues with Poland that will force Russia to pay a price for its invasion of Ukraine, she said on Thursday during a visit to Warsaw, as Moscow continues its bombardment of Ukrainian cities.

Harris also said Poland was doing “extraordinary work” with the refugees who have fled Ukraine.

09:40 AM

Bosnia asks to speed up start of EU membership talks

Bosnia’s Foreign Minister Bisera Turkovic asked her German counterpart to support Bosnia’s request for a speedier approval of its candidate status for European Union membership.

Turkovic said it would help secure stability in the country, in which Serb separatists have been pushing for secession of their region from Bosnia, with tacit Russian approval.

09:38 AM

Chelsea can keep playing after Abramovich sanction, says UK

Britain has allowed Chelsea football club to continue playing matches after it imposed sanctions on its owner, Roman Abramovich, halting his plan to sell the English Premier League side.

Abramovich had put the club up for sale, but Britain’s asset freeze and sanctions on him bar that process under the terms of the licence granted to the club.

Culture minister Nadine Dorries said Downing Street had issued a special licence to enable Chelsea to play fixtures, pay staff and enable ticket holders to attend matches, because it did not want to harm the reigning European and world soccer champions.

09:35 AM

Russian troops at gas stations risk supply to Europe

The operator of Ukraine’s gas pipelines has warned that Russian forces were on the territory of more than one gas compressor station in Ukraine, posing a potential threat to smooth gas transit to Europe.

The operator (OGTSU) did not say how many stations were affected or where they were.

“The OGTSU demands that the military and armed groups immediately leave the territory of the compressor stations and stop trying to influence the operation of the GTS (gas transmission system),” it said.

“Interference in the technological processes of GTS operations creates significant risks for the safety of continuous gas transportation to consumers in Ukraine and Europe,” it said

09:26 AM

Russian economy in ‘shock’ from unprecedented economic war, admits Kremlin

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia’s economy was experiencing a shock and that measures were being taken to soften the impact of what it described as an “absolutely unprecedented” economic war being waged against Moscow.

The West has imposed sweeping sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

“Our economy is experiencing a shock impact now and there are negative consequences, they will be minimised,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

He described the situation as turbulent, but said that measures to calm and stabilise it were already being taken.

“This is absolutely unprecedented. The economic war that has started against our country has never taken place before. So it is very hard to forecast anything.”

09:24 AM

Kremlin to ask military for information on Ukraine hospital strike

The Kremlin has said it would approach the Russian military for details of a strike on a hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky called a “war crime”.

“We will certainly ask our military about this, since we don’t have clear information about what happened there. Without fail, the military will provide some kind of information,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, as Moscow’s advance into Ukraine entered its third week.

09:21 AM

Britain freezes Roman Abramovich’s assets

Britain has frozen tje assets of seven Russian businessmen including Roman Abramovich, IBgor Sechin, Oleg Deripaska and Dmitri Lebedev after they were added to the country’s sanctions list.

“There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

Abramovich is the owner of Chelsea soccer club, Deripaska has stakes in En+ Group, Sechin is the Chief Executive of Rosneft and Lebedev is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank Rossiya.

Chelsea will continue playing matches and engage in other footballing activities, the Government said.

“The licence will be kept under constant review and we will work closely with the football authorities,” the government said.

Follow our breaking news story here for more

09:13 AM

Ukraine makes new attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol

Ukraine hopes to start evacuating civilians through a “humanitarian corridor” from Mariupol on Thursday, a day after Russian forces shelled a children’s hospital.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Mariupol was one of seven cities from which the government hoped to evacuate residents trapped by fighting since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Several previous attempts to establish a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol have failed, and people in the city of more than 400,000 people have been sheltering there without water or power for over a week.

Each side has blamed the other for the collapse of local ceasefires, including around Mariupol, and Russia said reports that it had bombarded a children’s hospital were “fake news”.

It said the premises were no longer used as a hospital and had long ago taken over by Ukrainian troops.

09:09 AM

Russia has switched tactics to targeting civilians says Ukraine

Russia has switched tactics to targeting civilians after its invasion on Ukraine slowed, an adviser to Ukraine’s presidential office said on Thursday.

Ukraine has accused Russia of genocide after officials said Russia bombed a children’s hospital in the port city of Mariupol on Wednesday, a charge Moscow dismissed as “fake news”. Russia has also denied targeting civilians.

Adviser Oleksiy Arestovych also said Ukraine had enough troops to withstand Russian efforts to capture the capital Kyiv.

09:05 AM

Lukashenko orders Belarusian specialists to Chernobyl power supply

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has instructed Belarusian specialists to ensure power supply to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the BelTA news agency reported on Thursday.

Ukraine said on Wednesday there was a danger of a radiation leak at Chernobyl after electricity was cut off, but the UN nuclear watchdog saw “no critical impact on security”.

Russia accused Ukrainian forces of attacking power lines and a substation feeding the power plant.

09:03 AM

Russia accuses US of funding biological weapons research in Ukraine

Russia on Thursday accused the United States of funding research into the development of biological weapons in Ukraine, as Moscow stepped up its campaign to gain control of key Ukrainian cities.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a televised briefing that “the purpose of this – and other Pentagon-funded biological research in Ukraine – was to establish a mechanism for the stealthy spread of deadly pathogens.”

Konashenkov claimed the ministry had obtained documents detailing US military-biological activities in Ukraine, including on the transfer of Ukrainians’ biomaterial abroad.

He said Washington “planned to carry out research on bird, bat and reptile pathogens”, as well as on African swine fever and anthrax.

“Biolaboratories set up and funded in Ukraine have been experimenting with bat coronavirus samples,” Konashenkov added.

Both Washington and Kyiv have denied the existence of laboratories intended to produce biological weapons in the country, which has faced a Russian assault by tens of thousands of troops since February 24.

09:00 AM

Lukashenko says Belarus army must prevent any attack on Russia from the rear

Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko told his defence ministry on Thursday that his army must prevent any attack on Russian forces from the rear, the state news agency BelTa said.

Russia used its ally Belarus as one of the launchpads for its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

Lukashenko was quoted as telling defence chiefs that they must prevent any attempt – presumably by Ukrainian forces – to cut off Russian supply lines and “strike at Russians from the rear”.

08:57 AM

Top Russian, Ukrainian diplomats meet for first time since invasion

Russia and Ukraine’s foreign ministers met in Turkey on Thursday in the first high-level talks between the two countries since Moscow invaded its neighbour, with Ankara hoping they could mark a turning point in the conflict.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has tempered expectations for a ceasefire agreement or other results from the meeting with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov

Television footage showed the Russian and Ukrainian delegations sitting at tables facing each other, either side of a delegation headed by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Russia’s invasion has uprooted more than two million people in what the United Nations calls the fastest humanitarian crisis in Europe since the Second World War.

Ahead of the talks, Kuleba urged Lavrov to approach them “in good faith, not from a propagandistic perspective.”

“I will say frankly that my expectations of the talks are low,” Kuleba said in a video statement on Wednesday. “We are interested in a ceasefire, liberating our territories and the third point is to resolve all humanitarian issues.”

08:52 AM

Defence minister warns Putin of consequences in using chemical weapons

Defence minister James Heappey warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the use of chemical weapons has “triggered an international response” in the past.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I don’t think it’s helpful to get into any firm commitment right now about where that red line sits, but I think President Putin needs to be very clear that when other countries have used chemical weapons it has caused an international response.

“I think he should reflect very urgently on what has happened to other countries where they have used them.”

He added: “President Putin needs to be clear that the use of chemical weapons is just the most despicable thing that anybody can imagine.

“As horrid as the pictures we are seeing on our TV screens today of an artillery strike against a hospital (are), they are but nothing by comparison to the suffering and devastation that chemical weapons cause.”

08:46 AM

Russia has attacked 18 medical facilities since invasion, says WHO

The World Health Organization says it has confirmed 18 attacks on medical facilities since the Russian invasion began two weeks ago.

An airstrike on a hospital in the port city of Mariupol killed three people, including a child, the city council said Thursday.

The shelling in the southern port city wounded women waiting to give birth and doctors and buried children in the rubble.

Bombs also fell on two hospitals in another city west of the capital.

08:40 AM

Putin ally claims Russian invasion prevented attack from Ukraine

Sergei Chemezov, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, said that the “special military operation” in Ukraine had prevented an attack on Russia, which he said would emerge victorious from the sanctions imposed by the West.

Putin says the invasion is essential to ensure Russian security after the United States enlarged the NATO military alliance to Russia’s borders and supported pro-Western leaders in Kyiv.

Ukraine says it is fighting for its existence and the United States, and its European and Asian allies have condemned the Russian invasion.

Russia’s economy is facing the gravest crisis since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union after the West imposed heavy sanctions on almost the entire Russian financial and corporate system following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“If you glance at Russia’s history, almost all of that history Russia has battled with different sanctions, with enemies which encircled her, and she always came out as the victor,” Rostec’s CEO Chemezov told staff.

“Now will be the same.”

08:38 AM

Head of the UN nuclear agency in talks on safety of Ukraine’s nuclear plants

The head of the UN nuclear agency is en route to Turkey for talks on ensuring the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities.

Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was invited to Antalya, Turkey by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Also in Antalya on Thursday, the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers are scheduled to hold talks on the sidelines of a diplomacy forum.

Grossi didn’t give details of his own planned meetings in a tweet that showed him sitting on a plane.

The IAEA chief has been pressing for an agreement with Ukraine and Russia on the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants.

A growing list of concerns includes a power cut at the decommissioned Chernobyl plant as well as limited communications between Ukraine’s nuclear regulator and both Chernobyl and the Zaporizhzhia power plant, which Russian forces seized last week.

08:32 AM

Sony and Nintendo stops supply of consoles to Russia

Sony and Nintendo have suspended deliveries of their gaming consoles, joining a global corporate exodus from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Japanese construction machinery supplier Hitachi said it would stop exports and cease most operations in Russia except for vital electrical power facilities.

Sony, whose film studio had already stopped releases in Russia, suspended the launch of racing game “Gran Turismo 7”.

Rival Nintendo said it delayed the global release of “Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp”, a turn-based strategy game with a military theme.

Food companies Nestle, Mondelez, Procter & Gamble and Unilever halted investment in Russia, but said they would continue providing essentials.

08:27 AM

Ukrainian foreign minister begin talks with Russia’s Lavrov

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has begun talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Turkey.

The talks will focus on Russia ceasing its hostilities and ending its war against Ukraine,” the Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.

08:23 AM

Sweden to raise military spending to 2% of GDP as soon as possible

Sweden’s government wants to increase military spending to two per cent of GDP “as soon as practically possible” in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Thursday.

“Today, we present a new initiative with a clear message to the Swedish people and to the world around us. Sweden’s defence capability must be greatly strengthened,” Andersson told a news conference.

As the Cold War ended, Sweden’s defence spending as a proportion of gross domestic product has fallen from three per cent in the early 1980s to around one per cent in recent years.

08:19 AM

UK looking at easing visa rules for Ukrainians

Britain is looking at easing its visa requirements for Ukrainian refugees, a minister has said after the Government faced widespread condemnation for prioritising bureaucracy over the welfare of those fleeing war.

While households across Europe have taken in Ukrainian families forced to leave their homes, Britain has demanded they secure a visa first, meaning the country has accepted far fewer Ukrainians than the likes of France and Germany, or Ukraine’s nearest neighbours.

Armed forces minister James Heappey said he believed the Home Office, was looking at ways to ease the system, after some refugees in the French port city of Calais were ordered to go to Paris or Brussels to fill out forms.

08:11 AM

Russia claims to have destroyed 2,900 military buildings in Ukraine

Russia has destroyed 2,911 Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities in Ukraine so far, Russia’s Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed.

He also said that the Russian troops had taken control of a number of neighbourhoods in besieged southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

These statements have not been yet verified.

08:02 AM

Ukraine to create state food reserve to feed entire country

Ukraine’s government will create a food reserve big enough to feed the country’s people and armed forces during the Russian invasion, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal has said.

“The state will redeem grain and other stocks in the volumes of annual consumption by the whole country at the expense of the state budget,” Shmygal was quoted by the government press agency as saying.

“This will provide the country with enough food,” Shmygal said, without providing additional details.

Ukraine is a major global food producer and exporter, but agriculture analysts have said the invasion by Russia – which calls its actions a “special operation” – could sharply reduce the area sown for 2022’s grain harvest, creating shortages for the rest of the world as well as Ukraine.

07:59 AM

Twitter launches new version of site to bypass Russian censorship

Twitter has launched a privacy-protected version of its site to bypass surveillance and censorship after Russia restricted access to its service in the country.

Russia has blocked access to Facebook and has limited Twitter in an attempt to try to restrict the flow of information about its war in Ukraine.

Both companies have said they are working on restoring access to people inside Russia even as they restrict the country’s state media from their services.

Known as an “onion” service, users can access this version of Twitter if they download the Tor browser, which allows people to access sites on what is also referred to as the “dark web.”

Instead of .com, onion sites have a .onion suffix.

Regular websites, including Twitter.com, are also accessible on Tor, but the .onion versions are made specifically for Tor and prevent the site from being spoofed by malicious actors.

07:38 AM

Civilians start leaving Sumy through ‘humanitarian corridor’

Civilians started leaving the Ukrainian city of Sumy through a “humanitarian corridor” on Thursday following an agreement on a local ceasefire, the regional governor said.

Several thousand people have left the besieged city this week under agreements with Russia, which invaded Ukraine on February 24.

People were also leaving the nearby settlements of Krasnopillya and Trostyanets, Governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyy said.

“The (evacuation) columns are leaving. The ceasefire has been agreed” he said.

07:33 AM

1.43 million Ukrainians have fled to Poland since invasion

he Polish Border Guard said on Thursday that 1.43 million people have entered Poland from Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24.

The Border Guard said in a tweet that on Wednesday around 117,600 people crossed the border.

07:28 AM

Don’t go and fight in Ukraine, James Heappey tells British soldiers

Mr Heappey also said that serving British soldiers should not be going AWOL (absent without leave) to fight in Ukraine, adding that it is illegal to do so.

“They will be in an awful lot of trouble” if they go and fight, he said.

“This is not the time for people to be going there, and the Ukrainians have made clear, once you cross the border with the with the expectation to fight, you’re in it for good.

“So people who think they can go and do a couple of weeks, take some selfies, get some Instagram shots, and then come home – that is not the way the Ukrainians are viewing the people that go to fight.

“British people should not be doing it.”

07:25 AM

Russian commanders will be held to account for war crimes, says UK

Russian military commanders as well as people at the very top of the Russian government will be held to account for any war crimes in Ukraine, Britain’s armed forces minister has said.

“Russian commanders need to remember that war crimes are not just committed by those at the very top of the Russian government,” James Heappey told Sky News.

“They are committed all the way down the chain of command by all who are involved and these atrocities are being watched, they’re being catalogued and people will be held to account.”

“But let’s be clear – what Putin is doing is not a war waged between two militaries. He has besieged a number of Ukrainian cities, and he’s waged a war against Ukrainian civilians.”

Mr Heappey also confirmed that more defensive aid is on its way to Ukraine.

On accepting refugees, the minister said that personnel would be bolstered in Poland rather than Calais, as that is the busiest centre “by some margin”.

07:21 AM

Russia will no longer participate in Council of Europe

Russia will no longer participate in the Council of Europe, the TASS news agency quoted the Russian foreign ministry as saying.

The ministry said in a statement that Nato and European Union countries were undermining the European body designed to uphold human rights, rule of law and democracy.

07:14 AM

How many visa applications has the UK accepted from Ukraine?

06:57 AM

Two other hospitals bombed on Wednesday

Bombs reportedly fell on two other hospitals in another city west of Kyiv on the same day as an airstrike on a maternity hospital in the port city of Mariupol wounded women waiting to give birth and buried children in the rubble.

The World Health Organization said Wednesday that it has confirmed 18 attacks on medical facilities since the Russian invasion began two weeks ago.

In Zhytomyr, a city of 260,000 to the west of Kyiv, bombs fell on two hospitals, one of them a children’s hospital, Mayor Serhii Sukhomlyn said on Facebook. He said there were no injuries.

06:45 AM

‘Ukraine war worse for business than pandemic’ says Volkswagen boss

The boss of Volkswagen has warned that a prolonged war in Ukraine risks being “very much worse” for Europe’s than the coronavirus pandemic, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

The interruption to global supply chains “could lead to huge price increases, scarcity of energy and inflation”, CEO Herbert Diess told the newspaper.

The German automaker’s head also said Europe faces huge threat of higher inflation from prolonged conflict in Ukraine.

Volkswagen did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Carmakers, including Volkswagen, BMW and Porsche, are struggling to obtain crucial wire harnesses as suppliers in western Ukraine have been shuttered by the Russian invasion, forcing them to curtail production.

Earlier this month, Volkswagen halted its business in Russia, stopped vehicle exports to the country and suspended production at its Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod sites.

06:34 AM

Senior Tory MP accuses colleague of spouting “offensive bile” over refugees

A senior Tory MP has accused a colleague of spouting “utterly risible, illiterate, immoral and offensive bile” over Ukrainian refugees.

Simon Hoare, the chair of the Commons Northern Ireland Committee, told Daniel Kawczynski in a tweet that he does “not speak for the Tory party”.

He was responding to Mr Kawcyznski tweeting: “British Left wing parties demand Britain takes in more Ukrainian refugees. This is illiterate and immoral.

“When war is over Ukrainians will need to return home to rebuild their country. We should be supporting Ukrainian refugees in frontline states like Poland & Romania.”

06:23 AM

Latest from the UK Ministry of Defence: Russian column northwest of Kyiv suffers heavy losses as progress stalled

06:17 AM

In pictures: Photos from day 13 of the war in Ukraine

06:02 AM

Russia claims Children’s hospital bombing ‘fake news’

Russia is claiming that Ukrainian allegations that it bombed a children’s hospital in Mariupol on Wednesday are ‘fake news’, Reuters reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was was accused of “crossing the line of humanity” after an air strike on a children’s hospital during a ceasefire in the besieged city of Mariupol.

05:55 AM

Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers arrive in Turkey for talks

The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine have arrived in Turkey for face-to-face talks set for Thursday morning, officials said, in the first high-level contact between the two sides since Moscow invaded its ex-Soviet neighbour.

Officials from Kyiv and Moscow have held several rounds of discussions in Belarus, but the meeting in the southern city of Antalya represents the first time Russia has sent a minister for talks on the crisis.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had landed in Antalya for talks “on Russia ceasing its hostilities and ending its war against Ukraine,” foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko tweeted Wednesday evening.

His Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov has also arrived for the talks, a Turkish official told AFP.

Dialogue between Kyiv and Moscow has so far yielded several local ceasefires and humanitarian corridors to evacuate residents, but Russia has been accused of breaching those agreements.

Kuleba confirmed in a Facebook video that he would travel to Turkey for the talks but said his expectations were “limited”, as Russia continues its brutal bombing campaign and siege of major cities.

05:32 AM

Rio Tinto slashes ties with Russian businesses

Rio Tinto on Thursday became the first major mining company to announce it was cutting all ties with Russian businesses, joining a raft of leading Western companies in a pullout following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Rio has previously said it has no operational assets or employees to pull out of Russia, or Ukraine, but the move comes as Western firms come under increasing pressure to exit Russia since the invasion began.

Leading US companies like McDonald’s, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Starbucks stopped trading with Russia this week, offering a united rebuke of the war on Ukraine. Moscow describes its actions there as a “special operation”.

“Rio Tinto is in the process of terminating all commercial relationships it has with any Russian business,” a Rio spokesman told Reuters. It wasn’t immediately clear with which companies Rio has done business in Russia.

05:06 AM

A clip purportedly showing members of Ukraine’s bomb disposal unit doing their job as shells land nearby

04:39 AM

Germany rejects ban on Russian oil

Germany has rejected a complete ban on Russian gas and oil imports over Russia invading Ukraine, but voices are growing louder for Berlin to ditch its economic imperative to take a moral stand.

After the United States and Britain imposed a ban on Russian oil, pressure has mounted on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government and other G7 members to follow suit.

A group of climate activists, academics, authors and scientists published an open letter to the German government on Wednesday demanding a complete ban on Russian energy, reasoning that “we are all financing this war”.

In a newspaper opinion piece this week, conservative lawmaker and foreign policy expert Norbert Roettgen also said the only correct course of action was to “stop Russia’s oil and gas business now”.

“Nearly a billion euros are being poured into Putin’s war chests every day, thwarting our sanctions against the Russian central bank” and “for many Ukrainians, it will be too late if we hesitate now,” he wrote.

04:16 AM

13-year old boy and two women killed in overnight strikes in Sumy

A 13-year-old boy and two women were killed in overnight strikes in the northeastern city of Okhtyrka, Sumy on Thursday.

“Enemy aviation hit residential houses. 5 people were rescued from the falls, 2 of them children. Also partially destroyed police department,” said Dmytro Zhyvytsky, head of the Sumy regional state administration.

“The enemy artillery fired at the former Electrobutprilad plant. The result of the shelling killed three villagers, including a minor boy,” he said.

04:00 AM

More than 43,000 people evacuated from Sumy

More than 43,000 people were evacuated from the northeastern city of Sumy today, says Ukraine’s communications agency.

03:52 AM

Ukraine holding back Russia in all directions, says armed forces

Ukraine is managing to hold back Russia’s offensive in all directions of attack, said the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces.

In a daily update, it said Ukraine’s defence forces maintain a “decent gap” between it and Russian forces.

The update adds that with support from Belarus Russia continues to attempt to surround Kyiv while isolating areas in the Black Sea and Azov.

“The Republic of Belarus provides support to the occupier in ensuring the supply of fuel-oil materials used by railway infrastructure and airport network,” it says.

“In the Slobozhanskom direction, the opponent is attacking the settlements of Izzyum, Petrivsʹke, Grushuvaha, as well as the cities of Sumy and Okhtyrka.

“The enemy’s offensive operation is also ongoing in the Donetsk and Tavrij directions.”

“The opponent is increasing the grouping of troops in the Mykolaiv direction.

“In the Black Sea and Azov operation zones, the occupiers continue to isolate the combat area. Ship groups of the Navy of the Russian Federation are in the areas of Tarkhankut Cape and Lake Donuzlav.”

03:33 AM

US Congress takes first step to pass $14 billion Ukraine aid

US lawmakers advanced aid totalling almost $14 billion (£ 10.6 billion) for war-torn Ukraine on Wednesday as part of a giant blueprint to fund federal agencies and avoid a damaging government shutdown at home.

The House of Representatives agreed to around $1.5 trillion in spending through September, less than 48 hours before the Friday-Saturday midnight deadline, when government funding was due to dry up.

The spending will need to be rubber-stamped by the Senate before it can pass into law.

03:23 AM

Mercenaries linked to Russian state likely deploying to fight in Ukraine, says UK Defence Ministry

03:16 AM

Tweet from Zelensky following conversation with Johnson

03:01 AM

Carlsberg pulls its beer out of Russia

Carlsberg says it we will stop producing and selling its flagship beer in Russia while ceasing all advertising there.

It follows an announcement last week that it would halt new investments or exports from Carlsberg Group into Russia.

“We feel a moral obligation to our Russian colleagues who are an integral part of Carlsberg, and who are not responsible for the actions of the Government.

“We have been owners of Baltika Breweries since 2000 and majority owners since 2008. Our 8,400 employees in Baltika represent more than one in every five of our total global workforce. They value working for Carlsberg, which is known for honesty, fairness and a strong values-led culture.”

The company added that Baltika Breweries will be run as a separate business, with the purpose of sustaining its employees and their families.

02:35 AM

Australia ups defence spending amid ‘uncertain global environment’

Australia will spend about A$38 billion (£ 22.2 billion) out to 2040 to expand its active defence personnel by a third to keep the country safe “in an increasingly uncertain global environment”, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday.

Australia has been boosting its defence spending over the past few years as China looks to step up its presence in the Indo-Pacific region.

“This is a significant investment in our future force,” Mr Morrison said during a media briefing on Thursday. The planned expansion would see the number of defence personnel rise to 80,000, a level not seen since the Vietnam War.

Morrison, behind in opinion polls in an election year, has made national security a core issue and has attacked the opposition Labor party as being “soft” on China, viewed by two-thirds of Australians as more of a security threat than an economic partner.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese sharply criticised China for offering Russia relief from sanctions despite its war with Ukraine, a similar line to Mr Morrison’s ruling coalition.

02:28 AM

Pictured: Fuel prices around the world surge as the conflict continues

02:10 AM

Sony suspends PlayStation operations in Russia

Sony said it has halted PlayStation shipments to Russia and suspended operations of the gaming giant’s online store there, the latest global brand to shun the country over its invasion of Ukraine.

“Sony Interactive Entertainment joins the global community in calling for peace in Ukraine,” the company said on Thursday

“We have suspended all software and hardware shipments, the launch of Gran Turismo 7, and operations of the PlayStation Store in Russia.”

The statement added that Japanese tech and entertainment giant Sony Group was donating $2 million to the UN refugee agency and Save the Children “to support the victims of this tragedy”.

A growing number of multinationals, from McDonald’s to Adidas and Samsung, have fully or partially halted business in Russia after its invasion of its neighbouring country two weeks ago.

Some have cited supply chain disruption while others have directly linked the move to outrage over President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops to Ukraine.

02:08 AM

China-Taiwan war would end in ‘miserable victory’, says Taiwanese minister

No matter who wins in any future war between Taiwan and China, it will be a “miserable victory”, Taiwan Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said on Thursday, adding it was best if everyone avoided conflict.

Speaking to reporters before a parliament session on the security implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr Chiu said both sides would pay a heavy price in the event of conflict between China and Taiwan, which Beijing has vowed to reclaim, by force if necessary.

“If there’s a war, to be frank, everyone will be miserable, even for the victors,” he said.

“One really needs to think this through,” Mr Chiu added. “Everyone should avoid wars.”

While Taiwan has stepped up its alert level since the war in Ukraine, it has reported no unusual Chinese military activities, though China’s air force has continued to mount occasional missions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone.

01:41 AM

35,000 people flee Ukraine’s cities

At least 35,000 civilians were evacuated from besieged Ukrainian cities, Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

In a video address on Wednesday, the Ukrainian leader said three humanitarian corridors had allowed residents to leave the cities of Sumy, Enerhodar and areas around Kyiv.

He said he hoped the evacuations would continue on Thursday with three more routes set to open out of the cities of Mariupol, Volnovakha in the southeast and Izium in eastern Ukraine.

The evacuations came after Moscow and Kyiv agreed on Wednesday to open more corridors, offering a glimmer of hope for terrified civilians trapped in bombarded cities.

01:40 AM

PM promises more sanctions

Boris Johnson has committed to impose the “maximum economic cost” on Russia as the Foreign Secretary is expected to say aggression like Vladimir Putin’s must “never again” be allowed to “grow unchecked”.

In a call on Wednesday evening, the Prime Minister joined Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in condemning a reported Russian strike on a maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol.

He noted that this, together with reports Russian forces had failed to respect ceasefire agreements, was “yet further evidence that Putin was acting with careless disregard for international humanitarian law”, Downing Street said.

01:36 AM

Today’s top stories

• Vladimir Putin is plotting to use chemical weapons in Ukraine, Western officials fear, after his air force bombed a maternity hospital in a “depraved” attack that shocked the world

• Boris Johnson described the attack on Hospital No 3 as “depraved” and said Britain would step up its supplies of weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces

• Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, called on the West to “close the skies” after the strike, reigniting demands to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine and send its air force more fighter jets

• The Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday that Russia had admitted firing a thermobaric weapons system in Ukraine

• Volodymyr Zelensky has accused the US and Poland of “playing ping-pong” with the lives of Ukrainians after the apparent collapse of a proposal to send MiG fighter jets to his air force

• Boris Johnson is facing calls to intervene to urge Saudi Arabia to release more oil after the country’s crown prince refused to take a call from Joe Biden, US president

• Russia has admitted for the first time that it has sent conscripts to fight in Ukraine, as defence analysts said the military was “struggling to assemble” a large enough force to capture Kyiv

• Priti Patel is preparing an about-turn to allow up to 20,000 more Ukrainians in the UK to bring in loved ones and remain for three years in the wake of criticism over the Government’s handling of the refugee crisis