Thank you for joining us today, but don't go anywhere - we've got more news on what's been happening in Ukraine across the BBC:

• The BBC has been hearing from people on the ground in Ukraine following Russia's attack today on Poltava
• Our correspondent Nick Beake has been talking to Ukrainian recruits at a secret training location in Ukraine
• Yesterday, Russia fired missiles at Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, hours before children returned to school for the new academic year
• Have a look at the progress of the war in Ukraine through maps
• Away from the aftermath of missile strikes in Poltava today, Russia's President Vladimir Putin has been on a state visit to Mongolia

Today's page was written by Laura Gozzi, Malu Cursino, Sofia Ferreira Santos, Andre Rhoden-Paul, and Hollie Cole. It was edited by Owen Amos and Nathan Williams.

We'll be bringing our live coverage of today's events in Ukraine to a close shortly - but before we go, here's a round-up of what's been happening:

• Ukrainian authorities have said more than 50 people have been killed today - including soldiers - after Russian missiles struck Poltava - the deadliest single attack on a Ukrainian town or city this year.
• They said more than 200 hundred people were wounded in the Ukrainian city when a military communications institute and nearby hospital were struck

• Overnight the Ukrainian military reported Iskander missiles were launched from occupied Crimea, around 430km (26 miles) away, which is within the missiles' range
• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked the West for more air defence systems and long-range missiles. The White House has said more military aid would be sent to the country in the coming weeks.

A Ukrainian member of parliament has said Ukraine must take the war into Russian territory to "stop all those killings that we are witnessing every day here in Ukraine".

Inna Sovsun added: "We also need to have the opportunity to strike inside Russian territory so that we could destroy their airfields from which they are launch and those attacks right now."

She said that Ukraine has "much better air defence capabilities right now" but adds that it needs more.

While Ukraine has been grappling with the aftermath of a Russian missile strike on Poltava, Russia's President Vladimir Putin has had the red carpet rolled out for him in Mongolia.

It is the Russian leader's first visit to an International Criminal Court (ICC) member since it issued a warrant for his arrest last year. But the the Kremlin said it was not concerned Putin would be held during the visit.

Image source, EPA

Image source, SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Image source, SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Image source, SPUTNIK/KREMLIN POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Former Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has urged Western allies to do "everything that is needed to supply Ukraine with ammunition and necessary military equipment".

"I don't understand that the West is always concerned about the red lines but he [Russia's President Vladimir Putin] already crossed all death lines, not red lines," Yatsenyuk says.

"We need a full flood approach to stop this dictator, to stop this massacre that is committed personally by Putin and his bloody military.

We're hearing more now from residents in Poltava about when the Russian missiles hit.

Oleksandr Dedyukhin says he lives next to the "epicentre of where the rocket struck" and says it "tore down the balcony, blasted all the windows, and broke the interior door".

"Our neighbour's door was blocked, the lock was jammed by the blast wave," he says. "We had to help get them out."

Yevgeniya Chyrva says the windows of her house also broke.

"I just had time to tell my sister that [I heard] the rocket flying. She was in another room. I heard such a sound that it still gives me goose bumps," she says.

"The windows on the balcony, in the hall completely, all of them were broken. The window frames were ripped out along with the wood."

Nick Beake
Reporting from Poltava

This is the deadliest single attack on a Ukrainian town or city this year. Here in Poltava, the emergency services are still working, even though it's dark now.

We've got people clearing out buildings. There are hardly any windows that haven't been smashed.

There are lots of army personnel here. We can't get too near the site, because of the sensitivity.

Nearby, people are gazing towards the scene with tears in their eyes.

Image source, BBC / Nick Beake

The US - which has sent tens of billions of dollars in military and financial aid to Ukraine since 2022 - has confirmed more planned military aid will be sent to Ukraine in the coming weeks.

It has also condemned Russia's strike on Poltava, saying it showed the need to urgently strengthen Kyiv's air defences.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters the strike is "another horrific reminder" of Russian president Vladimir Putin's "brutality towards the people of Ukraine".

A Ukrainian MP, Oleksiy Goncharenko, has just spoken to our colleagues on BBC World TV.

Responding to the time between the air raid siren in Poltava, and the missiles landing, he says two minutes is "nothing".

"You just imagine you're on the sixth floor of some building and you need to run away downstairs. Is it realistic that you can do this in two minutes?

"Just imagine this life and like this several times per day. We can't continue like this. It's just not fair."

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier, we reported that we couldn't show you images of the strike in Poltava due to restrictions on identifying military targets.

We are now able to show you some of those pictures of the damage caused by the Russian missile strike.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Ukraine's armed forces have just released a statement, confirming military deaths in the attack on the military institute in Poltava.

It says there are "dozens dead and hundreds injured". "We lost brave Ukrainians, our brothers and sisters, soldiers," it adds.

It says there will be an investigation to determined whether enough was done to protect the "life and health of soldiers on site".

Measures to "secure personnel" will be strengthened, the statement adds.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

It is not yet confirmed, but if those killed and wounded in Poltava were indeed cadets and soldiers, then this is a terrible tragedy for the military as much as for the country at large.

One former MP, Borislav Bereza, said the building was struck while cadets were inside during classes.

If recent recruits were among the victims, the timing could not be worse for a military in desperate need of beefing up its numbers. Last spring Ukraine lowered the conscription age by two years to 25 and my colleague Nick Beake has only just met recruits training in north-eastern Ukraine.

Commentators are already drawing comparisons with two attacks in March 2022 a few weeks after Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine began. The first hit a barracks not far from the Polish border; the second a marine brigade in the south, and critics are asking why lessons were not learned.

Image source, REX/Shutterstock

Of course, lessons have been learned and some training is done outside Ukraine.

Ukrainian military journalist Yuriy Butusov suggested mistakes may have been made with security.

He said enemy agents had found out about Tuesday's "mass meeting in Poltava" and basic measures had to be applied across the board.

The team at Ukrainecast have been trying to make sense of the attack on Poltava.

Victoria Derbyshire and Vitaliy Shevchenko explore why the city may have been targeted, and describe some of the footage which has emerged.

You can hear the episode here

We're getting some reaction from Ukraine's allies now.

The UK condemns the "sickening act of aggression" by Russia in the central-eastern town, with Foreign Secretary David Lammy saying: "My thoughts are with all the victims and their loved ones. We stand with Ukraine."

Meanwhile Germany says Vladimir Putin's brutality "knows no limits".

"He must be held accountable," says Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russian editor at BBC Monitoring

Following that update from the regional leader, the Ukrainian prosecutor-general's office now says the number killed has risen to 51.

The Poltova regional head Philip Pronin, speaking on Ukrainian TV, says 50 people have been killed in the attack, and more than 235 have been injured.

He says another 15 people are believed to be still trapped under the rubble.

Why haven't we shown pictures of the damage in Poltava?published at 16:17 British Summer Time 3 September

16:17 BST 3 September

Videos and images circulating on social media show a high-rise building with severe damage at the site of the strike.

A large blown-out hole can be seen on one side of the building and piles of rubble and other debris is scattered around the area.

Other graphic photos are also circulating, which show what appears to be multiple dead bodies on the ground and covered in dust.

BBC Verify has confirmed the authenticity and location of this imagery - but there are specific restrictions around broadcasting footage following Russian attacks in Ukraine.

This afternoon the Ukrainian defence ministry, in line with existing restrictions on identifying military targets, told BBC News that images of the strike should not be published yet, because it could help to direct further enemy attacks.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russian editor at BBC Monitoring

Poltava regional head Philip Pronin has called the attack a "cunning and cynical Russian strike".

"According to preliminary information, up to 18 people can still be under the rubble," he says. "Search groups are on site. Ten residential buildings have been damaged."

Deadly attack a reminder of what Ukraine needspublished at 16:05 British Summer Time 3 September

16:05 BST 3 September

Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

The attack on Poltava, with its exceptionally high death toll, is a further reminder of Ukraine’s dire need for more and better air defences.

President Zelensky has also used this incident to repeat his call to his Western allies for help in hitting those bases inside Russia from which attacks are being launched.

The question of whether Western donors should now remove the restraints on their long-range weapon systems being used inside Russia was the hot topic at last weekend’s Globsec24 security forum in Prague.

There were calls from several Western ministers and military experts for Ukraine to be given free rein to target bases deep inside Russia.

But Washington and Berlin are known to be reluctant to agree to this, for fear of escalation and prompting a Russian retaliation against a Nato country - a caution that many say is unjustified.

But the attack on Poltava is believed to have been launched from Russian-occupied Crimea, where Ukraine already has the green light to hit targets, as Crimea is not considered Russian territory by most of the international community.

Of greater concern right now to Ukraine is the lack of warning it was able to give its citizens as these high-speed ballistic missiles came hurtling down.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
Russian editor at BBC Monitoring

We've just had a new statement from the Ukrainian defence ministry.

"Search and rescue operations continue, it says.

"According to our information, teaching was in progress at the institution [when the missiles hit]. The alarm sounded at 09:08 [07:08 BST], everyone headed to the shelter, there were explosions several minutes after the alarm sounded.

"There was no parade or any other event at the time of the airstrike."