Image source, Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife, Olena, have visited a memorial to soldiers in Ukraine.

The pair laid yellow and blue flowers at Kyiv's Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine, to mark the country's annual Independence Day.

In a video address earlier today, Zelensky vowed to "liberate" all of Ukraine's territories occupied by Russia without "any concession or compromise".

"We don't care what army you have, we only care about our land. We will fight for it until the end," he said.

Image source, Reuters

Read more: How many people have died in the war?

Image source, Reuters

Pope Francis is calling for "concrete steps" to end the war in Ukraine and avert the risk of a nuclear disaster at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Speaking at his weekly general audience in the Vatican on Ukraine's Independence Day, he condemned wars as "madness" and referred to the death of "poor girl" Darya Dugina, daughter of a prominent Russian ultra-nationalist, in a car bombing near Moscow on Saturday.

He also called arms merchants who profit from war "delinquents who kill humanity".

In an interview with Reuters last month, Pope Francis said he wanted to visit Kyiv but wanted to go to Moscow first to promote peace.

Image source, Getty Images

New Zealand's military has said one of its soldiers has been killed in Ukraine.

In a statement, officials said the soldier, who has not been named, was on leave from the defence forces without pay and was not on active duty at the time.

Defence Minister Peeni Henare expressed his condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the soldier.

While New Zealand has a limited number of troops in the UK helping to train Kyiv's forces, Western leaders have repeatedly urged soldiers not to join international battalions fighting against the Russian invasion.

But the Ukrainian consulate in Auckland said in March that more than 500 New Zealanders had offered to travel and fight in the conflict. It is unclear how many eventually made the journey.

People in Ukraine's capital Kyiv have been sharing their views on the war with Russia after six months of conflict.

Anna spoke of her hope that the war would end this year so they could be "joyful next spring" and start "living the happy life we had before the war".

Kyiv resident Vitalii said he didn't think a full-scale invasion would happen and that it was just Putin "sabre-rattling".

Today marks six months since the Russian invasion started and it is also Ukrainian Independence Day.

Ukraine has banned mass events in Kyiv today amid fears they could become a target for Russia.

Independence Day usually sees a massive military parade through the city centre.

The more Russia tries to pull Ukraine into its orbit, the stronger its people's sense of national identity becomes.

At a small factory on the left bank of Kyiv's Dnieper river, Nataliia's business used to make hotel uniforms, but now produces Ukrainian flags.

She started getting requests from military checkpoints early on in the invasion, now she gets more than 2,500 orders a month - not just from the army, but businesses too.

"These are very dear colours to us," she tells me over the whirring sound of sewing machines.

"Every Ukrainian feels these colours and we see them in everything - in the sky, in wheat. This gives us pleasure, joy and positive emotions, because our work is useful."

Read more about the Ukrainians celebrating Independence Day here.

Six months into Russia's invasion, public gatherings have been banned in Kyiv because of security risks.

So many people in the capital city are finding their own way to celebrate Ukraine's Independence Day.

Some have shown it by displaying the colours of the country's blue and yellow flag, while others sit on destroyed Russian tanks displayed in Khreshchatyk, Kyiv's main street.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

A pro-Russian official in an occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region has been killed in a car bomb attack, the Moscow-backed officials have said.

Ivan Sushko, who lead the local council in the town of Mykhailivka, died in hospital after being critically injured when a bomb placed under his car detonated.

Mykhailivka is a town of around 11,000 people and sits just 63km (39 miles) from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

Sushko is the latest pro-Russian official to be killed in occupied regions of Ukraine. Partisan forces have killed several high profile officials and two weeks ago the deputy head of the town of Nova Kahovka was shot dead outside his home.

Image source, EU Commission/Twitter

International leaders have been expressing their solidarity with Ukraine today and reiterating their support on Independence Day.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the nation will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes, adding that every possible humanitarian, economic and military support will be provided.

These comments are echoed by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, saying that Europe is with Ukraine "today and in the long run"

The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola adds the EU "will never cease to support Ukraine’s independence and its brave fight against the illegal Russian aggression".

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says the country's hearts are with Ukraine today as it celebrates its national holiday under "terrible circumstances".

He is joined by leaders from across Europe in wishing Ukraine a happy Independence Day, including the presidents of Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Moldova and foreign ministers in Poland and Turkey.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his support remains "unequivocal and steadfast" and is rooted in its belief that international law must prevail to preserve the sovereignty of all nations.

Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent

Six months on its clear Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has not gone according to plan.

It was meant to take weeks. Instead it’s become a slow grinding war of attrition.

The head of UK military intelligence, General Sir Jim Hockenhul, says the West already knew Russia would struggle to launch a full scale invasion. But even he’s been surprised by the levels of incompetence shown by the invaders.

Yet, there’s no sign that President Putin is looking for an exit. Instead he’s trying to regenerate his battered forces to continue his 'special military operation'.

General Hockenhull says the expectation is for a long war – with, he says, no decisive military action likely by either side this calendar year.

The question then is who is better prepared for a protracted conflict?

For Ukraine, that’s largely dependent on Western support – moral, military and economic.

President Putin will still be hoping that the West’s unity will fray the longer this war goes on. And he’s the one who’ll currently decide when this war ends.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

The war in Ukraine will "most likely end at the negotiating table", says Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of Nato.

"We will support Ukraine for as long as it takes", he tells Sky News.

"We will support Ukraine to prevail as an independent sovereign state in Europe and then this war will most likely end at the negotiating table.

"And the outcome of that will totally depend on the strength on the battlefield, that's the reason why we support them."

The chair of the UK parliament's foreign affairs committee and former Conservative leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat has travelled to Kyiv for Ukraine's Independence Day celebrations.

Tugendhat, a former soldier with the British Army, shared a video from Khreshchatyk street in the capital Kyiv, where various captured Russian armoured vehicles are currently being displayed.

In a video posted to Twitter, he praised the "extraordinary" resolve of Ukrainians in resisting "an act of aggression the likes of which we haven't seen since the end of the Second World War".

The MP has been a consistent critic of Russia and its invasion, calling it a "crime against peace" as the war began on 24 February.

Image source, Reuters

Russia's advance has slowed down in Ukraine, but this is a deliberate decision to avoid civilian casualties, according to Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Speaking during a visit to the Uzbek capital Tashkent, Shoigu claims that the operation in Ukraine is going to plan.

He also denied civilians are being targeted.

“During the special operation we are strictly adhering to human rights norms," he says.

"Strikes are carried out on Ukrainian military sites by high-precision weapons – on command centres, airfields, storage facilities, defensive fortified areas, and military production facilities.

"In addition, we are doing everything to avoid civilian casualties.

"Clearly, this does slow down the speed of the advance, but we are doing this deliberately.”

Western analysts take a different view, and suggest that Russia's advances have stalled because of Ukrainian resistence and poor logisitcal support.

Russia has continually claimed that it does not target civilians, a statement many international agencies dismiss, with human rights groups such as Amnesty accusing Russia of committing war crimes.

Image source, Getty Images

Few know the cost of challenging Russian influence better than Viktor Yushchenko.

The former Ukrainian president was poisoned with a toxic chemical while campaigning in 2004 against a Moscow-preferred candidate. He then led protests against a rigged election before taking office the following year.

Speaking to the BBC in his timber-framed home on the outskirts of Kyiv, Yushchenko praises the "power of national spirit" as the key to Ukraine's independence.

"Today I can say with confidence that 42 million Ukrainians speak in one voice. And that allows us to face any enemy, including Russia."

While Ukrainians here predicted the war, Yushchenko largely blames what he sees as the West's historic inability to combat Russian aggression: notably the 2008 conflict in Georgia and the annexation of Crimea six years later.

However, he thinks Ukraine's ultimate test has changed its standing in the world.

"Today, when more than 50 countries have expressed solidarity with the ideas of our fight. They're providing all kinds of support - military, financial and humanitarian."

Read more about the Ukrainians celebrating Independence Day here.

Image source, PA Media

The UK defence secretary has said the world is still "pretty solid and determined" to stand up for Ukraine six months into the war.

Ben Wallace says there has not been "any wavering" in support, which Russian President Vladimir Putin would "love the world to do".

"It's what he would fantasise, we'd all sort of go back to our sun loungers," he tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"The simple reality is we see this as a direct threat not only to Ukraine, but to our values, and the world is still pretty solid and determined," he says.

Wallace adds that Putin underestimated the resistance from Ukraine which is why a "stalemate" has now been reached in the conflict.

In the same interview, he rejected the idea of a blanket ban on visas for Russians to the UK but insisted "we can toughen up the conditions".

Image source, Reuters

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has somewhat surprisingly congratulated the Ukrainian people, external on their Independence Day.

Belarus has been Russia's main ally in its invasion and allowed Russian troops to enter Ukraine through its border.

"I am convinced that today's disagreements will not be able to destroy the centuries-old foundation of sincere, good-neighbourly relations between the peoples of the two countries," says Lukashenko.

He adds that Belarus will continue to stand for "preservation of agreement, development of friendly and mutually respectful contacts at all levels".

The Belarusian leader also wishes Ukrainians "a peaceful sky, tolerance, bravery, strength and success in restoring a dignified life".

Image source, EPA

More now from President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has vowed to "liberate" all of Ukraine's territories that are occupied by Russia without "any concession or compromise".

"We don't care what army you have, we only care about our land. We will fight for it until the end," he said in a video address today.

He says they will reclaim the eastern Donbas region and Russian-occupied Crimea, "however difficult the path may be".

"For us, Ukraine is the whole of Ukraine. All 25 regions, without any concession or compromise," he adds.

It comes after Zelensky told representatives of around 60 countries and international organisations at a virtual summit on Crimea yesterday that Ukraine would drive Russian forces out of the peninsula by any means necessary.

Image source, Downing Street press office

10 Downing Street has been adorned with sunflowers and the colours of the Ukrainian flag to celebrate Ukraine's Independence Day.

The sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine.

In a tweet, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office says the United Kingdom will "continue to stand with our Ukrainian friends - now and in the future".

The United States will announce $3bn in fresh military aid to Kyiv as Ukraine marks its Independence Day, as well as the six-month anniversary of the Russian invasion.

The announcement from the White House is expected later today, a US official confirmed, and comes after Washington warned that Moscow could be planning strikes on major civilian targets in Ukraine around its national holiday.

The military funding will help Ukraine acquire more weaponry, ammunition and other supplies for its armed forces, the Associated Press reports.

It would mark the biggest single military aid package from the US to help Ukraine after it already provided more than $10bn in aid to Kyiv since the start of the war.

Image source, Reuters

Today marks the six-month point of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Here is a quick recap of how the war has progressed so far:

• 24 February: After months of speculation, Vladimir Putin launches the invasion of Ukraine, describing it as a "special military operation" with the aim of "demilitarisation and denazification" of the country

• 7 March: Ukraine and Russia agree to open humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from the besieged city of Mariupol but attempts fail as Russian shelling continued
• 30 March: Russia first announces it will curb its assault on Kyiv. It will later shift its focus to eastern Ukraine
• 1 April: Horrors in Bucha emerge after Russian troops begin to withdraw from the city near to Kyiv. Bodies are found lying on the streets, indicating a civilian massacre

• 20 May: Russia takes control of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol after a long siege
• 25 June: The eastern city of Severodonetsk falls to Russia, with neighbouring Lysychansk following on 3 July, giving Moscow almost total control of the eastern Luhansk region
• 1 August: First grain ship leaves Ukraine under a landmark deal with Russia which had been blockading Ukrainian ports since February

Today's national holiday in Ukraine also coincides with the six-month anniversary of the Russian invasion on 24 February.

In its latest update, external, the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has reflected on the conflict and where Russian forces stand now.

It says that President Vladimir Putin has sought to solidify Russia's influence in Ukraine since 2014, but after invading six months ago Moscow realised it needed more "modest objectives" after its aim of "toppling the government and occupying most of the country" had failed.

The MoD says that the Russian offensive in the eastern Donbas region "is making minimal progress" with a "major Ukrainian counterattack" anticipated.

It says that Russia is suffering from shortages of munitions, vehicles and personnel, with morale "poor" among many troops and the army "significantly degraded".

"Its diplomatic power has been diminished and its long-term economic outlook is bleak. Six months in and Russia’s war has proven both costly and strategically harmful," the MoD adds.

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