As we just reported, a new law in Russia is set to punish "fake" information with jail sentences of up to 15 years.

On Thursday, one of Russia’s last independent news outlets TV Rain stopped broadcasting indefinitely after coming under pressure for its coverage of the invasion.

The channel, also know as Dozhd, ended its final broadcast by showing staff walking off set.

Russia's telecommunications regulator accused the channel of "inciting extremism, abusing Russian citizens, causing mass disruption of public calm and safety, and encouraging protests".

The lower chamber of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, has unanimously passed a law which makes it a jailable offence to spread "fake" information about the armed forces.

A total of 401 lawmakers voted in favour of the bill, with no votes against it or abstentions, Interfax news agency reported.

The law still needs approval from the upper house.

If and when it comes into effect, there will be fines and jail terms of up to 15 years for those who intentionally spread false information about the armed forces that has a serious impact, according to a statement by the lower house.

Image source, Reuters

When Taras takes a cautious look around his city on the first day since the Russians took control he sees military vehicles on the street but no soldiers.

The port of Kherson, in southern Ukraine, is the first major city to be taken by Russia after more than a week of intense fighting.

But Taras, not his real name, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there was positivity among the 200 people queueing outside the supermarket today.

He was able to buy meat after 30-40 minutes but his friends have waited for two to three hours in recent days.

"What I noticed today is they're full of optimism and energy. They believe that it will be over very soon in a few days or weeks

"Especially our women, I was surprised, they are so proud of our Ukrainian army they are saying that our guys can come and we will kill them and everything will go back."

Asked if he shares their optimism he says "definitely" and so do 95% of Kherson citizens.

He says: "Our mayor is saying our city remains under the Ukrainian flag so I don't think Russian soldiers who are inside the city at the moment have any plans, they are waiting for something."

He adds: "People are afraid of bombing so for the next few days we will try to survive."

Read more: Russian troops take control of key city of Kherson

As our correspondent James Landale reported earlier Western foreign ministers are gathering in Brussels to assess their response to the war in Ukraine.

Speaking as he welcomed the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, Nato's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg condemned Russia's actions in Ukraine, including the shelling of a nuclear power plant.

Zaporizhzhia - Europe's largest nuclear plant - is now under Russian control.

Forty-seven people were killed in Russian air strikes on a residential district of the city of Chernihiv on Thursday, regional authorities have said.

Rescue work had to be suspended on Thursday due to heavy shelling, according to the local emergency services.

A total of 148 people, mostly civilians, have died since the beginning of hostilities in the region, the local authorities add, external.

The city of 300,000 people is in the north of the country, close to the borders with Russia and Belarus.

Turning now to the southern port town of Mariupol, which has come under heavy shelling.

The deputy mayor there is urging Nato leaders to send troops into Ukraine, saying Russia will not stop until it has made the country a desert and killed many civilians.

Sergei Orlov told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There is no way to stop Putin from killing our civilians from the sky until Nato wakes up and understands that it's not a regional conflict - it's a war against democracy, against freedom, against one of the biggest European nations.

"It looks like [Nato leaders] don't understand that Putin will not stop, they are scared and this is a pity. And we expect that some day Nato leaders will understand that it's totally necessary to provide direct military support to Ukraine to stop Mr Putin or at least to close our sky to protect us from the threat from the sky."

Image source, Reuters

He says Russia's President Vladimir Putin wants to create a desert to solve the Ukrainian question but he says "it's impossible to take our cities because the city is not the buildings, the city is the people".

He adds: "We already understand he is ready to kill as many civilians as he needs to."

Residents of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol have told the BBC they are trying to survive a relentless barrage of Russian shelling that has smashed residential districts and cut off power and water supplies.

• Read more: Mariupol under siege

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

Western foreign ministers will gather in Brussels for a day of intense diplomacy to assess their response to the war in Ukraine and consider what more should be done.

The ministers are expected to look at fresh ways of supporting Ukraine while maintaining pressure on Russia.

Foreign ministers - from Nato, the G7 and the European Union - will meet one after the other and talk about what more should be done.

Nato will consider further reinforcements of the military alliance's eastern flank. There'll be discussions about supporting non-Nato countries like Georgia and Moldova.

EU ministers will assess the humanitarian crisis and hear virtually from their Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, who is expected to plead for more air defence capability.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will become the first UK minister since Brexit to attend an EU foreign affairs council.

She said today's talks were designed to signal strong support for Ukraine while tightening the vice on what she called "Putin’s war machine".

The aim, diplomats say, is to restate and consolidate Western unity. But as for engagement with Russia, they say that looks "very difficult".

Victoria Gill
Science correspondent, BBC News

Nuclear experts watching the events at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant say this is not "another Chernobyl", but that it is a very risky situation.

"For the first time this morning, I'm frightened," Sheffield University nuclear materials expert Prof Claire Corkhill tells me.

It appears that only one of six reactors at the plant is now operating.

Corkhill says the reactors are being taken "offline" which means "they’re shutting down the nuclear reaction and putting them into a safe and stable state".

She adds this might have been Russia's intention.

“If you want to target their power supply, you attack a building close to the power plant and force operators to shut it down," she says.

Corkhill adds that a "worst-case scenario" would be that the plant’s electricity supply were damaged as "we could be looking at a scenario similar to what happened at Fukushima in 2011, where a loss of power led to a loss of cooling, which caused a meltdown of three of its nuclear reactors".

James Waterhouse
Kyiv correspondent, BBC News

Earlier, we heard some shell explosions, almost like a clap of thunder, around 10-15km (6-9 miles) to the north-east. In the hours since, it's been quiet.

We heard a few thuds overnight from our bomb shelter, which is two storeys underground - it sounds like someone dropping something heavy on the floor above you. Hearing that down there suggests the explosions are getting closer or bigger.

This feeds into the worry that what we're seeing in other Ukrainian cities for the past few days now - notably Mariupol in the south-east, where there has been continued shelling, according to the mayor, on residential areas - we could soon see that here.

The story overnight was the fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant that was controlled after it was shelled by Russian forces, but the plant is now under Russian control.

Staff are reportedly being allowed to remain there, they're allowed to keep working and monitor these power units. That's the second nuclear landmark that's fallen into Russian control, along with Chernobyl.

What this shows is that the Russian advance which continues to make gains in the south puts pressure on cities like Mariupol.

We're also seeing Russian troops move from the north towards Kyiv, bypassing cities which are already going through heavy shelling and fighting like Chernihiv and Sumy - and the worry is that Ukraine's capital, Russia's ultimate prize in this invasion, could soon be feeling the same effect.

Russia's shelling of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is a "serious and reckless attack on a nuclear site" that the whole international community must take very seriously, says the UK Deputy Prime Minister.

Dominic Raab told BBC Breakfast: "It's very difficult to believe it was not done deliberately but in any event it is unlawful to attack a site like this, not to do your due diligence on it and to keep bombarding it when there's a fire and the emergency services are responding to it."

He said he understands there is no immediate danger at the site.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called an emergency UN security council debate in New York to "ramp up the pressure on Putin's war machine".

We've been hearing from a dance teacher who lives in Zaporizhzhia where Russian troops have seized a nuclear plant.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he saw the Russian military shooting and throwing bombs at the plant all night.

"I know that one of the buildings was on fire but fortunately it wasn't the actual nuclear station, it was for people who live there. Of course it's still bad news but at least it's not the actual reactor."

He says: "It is a worry not only for our region but for Ukraine and the whole world as it's one of the biggest nuclear power plants in Europe as far as I know.

"It's insane, it's just terrorism, there are no words, the world should do something about it."

He says he has family and friends in Russia and people there are divided into two groups - those brainwashed into believing Putin is making peace in Ukraine and the other half who are "very afraid and ashamed".

World leaders are accusing Russia of endangering the safety of an entire continent after its forces attacked a nuclear power plant and sparked a fire.

A fire broke out at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant - the largest in Europe - after what Ukrainian authorities said was an attack by Russia.

Ukraine's Emergency Services managed to extinguish the fire, which broke out at a building outside the plant's perimeter, but authorities say that Russian troops have seized the plant.

UK Prime Minister Boris Jonson said Russia's "reckless" attack could "directly threaten the safety of all of Europe".

US President Joe Biden urged Moscow to stop its military activities around the site, while Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the "horrific attacks" from Russia "must cease immediately".

Read more reactions here

The Ukraine military claims, external that Russia has exhausted most of its operational reserves in trying to capture Kyiv, and is now getting backups from other divisions.

In a Facebook post, the General Staff of the Armed Forces adds that Russian troops have managed to surround the port city of Mariupol.

Residents of Mariupol have been describing a relentless barrage of shelling as Russian forces try to capture the city.

The Ukraine military adds that that a group of Russian soldiers have withdrawn from the naval bases in the Black Sea, although they continue "to prepare for the landing of marines in Zatoka".

Russian troops have seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the Ukrainian authorities say.

"Operational personnel are monitoring the condition of power units," a local authority said on social media, quoted by Reuters news agency.

Station personnel continue to work and monitor the state of the power units, it said.

A fire broke out at the plant earlier - Europe's largest - after what Ukraine said was a Russian shelling attack.

Image source, TV Rain via Twitter

One of Russia’s last independent news outlets TV Rain has announced it would stop operations indefinitely after coming under pressure over its coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s telecommunications regulator had already blocked TV Rain earlier this week, accusing it of "inciting extremism, abusing Russian citizens, causing mass disruption of public calm and safety, and encouraging protests", according to reports.

On Thursday, the outlet aired its final show online.

“No to war,” said Natalia Sindeyeva, one of the channel's founders, as the employees walked out of the studio.

The channel then began playing footage of a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.

The ballet was infamously used in Soviet-era radio and television broadcasts during the 1980s to mark the death of leaders, and later in a 1991 coup that would contribute to the end of the Soviet Union.

The American company is the latest to announce they're pausing operations in those nations. Its chief executive tweeted, external a few hours ago.

This is in line with US and other Western nations' sanctions on many parts of the Russian economy - like banks - which have made it near impossible for global businesses to operate in Russia.

Read more about the businesses pulling back from Russia here.

If you're just joining our live coverage of the Ukraine crisis, welcome. Here’s what’s happened overnight:

• A fire broke out at the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia - Europe's largest - after a Russian shelling attack. Ukraine responders have managed to extinguish the blaze
• Ukraine’s State Emergency Services said there were no victims from the fire, which didn’t affect the reactor sites but a nearby five-storey training site

• Russia’s attack sparked immediate condemnation from Western leaders who called it a “horrific” and “reckless” act that threatened the safety of all of Europe

• Ukraine President Zelensky had hours ago called on other nations to take more action immediately against Putin's “nuclear terror”
• He called on Europeans to “wake up” to the prospect of a global catastrophe like the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, and said Russia was the first country in history to try and bomb a nuclear power plant
• Elsewhere, Russia is strengthening its campaign in the south of Ukraine, where it’s closing in on the key city of Mariupol after capturing Kherson two days ago.
• Over a million refugees have now fled Ukraine. Both Russia and Ukaine have agreed to establishing “humanitarian corridors” to evacuate civilians

Image source, Henk Jungerius

The Estonian owners of a cargo ship say it has sunk off the coast of Ukraine after an explosion.

They say two crew members ended up in a life-raft at sea and four others were initially missing - all six were later picked up by a local Ukrainian rescue service.

The Panama-flagged ship is owned by Estonia-based company Vista Shipping Agency. Baltic state Estonia is a member of Nato and has a border with Russia.

The vessel had been anchored off the Ukrainian coast after leaving the southern port of Chornomorsk near Odesa a number of days ago. It is not clear what caused the blast.

Ukraine's military says that Russia is sending amphibious landing vessels to capture Odesa, a city of a million people and a major seaport, as it continues its advance across southern Ukraine.

Russia's communication authorities have limited access to the BBC's Russian Service in the country, reports state-owned news agency RIA.

Two other news outlets - Meduza and Radio Liberty - have also been blocked, it said.

Share prices have tumbled in Asia after a fire broke out earlier today at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the largest in Europe.

Tokyo and Hong Kong faced the steepest falls, with Japan's benchmark Nikkei index 2.5% lower and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong down by 2.6%.

Oil prices rose in Asia morning trade, with Brent crude above $112 a barrel.

The fire happened after Russia troops shelled the plant.

Ukraine emergency services said initially they were blocked from getting to the scene, but later managed to access the plant and put out the fire.

Some investor concerns were eased after officials said the plant's safety was "secured".

Read more here.