Frank Gardner
BBC Security Correspondent

Image source, EPA/Maxar Technologies

Some clarity on that massive Russian armoured column heading south towards Kyiv.

Close analysis of the latest satellite images by McKenzie Intelligence Services reveals the following:

• The convoy is not 40 miles long, it’s a series of logistical ‘packets’ strung out along a major highway from the Belarus border, aiming to link up with Russian units on the northern outskirts of Kyiv.
• The convoy appears to be hampered in several places by broken down vehicles.
• The column consists of some armour (tanks) and infantry fighting vehicles but mainly logistical vehicles, implying plans for more than just a brief battle.

Separately, the imagery examined by McKenzie Intelligence Services shows a Russian parachute battalion dug in to the area of Hostomel airfield - Ukraine's most important international cargo airport and a key military airbase near Kyiv.

But their artillery is assessed to be outside the range of most of the capital.

The analysts say they have noted very little Russian progress over the past 24 hours.

Image source, Reuters

We have more on the explosion near the television tower in Kyiv.

The Ukrainian government says the blast was the result of an attack by Russian forces.

The interior ministry said some equipment had been damaged and that "channels won't work for a while".

Image source, Getty Images

More than 660,000 civilians have fled Ukraine, according to the UN, but that number could increase massively to some four million, the EU estimates.

Refugees are crossing the borders to neighbouring countries to the west, including Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova.

Poland has so far taken in over 377,000 refugees, according to the UN. The Polish government says a further 50,000 are arriving every day.

Hungary and Romania are giving out cash allowances for food and clothing. Children are being given places in local schools.

The Czech Republic has activated a plan which will help refugees apply for a special type of visa through a simplified procedure.

Read more about where Ukraine's refugees are going.

Image source, Reuters

A large plume of smoke has risen near the TV tower in Kyiv. It's unclear if the tower was directly hit. Footage appeaing on social media - which the BBC has verified - shows an explosion in the area.

Earlier the Russian defence ministry warned Kyiv residents that it was preparing to hit targets in the capital.

Our exit from a country ready for warpublished at 15:08 Greenwich Mean Time 1 March 2022

15:08 GMT 1 March 2022

Paul Adams
BBC diplomatic correspondent

Our exit from Kyiv to Moldova yesterday took around nine hours. The journey took us across about 250 miles of central Ukraine.

It’s still winter, so it’s barren now, but in every town and village we came across signs of a new industry: civil defence.

Russian forces have so far paid little attention to the rural heart of the country, especially towards the west.

In every community, no matter how large or small, signs of preparation were everywhere.

Makeshift roadblocks of sandbags, concrete blocks and tractor tyres across the entry to villages. Small bands of volunteers, wrapped up against the biting wind, checking cars, training binoculars along the roads, filling sandbags.

Village after village, the same scene. No sign of armour. Just men with AK-47s and the odd hunting rifle.

While the world looks on in horror at events in Kyiv and Kharkiv, we got the overwhelming impression of an entire nation, bracing itself for the coming conflict, utterly determined to resist the invaders.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images/Facebook

Ukrainian tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky and boxer Vasiliy Lomachenko have signed up to help their nation's defence against Russia's invasion.

Stakhovsky says he hopes he will not have to use his gun, but he knows how to use it and "If I'll have to, I'll have to".

The 36-year-old retired from tennis after the Australian Open in January and has returned to Kyiv to help his nation's defence.

Lomachenko posted a photo on his Facebook account at the weekend - showing him wearing a military uniform with a rifle across his shoulder - saying he had joined the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Force.

Heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk is also thought to have signed up.

Usyk, who beat Britain's Anthony Joshua in September, has left his London base to go back to Ukraine.

The current mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, is also a former heavyweight boxing champion.

Image source, Getty Images

Moldova could be "completely submerged" by refugees if the clashes seen in Russia's invasion of Ukraine move closer to its border, the country's foreign minister warns.

Asked about the possible risk to his own country from Russia, Nicu Popescu - who is also the country's deputy prime minister - tells reporters "our assumption is that we’re not a target, but we’re in a very risky zone".

He admits there is "anxiety" in the population and "a degree of fear", before adding the country will receive several visits from EU representatives and member states in the next few days.

Well over half a million civilians have fled Ukraine, according to the UN, crossing the borders to neighbouring countries to the west, including Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Earlier we told you about the Ukrainian woman who confronted British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a news conference, asking him to impose a no-fly zone over her country.

Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Kyiv-based Anti-Corruption Action Centre now says she was "very disappointed" by his response.

"I see that there is a sense of hopelessness from the West," she tells the BBC.

"I see that there will be no no-fly zone imposed over the Ukrainian sky. The West is afraid of going to war with Russia, but there is no alternative in terms of the protection of Ukrainian skies."

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, she says without a no-fly zone, it would not be possible to get humanitarian aid to children trapped in Ukraine by the invasion.

"If you are not protecting Ukrainian skies... it means that Ukrainian children will be taking the hit [from Russia's] missiles, and this is what is insane to me."

Sean Coughlan
BBC News, royal correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

In the strongest comments so far from the Royal Family about Russia's invasion, Prince Charles has warned of an assault on democratic values.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark Southend becoming a city, Prince Charles linked the killing of MP Sir David Amess with attacks on Ukraine.

"What we saw in the terrible tragedy in Southend was an attack on democracy, on an open society, on freedom itself. We are seeing those same values under attack today in Ukraine in the most unconscionable way," said Prince Charles.

"In the stand we take here, we are in solidarity with all those who are resisting brutal aggression."

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have previously said on Twitter that they "stand with the president and all of Ukraine's people as they bravely fight for that future".

Image source, Grant Shapps/Twitter

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps says the UK has passed a law banning ships with "any Russian connection" from entering its ports.

He wrote on Twitter, external: "At London's Foreign Office where we've just become the first nation to pass a law involving a total ban of all ships with any Russian connection whatsoever from entering British ports."

Posting a picture of himself with Foreign Office minister James Cleverly, he called on other countries to do the same to support Ukraine.

Why Russia is desperate to capture Mariupolpublished at 14:05 Greenwich Mean Time 1 March 2022

14:05 GMT 1 March 2022

Image source, Reuters

Thousands of Russian troops and Moscow-backed separatist fighters have been trying to capture the south-eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol for almost a week.

Russian forces, who have been heavily shelling the port city of 400,000-500,000 people, have now cut electricity to residents.

The Donetsk-based separatist leader Denis Pushilin says his fighters are trying to encircle the city, though these troops are most likely an element of a larger Russian advance.

The battle is raging here because Mariupol sits in key strategic position on the Sea of Azov, dividing Russian forces on the annexed Crimean peninsula and Moscow-backed separatist troops in eastern Ukraine.

Russia has been trying to engage in amphibious landings of troops in the region for days with varying degrees of success, but if Moscow can capture Mariupol then it can establish a land-bridge between its forces in south-eastern Ukraine and Crimea.

But maybe more importantly, the city is also a major port. In normal times, ships here export grain around the world, but if captured the city would allow Russia to address its faltering logistics operation, which has seen dozens of tanks run out of fuel on Ukrainian highways.

Where is fighting happening?published at 13:59 Greenwich Mean Time 1 March 2022

13:59 GMT 1 March 2022

Image source, Getty Images

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the west is “ready for a prolonged crisis,” as Ukrainian troops dig in against Russia's forces.

Moscow has now deployed up to 75% of its invasion force amid intense fighting across the country. Ukrainian soldiers are putting up a stubborn defence and claim to have killed or wounded around 5,710 Russian troops, although the BBC cannot independently verify this figure. Here is a quick summary of where the fighting is at its thickest:

• Some Russian forces have managed to enter the southern city of Kherson, where they are involved in intense street-to-street fighting with Ukrainian troops. The BBC has verified social media footage showing explosions on the northern periphery of the city
• In the east, officials in Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv say at least 10 people have been killed in deliberate shelling of residential areas. President Volodymyr Zelensky says Moscow's attacks against civilians amount to war crimes
• Mariupol, a port city in south-eastern Ukraine, has had its power cut and Russian forces are shelling it relentlessly in an effort to take the city and create a land-bridge between their armies in separatist held regions in the east and the annexed Crimean peninsula
• A massive Russian armoured convoy is bearing down on the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv, where a staunch defence has held the Russian position about 30km (19) miles outside the city centre for several days
• On Tuesday afternoon, Russia warned it will carry out strikes on the headquarters of the security services and the psychological warfare centre in Kyiv and urged locals to evacuate
• In the north-eastern city of Okhtyrka, up to 70 Ukrainian soldiers have reportedly been killed in a Russian artillery strike

Sarah Rainsford
BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent, Dnipro

On the roads in and out of Dnipro, crowds of men are building checkpoints, fortifying their city.

At each spot – and they are multiple now – they’re filling sandbags and building walls of tyres.

With concrete blocks zig-zagged on the road, soldiers stop and check vehicles in both directions.

Trucks are unloading giant metal crosses, known as "hedgehogs" here, to lay in lines to stop the advance of Russian tanks.

Along the roadside are billboards in the blue and yellow colours of the national flag, calling on Ukrainians to unite.

Despite the intense fighting now in Kharkiv, three hours drive to the north, we didn’t find a huge stream of traffic heading towards us.

Some people inside Ukraine’s second city have told us they’re too scared even to leave their bunkers or their houses.

Evacuation trains are running, but information is sporadic and not everyone can reach the station in safety.

Image source, AFP

One of Russia's richest men says the war in Ukraine should be stopped as soon as possible as it is a "tragedy" for both sides.

Ukrainian-born Mikhail Fridman says he can't comment more directly, as he thinks it would result in a risk - not just to him personally but also to his colleagues and staff.

He also says a blanket ban on Russians doing business in the world seemed unfair.

Meanwhile, Fridman has stepped down from the board of directors of Veon, the mobile network operator says.

He is the biggest shareholder in the Amsterdam-based company, which operates networks in Ukraine and Russia as well as Algeria, Kazakhstan and Pakistan.

Image source, Getty Images

We've got an updated figure on the number of people who have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion six days ago.

The UN refugee agency says more than 660,000 people - mostly women and children - have left so far.

Shabia Mantoo, spokeswoman of the UN's refugee agency has told a briefing in Switzerland that there are reports of people waiting for up to 60 hours to enter Poland, while queues at the Romanian border are up to 20km (12 miles) long.

This train station in the Polish border city of Przemyśl has become a safe haven for thousands of people fleeing Ukraine:

Image source, Getty Images

As Russia warns of attacks in Kyiv (see previous post), Ukrainian defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov has warned of a possible "psychological attack" by Russia.

Writing on Facebook, he claimed Russia was first planning to disrupt communications.

"After that, there will be a massive distribution of fake news about Ukrainian military-political leadership allegedly agreeing to capitulation," he wrote.

"To substantiate the fake news, they will publish photos of signed documents and a fake video. This is a lie."

He added:

The Russian defence ministry has issued a warning to Kyiv residents that it is preparing to hit targets in the Ukrainian capital.

In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, Russian officials said their forces are preparing to launch "high-precision strikes" against "technological centres of the Ukrainian Security Service and the 72nd main PsyOps centre in Kyiv".

"We urge Ukrainian citizens who are being used by nationalists to carry out provocations against Russia, as well as Kyiv residents residing near relay stations to leave their home," the statement added.

Officials claimed the strikes are being carried out to "prevent information attacks against Russia".

Image source, Reuters

And earlier the president of the European Council Charles Michel spoke passionately at the special session, condemning Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine as "brutal" and based on "despicable lies".

He warned that the rule-based international order was under attack and described Moscow's actions as "geopolitical terrorism, pure and simple".

Regarding Ukraine's application to become an EU member state, he said "it's going to be difficult, we know there are different views in Europe" but described the request as "legitimate" and "symbolic".

Image source, AFP

More from the European Parliament: the President of the European Commission has given a chilling analysis of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, describing it as a battle between "the rule of law and the rule of the gun".

Ursula von der Leyen warned the EU will never accept the view that Ukraine has no right to exist and condemned President Putin's "naked aggression" against the country.

She said if Moscow was seeking to divide the international community, it had achieved "the exact opposite" citing the bloc's co-ordination with allies.

The EU reacted "at the speed of light" to deliver the largest sanctions package in the history of the union which would take a heavy toll on the Russian economy, she added.

Von der Leyen also had strong words for Russian oligarchs: "Make no mistake we will freeze their other assets as well, be it yachts, or fancy cars."

She also made a distinction between the Kremlin and the Russian people.

"There is another Russia, besides Putin's tanks, and we extend our hand of friendship to this other Russia", she said.