Concern about risk of increasing civilian casualtiespublished at 18:24 Greenwich Mean Time 28 February 2022

18:24 GMT 28 February 2022

Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent

Western officials say the Russian military has made errors and has faced challenges to their invasion of Ukraine. They say Russia has underestimated the will of the Ukrainian forces to fight and their capabilities.

Officials point to problems faced by Russian forces to resupply some units and to get engineering support such as bridging to forward units.

This, they say, has been exacerbated by Russia's failure to destroy Ukraine's air defence systems.

Ukranian forces have dispersed and have been able to ambush Russian forces and concentrate on defending urban areas where Russian forces will find it hard to manoeuvre, Western officials said.

However, they expressed concern about the increase in use of Russian artillery fire - including in Kiev and Kharkiv and the subsequent risks of indiscriminate fire and increasing civilian casualties.

As air raid sirens are once again heard in Kyiv, you can follow updates in Ukrainian from the BBC Ukrainian service here.

They are currently reporting an account of an air strike from the mayor of Brovary, a city on the outskirts of Kyiv, who says there have been casualties.

You can also follow updates from BBC News Russian here.

We've just learned that US President Joe Biden has held a call with allies to discuss Russia's war on Ukraine.

Joining the call were Canada's PM Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian PM Mario Draghi, Japan's PM Fumio Kishida, Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Poland's President Andrzej Duda, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis and UK PM Boris Johnson.

We'll bring you more details from the call as we get them.

There are signs of a renewed attack on Kyiv as air raid sirens are heard and residents head back into underground shelters after a day of respite from the weekend's curfew.

BBC News correspondent Clive Myrie in Kyiv says his reporting base was "shaken by nearby missile fire" and the "windows shook" in their closest blast yet.

He says the fighting appears to be coming closer to the heart of Ukraine's capital.

Football's world governing body Fifa and Europe's governing body Uefa have suspended Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions.

The move comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials are banned from any organised international competitions.

It means the Russian men's team will not play their World Cup play-off matches next month and the women's team have been banned from this summer's European Championship.

More here.

Amid calls for the UK to follow the EU and ban the Kremlin-backed news channel RT, media regulator Ofcom says it has launched 15 investigations into the impartiality of the channel's news programmes.

Ofcom said it had seen a "significant increase" in the number of programmes on RT that warranted investigation.

It said the investigations would be "expedited" given the "severity and urgency" of the situation.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has warned that the BBC risks being banned in Russia if the UK takes action against RT, however.

Justin Rowlatt
Climate editor

Image source, Reuters

The war in Ukraine should encourage the world to accelerate the switch to renewable energy, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said.

His message comes as the UN issues its bleakest assessment yet of how climate change is affecting the world.

"Fossil fuels are a dead end," Guterres said.

The UN chief said the conflict in Ukraine shows continuing to rely on fossil fuels "makes the global economy and energy security vulnerable to geopolitical shocks and crises".

He added that a "prompt, well-managed transition to renewables" is the only pathway to energy security and the green jobs the world needs.

A quarter of the European Union's petroleum oil imports come from Russia, along with almost half its gas.

The irony that European nations are effectively paying for the war in Ukraine has not been lost on the continent's leaders.

The panic that Putin's actions caused in energy markets has only increased the profits Russia makes by driving up the price we all pay for energy - which is one reason we are already seeing a dramatic pivot to alternative supplies.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyy has been speaking to the BBC.

Asked whether the country was preparing for a more powerful Russian assault on Ukraine, including on Kyiv and other cities, he said:

"Every day the president asks me, every day we co-ordinate our efforts, about the situation and what is happening, and every day we answer that the situation is serious, but stable.

"Yes, indeed, every day the enemy sends more and more forces. But our glorious armed forces are basically destroying everything that arrives to Kyiv. Kyiv remains the place of the main strike...

"I understand that every day we are getting ready for any scenario, including in Kyiv. It includes territorial defence, the armed forces, the National Guard, the national police, the security service and the defence ministry’s Military Intelligence Directorate.

"We are creating mobile groups to search and catch saboteurs. We have up to 100 such groups active in Kyiv, depending on the time of day. You can hear gunfire in the city [as they operate]. Many people are captured, our specialists are working with them.

Image source, Getty Images

Moscow is scrambling to contain the impact of severe Western sanctions on its economy, banning brokers from selling foreign-owned securities and increasing interest rates.

But what sanctions has the West imposed and why are they hitting so hard?

Most notably, the EU, US, UK and allies have agreed to remove selected Russian banks from the Swift messaging system, which enables the smooth transfer of money across borders. The move is intended to cut Russia off from the international financial system and to "harm their ability to operate globally".

Western leaders have also agreed to freeze the assets of Russia's central bank, to limit its ability to access its $630bn (£470bn) international dollar reserves.

Major Russian banks are having their assets frozen and being excluded from the UK financial system. This stops them from accessing pound sterling and clearing payments through the UK.

And Western governments have also imposed sanctions on some individuals, including Russia's President Vladimir Putin, the Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and a number of members of Russia's oligarchic elite.

The EU, UK, US and Canada have launched a transatlantic task force to identify and freeze the assets of sanctioned individuals and companies, targeting more "officials and elites close to the Russian government, as well as their families".

Read more about Western sanctions here.

Fergal Keane
BBC News, Lviv

As people attempt to flee Ukraine, there have been angry scenes at Lviv station this morning as thousands try to escape Ukraine.

Scuffles broke out in large crowds as desperate families tried to board trains to the EU.

Children were caught among the crush that developed, as people attempted to board one of the few trains heading west to Poland.

Some infants and pushchairs were lifted over the heads of the crowd and hauled up the platform to safety.

Watch more here:

Will Vernon
BBC News, Moscow

Image source, Tass/Getty Images

Leading Russian liberal newspaper Novaya Gazeta has sent an email to subscribers detailing threats it has received from the state media watchdog Roskomnadzor and requesting people vote on possible next steps.

Over the weekend, the regulator sent letters to a number of (remaining) independent media, demanding they delete material describing the conflict in Ukraine as a "war".

According to Roskomnadzor, the correct term is "military operation"; other terms that are apparently unacceptable are "invasion" and "aggression".

Novaya Gazeta asks its readers to vote on what the paper should do next - either “to continue our work under military censorship and implement the demands of the authorities” or “to cease our editorial operations until the end of the war”.

Image source, Google

Ukrainian soldiers who were reportedly attacked on Zmiinyi (Snake) island are still alive, according to a statement posted on Facebook , externalby Ukraine's naval services.

"We are very happy to learn that our brothers are alive and well," the statement posted on Monday said.

The sailors "rebuked twice the attacks of the Russian invaders," but could no longer continue to protect the island, the statement continued.

Connection with the island was completely cut off and attempts to reach the sailors futile, after Russian armed forces destroyed its infrastructure, the navy said.

On Friday we reported how Ukraine was honouring 13 soldiers it said were killed while defending the island from Russian attacks.

Russian and Ukrainian representatives have concluded talks held in Belarus aimed at brokering peace amid the ongoing conflict.

Both sides will return to their capital cities for consultation ahead of a second round of talks, which could take place in the coming days, the Reuters news agency cites Belarus' Belta news as saying.

Expectations for a peaceful resolution had not been high before Monday's meeting.

Ukraine said it wanted a ceasefire and Russian withdrawal, while the Kremlin said it would not announce its position. Russia's negotiators have talked of striking a deal that's in the interests of both sides.

Image source, Getty Images

More now on the news that the Russian oligarch and owner of Chelsea FC, Roman Abramovich, has been asked by the Ukrainian government to help find a "peaceful solution" to the war in Ukraine.

Abramovich's move is a significant intervention from a member of Russia's elite. We have been keeping an eye on other oligarchs and what they have to say.

The Financial Times revealed on Sunday that Mikhail Fridman,, external the founder of one of Russia's largest private financial institutions, Alpha Bank, wrote to London-based staff of his private equity company LetterOne that "war can never be the answer".

Fridman, who is worth an estimated $11.7bn (£8.7bn), was born in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv and said: "I'm deeply attached to Ukrainian and Russian peoples and see the current conflict as a tragedy for them both."

Meanwhile, Oleg Deripaska, who runs the aluminium giant Rusal, took to social media to call for negotiations.

Deripaska, who has amassed a fortune of around $4bn (£2.9bn) and was once described as "Putin's favourite industrialist", wrote on Twitter that "peace is the priority".

And Oleg Tinkov, a banker estimated to be worth around $3bn (£2.2bn), took the most emphatic stance when posted a photo of his family to Instagram, external with the caption "we are against this war", adding that "innocent people are dying every day, this is unthinkable and unacceptable".

Forbes estimated on Thursday that 116 billionaires had already lost more than $126bn since 16 February, and Russia's richest man, Vladimir Potanin, personally lost $3bn in a single day's trading last week. Since then, the economic picture has worsened.

Lewis Goodall
Newsnight policy editor, Przemyśl

In Przemyśl on the Polish-Ukrainian border, women and children are arriving on foot with only the belongings they can carry - leaving husbands, fathers, brothers and sons behind to fight.

But there also is a steady stream of men aged under 45 walking in the opposite direction into Ukraine to defend their country. They are mostly Ukrainian men living abroad, and we've been told of some coming from as far afield as Canada.

I meet a man waiting for a train to Ukraine.

He says: "I was a corporal in the army. From 2017 I’ve been working here in Poland. I must go back now quickly for the war. I am from the army, that’s why I must go back."

I ask him if he is frightened and he says: "No, I’m not scared because I’m going to defend my country. I’ve earned money here. But this is my country, my land. I must defend it. I must go back and I must defend my country."

I ask him if he's prepared to die and he replies: "Yes, for my country I’m prepared to die."

Back in the UK's House of Commons, and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says she is imposing a "full asset freeze" on three more banks, including "Russia's national development bank", as she tells MPs she is "determined to go much, much further" in taking action against Russia.

She says "the UK and our allies will have to undergo some economic hardship as a result of our sanctions" but "our hardships are nothing compared to those endured by the people of Ukraine".

Meanwhile, the UK has also told ports not to provide access to any Russian-flagged, Russian-registered, Russian-owned or Russian-controlled ships, ahead of new legislation coming into effect.

Earlier, our correspondents answered some of your questions on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Thanks for the great questions you've sent in - and to our correspondents, Lyse Doucet in Kyiv and Mark Lowen on the Poland-Ukraine border, for answering them.

You can read all the questions asked - and the answers - here.

Image source, Getty Images

The UK government has been coming under pressure to do more for Ukrainian refugees after commitments by many other European countries, and Home Secretary Priti Patel has been defending its approach to MPs.

She says under a relaxation of visa rules for "immediate family members" of people already in the UK, an additional 100,000 Ukrainians would be able to "seek sanctuary".

She also says all work and temporary visas are being extended until December.

But Patel says she will not simply waive visa rules, saying she has had security advice around concerns that the Russian military is "infiltrating" Ukrainian troops and warning of the potential for another attack similar to the Novichok nerve-agent poisoning in Salisbury four years ago.

The opposition Labour party is criticising the government for failing to provide any details about who would benefit from a proposed "bespoke humanitarian route" for visas.

Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper asked if the elderly Ukrainian parent who was refused the right to board a Eurostar to rejoin her daughter in the UK would now be allowed to travel, and Patel replied: "Yes."

France's President Emmanuel Macron has spoken to Vladimir Putin on Monday, echoing international calls for Moscow to end attacks on Ukraine and stressing the need for an immediate ceasefire, according to a statement from the French presidency.

It says Macron asked the Russian president to halt all strikes and attacks against civilians and places of residences, preserve civil infrastructure and secure main roads.

Putin confirmed his willingness to commit to those requests, the French statement said.

However a Kremlin statement about the same telephone call says that Putin told Macron "a settlement is possible only if Russia's legitimate security interests are taken into account - including a recognition of Russia's sovereignty over Crimea, and a resolution of the objectives of demilitarisation and denazification of the Ukrainian state and ensuring it has a neutral status".

France said in its statement that Macron had also asked his Russian counterpart to stay in touch in the coming days to prevent an escalation of the conflict, to which he is said to have agreed.

Image source, AFP

As thousands flee the crisis, Nigeria's government has condemned reports that its citizens, and those from other African countries, have been prevented from leaving war-torn Ukraine.

We've heard from Isaac, a Nigerian man living in Ukraine who's been trying to gain entry into Poland. He says border staff told him they were "not tending to Africans".

There have also been reports of Ukrainian security officials preventing Africans from catching buses and trains going to the border.

On Sunday Nigeria's Foreign Minister Geofrey Onyeama said he had spoken with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and had been assured that Ukrainian border guards had been given an order to allow all foreigners leaving Ukraine to pass without restrictions.

You may also be interested in:

• Oil, students and bread - how Ukraine's crisis affects Africa
• 'I'm afraid but don't want to panic'