Image source, Reuters

Peace talks will resume on Wednesday evening between Russia and Ukraine, according to Russian state news agency Tass.

"Our delegation will be ready to continue talks," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

It follows a first round of talks in Belarus, not far from the Ukrainian border, which failed to reach any resolution.

President Vladimir Putin's aide Vladimir Medinsky will once again be the chief negotiator for Russia, reports say.

"I think things will stay the same. Nothing will change. We will stick by our position. Same people involved," presidential advisor Olexiy Arestovych told Suspilne TV.

There is no word yet on where the talks might take place.

In the last few minutes, the Ukrainian authorities have said more than 2,000 civilians have been killed so far in Russia's invasion, which began nearly a week ago.

Ten rescuers had also been killed, the Emergencies Service said.

Rescuers have put out more than 400 fires which broke out after Russian shelling across the country and defused 416 explosives.

"During the seven days of war, Russia has destroyed hundreds of transport hubs, residential buildings, hospitals and kindergartens," it said.

What would Russian control look like?published at 12:50 Greenwich Mean Time 2 March 2022

12:50 GMT 2 March 2022

Frank Gardner
BBC Security Correspondent

Beyond the claims and counter-claims, how will we know for sure if Russia controls a Ukrainian city or a district?

Primarily, it’s when the fighting stops. Once Russian troops are able to regularly patrol on foot, unopposed, through the streets by day or night then that is a fair indication they have the city under their control.

Other indications are who is in charge of the local TV station, the municipal offices, the police headquarters and who is running the utilities and emergency services, even something as mundane as directing the traffic.

It is perfectly possible that there may never come a time in this conflict when Russia can truthfully claim it is in full control of the whole country. Whatever happens in the coming days, Ukrainians are likely to resist occupation in some form.

But for now, Russia’s main effort is to seize control of the main cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv, even if that means practically razing them to the ground in the process.

Image source, Reuters

If you are just joining us this lunchtime, here's what's happening so far today.

• There is intense fighting fighting in the north, east and south of the country, with the key Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Kherson being targeted by Russian artillery
• A missile struck a police quarters and a university building in Kharkiv this morning. Four people are reported to have died
• Russia claims to have taken control of the strategic Black Sea port city of Kherson, but local authorities claim the city is still under Ukrainian control

• President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of trying to erase Ukrainian history and praises the Ukrainian army's resilience
• PM Boris Johnson vowed the UK would further ratchet up the economic pressure and support for Ukraine with finance, weapons and humanitarian assistance
• Almost 700,000 people have fled Ukraine. The United Nation has called for more supplies
• Oil and wholesale gas prices have risen sharply as the invasion enters a seventh day
• Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete at the Beijing Paralympics, but as neutrals

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

Russia wants to declare former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych - ousted during anti-government protests in 2013-14 - as the new leader of Ukraine, the Ukrayinska Pravda news and analysis website has reported, quoting Ukrainian intelligence.

Yanukovych is now in Minsk, according to the Ukrainian website's source. He fled to Russia in 2014.

The Kremlin may be preparing a media operation or campaign to bring Yanukovych back to Ukraine, or publish an address from him to the Ukrainian people, the newspaper said.

In January the UK said Moscow was plotting to install a pro-Moscow figure to lead Ukraine's government.

The Foreign Office named former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Murayev as a potential Kremlin candidate.

Sarah Rainsford
BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent, in Dnipro, Ukraine

Three-year-old Polina Dudko is spending her days playing and sleeping in the bath because her mum hopes it's the safest place in their apartment.

Kseniya has never lived through a war; she doesn’t know how best to protect her daughter and she's scared.

The family are trapped in Kharkiv, which has been under intense fire for days now - but they need to get out urgently.

Polina, a chatty little girl with fair curls, has cancer - high-risk neuroblastoma.

She had treatment in Israel and just before Vladimir Putin declared this war on Ukraine, her doctor confirmed her illness was in remission. But in Kharkiv, her medicine is running out and her mother can't get more.

They want to leave but are scared to dash across a city under fire to reach the train station.

Kseniya says it feels 'like a lottery', where you have no idea whether the next missile will hit your house, or you'll be spared.

A Russian-fired cruise missile has struck a local city council building in the eastern city of Kharkiv, the region's deputy governor says.

The city is 30 miles from the Russian border and has been the target of intense shelling over the past two days.

There have also been reports of street fighting in the city after Russian paratroopers landed overnight.

In the UK, Ukraine's Ambassador Vadym Prystaiko is at Parliament to watch MPs question Prime Minister Boris Johnson - a regular weekly event.

Prystaiko gets a standing ovation from those in the House of Commons - many of whom are wearing yellow and blue ribbons to show their solidarity for Ukraine.

Earlier this morning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave an address condemning a Russian missile strike that hit a Holocaust memorial in capital Kyiv - something he described as "beyond humanity".

The Babyn Yar memorial commemorates the massacre of more than 33,000 Jews by Nazi troops in Kyiv during World War Two.

"Such a missile strike shows that for many people in Russia our Kyiv is completely foreign. They know nothing about our capital. About our history," Zelensky said.

"But they have an order to erase our history. Erase our country. Erase us all."

Zelensky has also spoken to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson this morning - he thanked Johnson for ensuring that defensive aid reached Ukraine and said it had been vital in holding back Russian forces, according to a British readout of the call.

Both leaders agreed on the need for sanctions to go further to exert maximum pressure on Vladimir Putin.

Johnson condemned Russian attacks and said his thoughts and prayers were with the Ukrainian people.

Joel Gunter
BBC News, in Lviv, Ukraine

Thousands of Ukrainians, young and old, are answering a call to fight the Russian troops invading their country.

Many have no experience of war, of even firing a gun. What they share is a profound feeling of duty to Ukraine.

"The first two days of the invasion, my hands were shaking, my legs were shaking, I was afraid," says Alex Yemchenko, a 27-year-old video editor, who has signed up to join the territorial defence forces.

Yemchenko grew up in Kherson, which on Wednesday was being encircled by Russian forces. Aged 17 he moved to Kyiv, and when the invasion began last week he took his girlfriend and cat west to Lviv to get them safely to Poland.

But he has stayed behind to fight.

"After one night in a shelter under a parking lot in Kyiv I knew I needed to take part," Yemchenko says.

"My girlfriend was very afraid that I am staying, but it the duty of every man in Ukraine."

There is fear, of course. Yemchenko has never held a gun. But he takes strength from his country, he says.

"We have a powerful army, powerful volunteers, and a powerful people who won’t give up."

He is waiting for a call to say it's his turn.

Paralympic athletes from Russia and Belarus must compete as neutrals at the forthcoming Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.

A statement by the International Paralympic Committee, external says the athletes - who have already arrived in China - will compete under the Paralympic flag.

They will not be included in the medal table, the IPC said.

The IPC said it had taken "the strongest possible actions" within the parameters available to them.

The Paralympics opens on Friday, with competition beginning on Saturday.

Twenty Ukrainian athletes are en route to the games, but it is thought they may choose to withdraw rather than compete against Russian and Belarusian athletes.

Image source, EPA

Military expert Dr Jack Watling says the timing and manner of the Russian attack on Kyiv is critical.

"If the Russians commit to a major assault [in Kyiv] and they haven't broken the back of the resistance, it will be very bloody and their troops might break," says Watling, a research fellow in land warfare and military Sciences at the Royal United Services Institute.

He says Russians will want to "whittle down" the resistance before they commit their forces.

Watling says there is evidence of low morale among Russian troops, citing lost and confused advance units - and their initial surprise at coming under fire from Ukrainians.

"We have heard reports of them damaging their own equipment because they don't want to go in to fight," he said.

But he says the effect of low morale will diminish as Russian troops come together to fight in larger formations, as their mission becomes clearer and as Ukrainians begin to run out of ammunition.

Image source, Anadolu Agency

The mayor of Kyiv is warning its residents that Russian forces are moving in on Ukraine's capital and has urged people to stay indoors and prepare to defend the city.

"The enemy is massing forces closer and closer," said mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, adding that there was now fighting on the capital's outskirts.

"We are preparing and will defend Kyiv! I call on all Kyivans not to lose their fortitude".

So far Kyiv has resisted Russian incursion attempts.

An armoured Russian convoy stretching 40 miles (65 km) in length is approaching from the city's north, and analysts believe it could be there to provide support for an invasion attempt from the west.

Lyse Doucet
Chief International Correspondent, Kyiv

I woke up this morning in our basement home and saw Liana who is in effect our new neighbour.

For seven days and nights she’s told me, "I mustn’t be sad, I must be strong."

This morning I met her in the darkened basement in a flood of tears.

She'd heard from her father living in their home further north, close to the Belarusian border.

Eight Russian soldiers had now come into their home, looking for cigarettes and effectively taking them hostage, telling them: "Don’t go upstairs, don’t go downstairs, don’t make a move."

Another relative managed to escape to the bathroom to give her a whispered message to say "we are being occupied".

Liana couldn't hold back her tears.

She is beside herself with fear that her father has now been taken hostage. This is a country from north to south, from east to west, that now feels it's been taken hostage by its neighbour.

Image source, Reuters

People in Kharkiv have been appealing for international help to stop Russia's aerial bombardment of the north-eastern city.

Glib Mazepa who lives in the city centre wants Nato to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

"Please close the skies for Russian missiles and for Russian airplanes. Because they will just bomb the whole city to the ashes."

Authorities there say four people were killed in Russian shelling this morning.

Mazepa says there was also "heavy bombing" overnight from an airplane that circled three times before dropping four bombs, around 1km (0.6 miles) from his home.

He said two residential houses were hit near the Botanichnyi Sad metro station.

And he described the moment he heard yesterday's rocket attack on Kharkiv's Freedom Square.

"There was a whistling sound over our heads... then boom. I remember our house wasn't trembling so much as shaking from left to right, for about five seconds. It was a very strange feeling."

He says every noise he now hears he assumes could be a Russian strike.

"Yesterday my wife was heating something up with the microwave. And I freaked out because I thought it was some kind of attack," he says.

"You get used to the war very quickly, believe me. It's a matter of a day or two. I never thought it would be like this."

Image source, Youtube

More now on Kherson, the port city in southern Ukraine that Russia claimed this morning to have taken full control over.

Reports from the city are mixed - local authorities are still claiming the city is under Ukrainian control.

Now a video posted on YouTube , externalappears to show Russian military in the city centre, including a tank and soldiers wearing white armbands.

The BBC has independently verified the location of the footage as central Kherson.

Image source, Youtube

Image source, Reuters

Russia claims its troops have taken control of the Black Sea port city of Kherson.

Both the regional governor and the city's mayor say they are surrounded but deny Kherson has been occupied.

Capturing the city would be very significant, says military expert Dr Jack Watling - from the Royal United Services Institute - as it holds a strategic position on the Dnieper river which bisects Ukraine.

"As the Russians start to capture those key cities along the Dnieper... they will be able to prevent supplies moving from the west to the east to resupply Ukrainian military units that are fighting in the joint forces operations areas around the Donbas," explains Watling.

Russia will "start to strangle off the logistics for the Ukrainians" he adds.

Emergency services in the eastern city of Kharkiv say four people have been killed by Russian shelling this morning.

A missile struck buildings belonging to the police, the Security Service of Ukraine, and Karazin National University at around 08:10 local time (06:10 GMT).

Photos from this morning show firefighters battling blazes at a university building and police station after the strike.

The city's mayor says Kharkiv is "partially surrounded" by the Russian army, which the Ukrainian military is currently holding back "heroically".

Image source, Anadolu Agency

Image source, Anadolu Agency

Image source, Anadolu Agency

Image source, Reuters

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has posted a strongly-worded series of tweets calling for daily demonstrations across Russia and beyond.

Navalny has spent a year behind bars after surviving a poison attack that he blames on the Kremlin. Last month he went on trial on fresh charges that could see his prison time extended by more than a decade.

"We - Russia - want to be a nation of peace. Alas, few people would call us that now," he writes from the maximum-security prison east of Moscow where he is imprisoned.

But Russians should "at least not become a nation of frightened silent people" who "pretend not to notice the war".

"It's the third decade of the 21st Century, and we are watching news about people burning down in tanks and bombed houses," he says. "We are watching real threats to start a nuclear war on our TVs."

Zoya Mateen
BBC Delhi

Image source, Robin

Indian student Soumya Thomas, 22, recalls the moment she fled her college hostel in Kharkiv several days ago.

"We were sleeping when a deafening sound - an explosion - jolted us out of our beds. The whole building shook."

The attacks have left Indian students like Soumya, stranded in the city, scared for their lives.

India has ramped up evacuation efforts amid logistical hurdles - at least 12,000 students have returned home so far.

But for thousands who are still stuck there, life is fickle as they take shelter in dingy bunkers.

Read more about the accounts from Kharkiv here.