Summary

  • Russian shelling is still preventing the evacuation of civilians from besieged cities such as Kyiv, Mariupol, Sumy and Kharkiv, Ukraine says

  • Ukraine rejected a Russian proposal to allow civilians to escape after it emerged many of the routes would only lead to Russia or its ally Belarus

  • A third round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks ends with little agreement - a fourth round will take place on Tuesday

  • Coca-Cola and McDonald’s face pressure to join a growing corporate boycott of Russia, which an estimated 230 Western firms have followed

  • Russian deputy PM warns Moscow could retaliate against European sanctions by cutting off natural gas to the bloc

  • Russia "is resorting to tactics reminiscent of medieval siege warfare", says a Ukraine lawyer at the International Court of Justice

  • To call off the invasion, Moscow on Monday demands that Ukraine change its constitution to guarantee it won't join Nato and the EU

  1. The difficulty of explaining wars to childrenpublished at 03:32 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March 2022

    A couple trying to find their way out of UkraineImage source, Getty Images

    It’s often said that children suffer the most during wars and it’s true for Ukraine as well.

    Parents are finding it difficult to explain to their children how their world went upside down so suddenly.

    Anton Eine has been hunkering down in Kyiv with his wife and their three-year-old son since Russia invaded Ukraine. He says some parents have sewn badges with their child's blood group on to their clothes and are teaching them their home address and parents' names, in case they are separated.

    There are so many such stories in Ukraine. Click here to read more about how children and their parents are bearing the brunt of the war in Ukraine.

  2. Ukraine invasions fuels calls in Finland to join Natopublished at 03:17 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March 2022

    John Simpson
    World Affairs Editor

    Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sent shivers of fear through many of its neighbours - from the Baltic states to Moldova.

    Finland ought theoretically to be safe, since it has historically been neutral and gave Stalin's Soviet army a hard time when he invaded the country in 1939.

    Like other Scandinavian countries, besides Sweden, there has never been much support here to join the Nato military alliance. But when the spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry recently warned Finland and Sweden explicitly that any move towards Nato could have military consequences, people in both countries were deeply shocked.

    Since then, Russian warplanes have blatantly intruded into Swedish airspace.

    If being neutral is not sufficient to guard against Russia, people here are saying that maybe joining Nato will give the two countries the protection they need.

    This represents a major change of mood. In Finland, particularly, relations with Russia were thought to be pretty good.

    The Ukraine invasion has changed everything.

    Read more from our World Affairs editor here

  3. The free world's fight against Russiapublished at 03:00 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March 2022

    Vladimir PutinImage source, Getty Images

    Successive US presidents have struggled to get the measure of Vladimir Putin but now that Brussels and Berlin have joined the fray with such resolve, it's a different story, writes Nick Bryant, former BBC New York correspondent.

    It is often tempting to look upon Vladimir Putin as the millennium bug in a human and deadly form.

    The Russian president rose to power on 31 December 1999. In the 20 years since, Putin has been trying to engineer a different kind of global system malfunction, the destruction of the liberal international order.

    Successive US presidents - from Bush, Obama to Trump - have played into his hands.

    Now, Joe Biden has dedicated his presidency to defending democracy at home and abroad. Seeking to re-establish America's traditional post-war role as the leader of the free world, he has sought to mobilise the international community, offered military aid to Ukraine and adopted the toughest sanction regime ever targeted against Putin.

    What's been striking since the Russian invasion started, however, has been the assertion of forceful presidential leadership from elsewhere.

    In Brussels, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has been another commanding presence. This former German politician has been a driving force behind the decision, for the first time in EU history, to finance and purchase weapons for a nation under attack, a commitment that includes not just ammunition but fighter jets as well.

    The biggest assault on a European state since World War II has stiffened European resolve. But so, too, it seems has the relative weakness of America.

    Read more from Nick on the free world's fight against Russia.

  4. US, Poland consider sending Soviet-era jets to Ukraine - reportspublished at 02:48 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March 2022

    US officials are considering a deal with Poland, where Poland would provide Soviet-era aircraft to Ukraine in return for American F-16 jet fighters, according to US media.

    The latest move to assist Ukraine with Russia's advance follows a meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and more than 300 US lawmakers in which the Ukrainian leader said his country badly needed more aircraft.

    “We are working with the Poles on this issue and consulting with the rest of our Nato allies,” a White House official told US media. Part of the decision rests on what the US could provide to backfill Poland if it transferred planes to Ukraine.

    Ukrainian pilots reportedly need Russian-made aircraft because they have been specifically trained to fly on those systems.

    The White House said President Joe Biden spoke to Zelensky on Saturday evening and noted that the US was "surging" security, humanitarian, and economic aid to Ukraine "and is working closely with Congress to secure additional funding".

  5. India under pressure to take a clear stand on Ukrainepublished at 02:35 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March 2022

    Vikas Pandey
    BBC News, Delhi

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir PutinImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Indian PM Narendra Modi, left, shares good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin

    India is coming under intense pressure to take a clearer stand on Ukraine.

    It has so far abstained from UN votes against Moscow, while pushing for dialogue and diplomacy to solve the crisis. In its statements, Delhi has talked about the importance of territorial integrity but it stopped short of criticising Russia.

    Delhi’s has the tough task of balancing its defence and diplomatic ties both with the West and Russia.

    Moscow supplies nearly 50% of India’s defence imports and it has also been its time-tested partner on global issues. But at the same time, India’s relations with the US have grown significantly in the past two decades.

    India’s challenges can be understood from starkly different statements coming from Washington and Moscow about its stand on Ukraine.

    Russian Ambassador to India, Denis Alipov, on Saturday welcomed what he called India’s independent foreign policy. At the same time, senior US diplomat Donald Lu said Washington had been trying to get India to take a clear stand on Ukraine.

    As the conflict continues, it’s likely that the world’s largest democracy will find it difficult to continue practising its famed policy of non-alignment.

  6. 'I don't cry anymore'published at 02:19 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March 2022

    Marta Shokalo

    Marta Shokalo from the BBC's Ukrainian Service describes life 10 days into the Russian invasion.

    We are now well into the second week of this war, and I've noticed that I don't cry any more.

    I start the day reading the overnight news, counting new blasts all around Ukraine. A couple of days ago, I woke up to reports of major rocket strikes in Kyiv, near where my dad lives. It took me 10 minutes to pluck up the courage to call him, to ask if he and his partner were all right. They were, and I experienced a wave of relief.

    My mother is more worried about how to get food for her dog and cats than for herself, but she called me the other day just to happily announce that she had managed to buy two loaves of bread! This is in a city where food used to be available in great abundance.

    The village where I am staying has two checkpoints, manned by local men. They are ready to protect their small communities with everything they have.

    This sense of unity has never been so strong among Ukrainians. The country is full of activity like a beehive, producing hope for victory.

    Read more from Marta

  7. IMF warns of 'severe impact' on global economypublished at 02:13 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March 2022

    The International Monetary Fund on Saturday warned of a "serious impact" to the global economy due to the war in Ukraine.

    "While the situation remains highly fluid and the outlook is subject to extraordinary uncertainty, the economic consequences are already very serious," the fund wrote in a statement. "Should the conflict escalate, the economic damage would be all the more devastating."

    Energy and commodity prices have surged, the statement said, adding to existing inflation. The sweeping sanctions now in place against Russia will also have wide-ranging consequences.

    Countries with close economic links to Ukraine and Russia will be hit especially hard, the IMF said, with particular risk of scarcity and supply disruption on top of the strain caused by inflows of refugees.

    The IMF's executive board met Friday to discuss the economic affects of the war. The board is expected to meet again next week to assess a request from Ukraine for $1.4bn (£1bn) of emergency financing.

  8. How to get around the BBC block in Russiapublished at 02:11 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March 2022

    BBC HQ in LondonImage source, Getty Images

    As we've been reporting, Russian authorities have restricted access to the websites of dozens of western media companies, including BBC websites in Russian and English, as well as to Facebook and Twitter.

    Moscow has accused the BBC of spreading "false information" and the speaker of Russia's parliament said western media outlets "are being used against us like weapons, spreading hatred and lies, and we should take care of them first of all".

    A new bill passed by MPs in Moscow promises sentences of up to 15 years in prison for spreading "fake news", or reporting on information that challenges the state narrative.

    The move to clamp down on independent journalism came after the BBC announced record numbers of people have read the corporation's Russian language service since the invasion of Ukraine began.

    Here's a reminder of how to get around the BBC ban in Russia:

    • Download the Psiphon app from the AppStore or Google Play Store
    • Look for the dedicated BBC site on theTor Browser, externalwhich can be found usingthis URL, external. Note that this URL only works using the Tor Browser or the Onion Browser (on iPhones)
    • If access to the apps is restricted then send a blank email to get@psiphon3.com or gettor@torproject.org. An email will be sent in response with a direct and safe download link

    The BBC has also launched two new shortwave frequencies broadcasting World Service English news for four hours a day to Ukraine and parts of Russia:

    • 15735 kHz from 14:00 GMT to 16:00 GMT
    • 5875 kHz from 20:00 GMT to 22:00 GMT

    BBC graphic
  9. Welcome to our continued live coverage...published at 02:09 Greenwich Mean Time 6 March 2022

    Pro-Ukraine protesters in New York's Times SquareImage source, Getty Images

    Welcome to our continued live coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We'll keep bringing you all the latest developments as this conflict enters its 11th day. Here's the latest:

    • Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeated a call for a no-fly zone to be established over his country during a video-call with over 300 US lawmakers
    • Nato leaders have repeatedly rejected the request, which they say would bring the west into direct confrontation with Russia
    • His call came as Israel's Prime Minister Naftali Bennett held talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, having earlier offered to mediate between leaders in Moscow and Kyiv
    • The summit took place as heavy fighting continued across Ukraine, where Russian forces have been heavily shelling the southern city of Mariupol and the eastern cities of Kharkiv and Sumy
    • Meanwhile, there has been intense fighting to the north-west of the capital Kyiv around the strategic Hostomel airfield, while Russian forces have also been bombarding Irpin- a small town on the outskirts of Kyiv
    • Elsewhere, the payments giants Visa and Mastercard have announced that they are pulling out of the Russian market in protest at what Visa's CEO called "Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine"
    • And UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for a renewed effort among world leaders to ensure Russia's invasion of Ukraine is not successful, adding that Putin "must be seen to fail in this act of aggression