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As it happened: US intervention would mean WW3
Updates from BBC correspondents in Ukraine: Jeremy Bowen, Orla Guerin, Lyse Doucet and James Waterhouse in Kyiv, Sarah Rainsford in Dnipro, and Yalda Hakim in Lviv
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Updates from BBC correspondents in Ukraine: Jeremy Bowen, Orla Guerin, Lyse Doucet and James Waterhouse in Kyiv, Sarah Rainsford in Dnipro, and Yalda Hakim in Lviv
Live Reporting
Edited by Yvette Tan
All times stated are UK
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Russia violating basic nuclear safety principles - US
"Continued Russian firing on nuclear facilities" in Ukraine is "reckless" and must stop, US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in a newly-posted Twitter thread.
Radiation monitors in Ukraine are largely still functioning, added Granholm, who oversees the US nuclear arsenal, and no spikes in radiation have indicated any accidental release of radiation so far.
She said that the US cannot confirm Russian claims that power has been restored at Chernobyl, but says the Ukrainians have told the US that some diesel fuel has been shipped there to power the backup generators at the site of the 1986 nuclear disaster.
"Restoring outside electrical power at #Chernobyl is an important safety step and Russia must act quickly to allow restoration of power," she said, adding that shelling damage to a nuclear research facility in Kharkiv has not led to any significant safety risks.
"And we remain concerned that staff at #Chernobyl and #Zaporizhzhia are operating under duress and without proper rest, which is a safety risk," she added.
"Bottom line: Russia’s violation of basic nuclear safety principles is unacceptable, and the attacks that risk safety in Ukraine and beyond must stop."
Pink Floyd drops music from Russia and Belarus digital platforms
Pink Floyd and David Gilmour have decided to remove their music from digital platforms in Russia and Belarus.
The band announced that all its music dating from 1987 and Gilmour's solo catalogue are being pulled from Russia in solidarity with Ukraine.
In a tweet the members of the band wrote: "To stand with the world in strongly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the works of Pink Floyd, from 1987 onwards, and all of David Gilmour's solo recordings are being removed from all digital music providers in Russia and Belarus from today."
Criticism of war appears on Russian state TV show
Criticism of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has appeared on Russian TV, marking an unusual departure for the tightly controlled Russian media.
“Evenings with Vladimir Soloviev,” a popular pro-Kremlin talk-show on the Russia-1 channel, strayed from Moscow's official line during a conversation with guests this week.
Semyon Bagdasarov, an academic appearing on the show, asked whether "we need to get into another Afghanistan, but even worse", the Moscow Times reported.
“There are more people and they’re more advanced in their weapon handling," he said.
Karen Shakhnazarov, a filmmaker appearing alongside Bagdasarov also questioned the Kremlin’s decision.
“I have a hard time imagining taking cities such as Kyiv. I can’t imagine how that would look,” Shakhnazarov said.
The comments are unusual as the programme's host Soloviev has been a loyal ally of President Vladimir Putin and the show has so-far supported what Russia has called a "special military operation" in Ukraine.
Soloviev has been placed under EU sanctions, with the EU saying he "is known for his extremely hostile attitude towards Ukraine and praise of the Russian government".
Satellite images of fires northwest of Kyiv
Maxar Technologies, a US satellite company, has shared satellite images of fires continuing to burn at several sites northwest of Kyiv. Below is an image of a fire at Antonov Airport in Hostomel, Ukraine.
In another satellite image (above) Maxar says we can see homes burning in Moschun, also northwest of Kyiv. The satellite company adds that in the image it is also possible to see widespread damage and impact craters throughout the town northwest of the capital.
Russia relying on 'unguided' missiles - UK Ministry of Defence
Russian air and missile attacks have occurred in the last 24 hours in the western Ukrainian cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk, according to the latest Defence Intelligence assessment from the UK Ministry of Defence.
"Staunch resistance" from the Ukrainian air defence forces is compelling Russia to rely on "stand-off" munitions to carry out attacks inside Ukrainian-held territory, it said.
Russian planes are using unguided "dumb" munitions, the MoD said, as they help Russian ground forces to advance.
"Such weapons are relatively inaccurate and indiscriminate and their use significantly increases the likelihood of civilian casualties," the update said.
Kharkiv nuclear plant intact despite shelling
The head of a nuclear research facility in Kharkiv that was shelled by Russian forces says the core housing the nuclear fuel remains intact.
But Mykola Shulga, director general of the National Science Centre Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, warned that any further damage inflicted on equipment at the site could pose a serious danger.
"The facility, in working condition, doesn't present any danger whatsoever," Shulga said. "However, if there is physical damage, a nuclear fuel leak is possible, radioactive elements (could escape) outside.
"This obviously would be a huge, huge problem for the environment. In other words, what would happen would be comparable to a similar situation at any nuclear power station," he added.
While the inner areas of the institute were unscathed, some of the outer walls of the building were damaged by shrapnel and windows were blown in.
International monitors have expressed concern that the Russian invasion could pose a serious risk to the stability of Ukraine's nuclear stations.
Zelensky praises 'good neighbours' Poland
"When you have someone who hurts you, it is very important to have someone who offers their shoulder for you to lean on," Ukraine's president says in a new video message to his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, and the Polish people.
He continues that as the Russian invasion was beginning last month, "I had no doubt... who would tell me 'Brother, your people will not find themselves alone against the enemy'."
Calling the Polish people "brothers and sisters", he said the two countries had "formed an extremely strong union".
More than half of the 2.5 million Ukrainians who have fled the war so far have evacuated across the western border into Poland.
The BBC met one Polish mum who is sheltering displaced families - as this video shows.
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Deutsche Bank won't take new Russian business after backlash
Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter
Deutsche Bank has said it will wind down its business in Russia, shifting course after backlash over its earlier decision not to withdraw.
The German lender said it was taking steps to exit while helping non-Russian clients reduce their operations.
"There won't be any new business in Russia", the company added.
More than 300 companies have curtailed operations in Russia since its war in Ukraine brought global outcry and severe Western sanctions.
Those include Wall Street banks Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase, which said this week they were "winding down" their activities in the country.
Deutsche had been condemned by some lawmakers and investors for not making a similar commitment.
Deutsche Bank chief executive Christian Sewing had previously defended the bank's decision, saying that withdrawing completely from Russia would "go against our values", citing clients that depend on the bank.
The firm employs 1,500 people at a technology office in Russia and had opened a new office in Moscow as recently as December.
Kharkiv zoo workers 'killed on mission to feed animals'
Viktoriia Zhuhan
BBC Ukrainian Service, Lviv
Maryna, who works at a zoo near the city of Kharkiv, says that two of her colleagues were killed in a Russian bombing on a recent mission to feed the animals there.
She tells me that driver Andrii, 48, and heating engineer Vadym, 27, were unable to make it to the zoo’s underground shelter when the shelling started.
She describes how surreal the risks are that her team are now taking to get from the city where they live, onto buses to reach the park in a village north-east of Kharkiv:
“It feels like some children’s game: the first challenge is to make it to the bus, then to look from behind the bushes, to move behind the bus, to see if it’s safe to drive.”
All kinds of animals live at the Feldman Ecopark, including turtles, parrots, capybaras, kangaroos, bears and wolves.
For now there’s enough food stockpiled for the animals, but with supply chains broken, Maryna fears they soon won’t have food to eat.
She did tell me one piece of good news, about the recent birth of a baby porcupine in the zoo.
“Life will win”, she says.
US Treasury sanctions more Russian oligarchs
The US Treasury has unveiled more sanctions on Russian oligarchs and elite figures.
It said the aim was to increase pressure on those close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Those hit with the new sanctions include 10 people who are part of VTB Bank's board, 12 members of the Duma - the lower house of the Russian parliament - and the family of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Earlier President Biden announced a ban on imports from Russia - including Russian seafood, vodka and diamonds.
He said these further sanctions on Russia would deliver "another crushing blow" to the country's economy following its invasion of Ukraine.
Facebook rule change will only apply in Ukraine, says Meta
Over the last few days we've been bringing you the news that Meta - which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram - has changed its policy to allow calls for violence against Vladimir Putin or Russian soldiers. Usually that would be against the rules - and violent speech against Russia civilians still is.
Russia today responded, saying it was banning Instagram. Facebook and Twitter are already restricted there.
Now, Nick Clegg - a senior executive at Meta and former UK politician - has sought to clarify the company's position. He says Meta "does not tolerate Russophobia" or any kind of discrimination towards Russians - and "we are only going to apply this policy in Ukraine itself".
"The fact is, if we applied our standard content policies without any adjustments, we would now be removing content from ordinary Ukrainians expressing their resistance and fury at the invading military forces, which would rightly be viewed as unacceptable," he said.
"This is a temporary decision taken in extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances. We will be keeping the situation under review in the period ahead."
Video said to show mayor's abduction is CCTV from Melitopol square
More now on reports that Russian troops have abducted the mayor of the south-eastern Ukrainian city of Melitopol.
A video widely shared on social media, including by the Belarusian opposition outlet, NEXTA, has been claimed to show Ivan Federov being dragged from a building in the city.
From BBC checks, the footage appears to be a CCTV recording watching the fountain in the Square of Victory, beside Liberators Arch in the city centre of Melitopol. However, we cannot verify whether the individual shown is Federov. You can watch the footage below.
Earlier, Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said that Fedorov had been abducted from a "crisis centre" in the city with a plastic bag over his head.
Russia has not yet commented on the allegations, which the Ukrainian foreign ministry has described as a "war crime".
Russia blocking evacuations from Mariupol, Ukraine says
Ukraine's deputy prime minister has accused Russian forces of violating a ceasefire and of targeting people being evacuated from cities under bombardment.
In a video address posted on Friday, Iryna Vereshchuk said shelling had prevented evacuations from Mariupol, where a maternity hospital was bombed this week, and the capital Kyiv.
But she said some planned evacuations had been successful, including 1,000 people who were escorted from the village of Vorzel in the Kyiv region.
Elsewhere, the mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said that Russia had blocked evacuations from Izyum, a town on the front lines of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
We've seen no evidence of Belarus troops in Ukraine, says US
The US says it has not seen any evidence that troops from Belarus - which is a close ally of Russia - are in Ukraine.
Ukraine has said it fears Belarus could join Russia's invasion in the coming hours - and has accused Russia of bombing a Belarusian village to try and provoke Belarus into getting involved. The BBC has not been able to independently verify the claim.
On Friday, according to Belarus's official Belta news agency, Belarus and Russia agreed that Moscow would supply its ally with the most up-to-date military equipment soon.
US Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said: "We haven't seen any indications that Belarusian troops or forces have moved inside Ukraine.
"We're not tracking any imminent involvement by Belarusian forces. That's not to say that it couldn't happen or that it wouldn't happen."
Putin's war 'will never be a victory'
Joe Biden has more to say on why the war in Ukraine "will never be a victory" for Russia's leader or his strategic goals.
Joe Biden: We will not fight a war against Russia
The US will not send troops to Ukraine, US President Joe Biden said in firm comments in Friday.
"I want to be clear: We will defend every inch of Nato territory with the full might of a united and galvanized Nato," the president wrote on Twitter. "But we will not fight a war against Russia in Ukraine. A direct confrontation between Nato and Russia is World War III."
Biden has repeatedly said that sending US troops for direct engagement with Russia was off the table.
In recent days, his administration has pursued an increasingly aggressive sanctions campaign against Vladimir Putin and his country.
On Friday, Biden announced a ban on imports of Russian alcohol, seafood and diamonds and widened the list of oligarchs facing sanctions.
Fallout for Russia's spies?
Gordon Corera
Security correspondent
The fallout from the failure of Russia’s plans may be hitting its spy agencies.
Reports – still unconfirmed – say two senior officials from the FSB – Russia’s Security Service – have been placed under house arrest.
One of them, it is said, is Sergey Beseda – the head of the 5th Service of the FSB. This department is responsible for intelligence gathering and operations in Ukraine. His team is thought to have been behind plans to install a pro-Moscow government in some kind of coup and may be blamed for the failure to understand the level of opposition in the country.
"It seems that after two weeks of war, Putin finally realised that he was simply misled: the 5th Service, afraid of infuriating the leader, simply supplied him with what he himself wanted to hear," said Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, two leading experts on Russia’s spy agencies, who first reported that the arrests may have taken place.
The department was also thought to have been building networks of undercover agents ready to be activated when the invasion started. But either they did not exist as promised or failed to have the desired impact.
If the reports of arrest are confirmed, they could be because someone needs to take the fall for the failures or because of some other manoeuvrings.
“If claims of their arrest are correct, this would indicate that Putin is seriously concerned about the FSB’s role in the military campaign and there could be significant changes at senior levels in the FSB,” one Western official said.
A number of supposed letters from anonymous insiders at the FSB have also been circulating on social media painting a bleak picture inside Russian intelligence – these have also not been confirmed but experts think they sound plausible.
And the extent to which the West has been able to gather its own intelligence on Moscow’s plans will also have set alarm bells ringing – leading to fears in Moscow that they might have Western moles inside their ranks or that their communications are being intercepted.
Add to that the fact that Putin very publicly humiliated the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, on the eve of the invasion and you get a sense that beneath the surface of the normally hidden world of Russia’s spies, these are deeply unsettling times.
Going to Ukraine carries risk of capture or death, US tells citizens
The US state department is warning that any citizens who travel to Ukraine - including those going to take part in the fighting - face a very real risk of capture or death.
In a briefing, state department spokesman Ned Price said Washington would not be able to facilitate their evacuation.
"They may be subject to potential attempts at criminal prosecution and may be at heightened risk for mistreatment," he told reporters.
BreakingUkraine accuses Russia of abducting Melitopol's mayor
Ukraine's foreign ministry has accused Russian soldiers of abducting the mayor of the south-eastern city of Melitopol.
Officials said that Russian troops kidnapped Mayor Ivan Fedorov on Friday afternoon after falsely accusing him of terrorism.
The BBC has not independently confirmed the allegations and Russian officials are yet to comment.
"The abduction of the mayor of Melitopol is classified as a war crime under the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocol, which prohibit the taking of civilian hostages during the war," Ukraine's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Melitopol fell to Russian troops almost two weeks ago, and Fedorov told the BBC on Wednesday that residents are "not co-operating with the Russians in any way".
Has Putin's war forged a new EU?
Katya Adler
Europe Editor
Putin’s ruthless determination in Ukraine has shone a harsh spotlight on well-known EU weaknesses. Germany and Italy amongst others were reliant on Russian energy and business. Often seen as "soft" on Moscow, while former Iron Curtain EU countries like Poland warned Russia was a threat. The EU is now listening.
At this week’s summit, EU leaders confirmed big increases in defence spending. They pledged to largely wean themselves off Russian energy by the end of the year. Inhumane conditions in Ukraine mean Europe is facing its biggest refugee emergency since World War Two. The EU failed Syrian refugees in 2015. It now wants to show it’s up to the challenge.
For critics, it’s too little, too late and too aspirational. This unity of purpose between EU leaders can’t last, they say. EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola disagrees. They have a common enemy now in Vladimir Putin, she told me, making the EU path ahead a lot clearer.