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If you're just joining us, welcome. Here's what you need to know:

• It's just after 06:00 in Kyiv, and air raid sirens have gone off in the capital once again as the war continues into its third week
• The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine have landed in Turkey to hold peace talks in the city of Antalya on Thursday
• US Vice-President Kamala Harris is in Poland one day after the US rejected the country's plan to transfer its jet fleet to the US, rather than directly to Ukraine
• White House officials have warned that Russia is growing increasingly desperate, and could resort to chemical weapons attacks against civilians in the coming days
• US officials estimate that between 5,000 to 6,000 Russian troops have died so far in Ukraine
• Ukraine's President Zelensky says that Russia's bombing of a hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol - which destroyed the maternity and children's wards - is a war crime
• More private companies are pledging to end business in Russia, as the country's economic isolation continues

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Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives have approved a $13.6bn (£10.3bn) plan to rush emergency aid to Ukraine.

The package, which is expected to pass the Senate in the coming days, allocates about half the money for Ukraine's defence and half the money for refugee aid.

President Biden had requested just $10bn from Congress, where many representatives are eager to show that they are taking action against Russia.

The measure passed as part of a larger government spending bill after the majority Democrats stripped funds for Covid prevention from the bill amid opposition to it from Republicans.

Earlier we reported the overnight strikes on the north-eastern city of Okhtyrka in the Sumy region.

Those have killed at least three people so far - a 13-year-old boy and two women - officials have confirmed.

The regional state administration head Dmytro Zhyvytsky said the Russians had bombed just after midnight, hitting residential neighbourhoods as well as utilties like a gas pipeline.

Image source, Getty Images

James Jeffrey, who served as a US envoy to the coalition to defeat the so-called Islamic State under Trump, has called for UN and US troops to enter Ukraine to establish protected humanitarian zones.

He says that Ukraine should seek UN intervention, similar to the peacekeeping intervention that ended the Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon in 2006, allowing UN forces to enter the warzone.

Ukraine would need to renounce any military operations launched from these humanitarian zones, he says.

"No conflict would start except by a Russian decision to attack forces invited into Ukraine by its legal government and with a UN General Assembly mandate and humanitarian mission," he writes in Defense One, external.

Nato would not be able to help, due to Russia's opposition, Jeffrey says, but US troops would be on the ground in the country under his complicated plan.

He describes this plan as similar to what happened in Syria, where Russian troops were fighting to prop up the Assad government while US forces there created a series of covert bases that were used to fight extremists.

Jeffrey concludes that the plan is unlikely to help Ukraine win its war, but would work to deny Russia a total victory.

Image source, Getty Images

Heavy equipment behemoths Caterpillar and John Deere are suspending their work with Russian partners.

Caterpillar said operations at its Russian-based manufacturing facilities had "become increasingly challenging, including supply chain disruptions and sanctions".

Meanwhile, John Deere said its machines would no longer be shipped to either Russia or Belarus, which has supported the invasion of Ukraine.

Both companies said they would donate to humanitarian relief efforts.

Other major manufacturers such as Komatsu, Hitachi and JCB have already halted exports to Russia.

Image source, Reuters

Russian warplanes have carried out overnight strikes in the north-eastern city of Okhtyrka, Sumy region, a top local official says.

Regional state administration head Dmytro Zhyvytsky says that residential areas and a gas pipeline were hit at about 00:30 local time on Thursday.

About 10 minutes later the suburbs of the regional capital Sumy and the village of Bytytsia were also bombed, he says.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.

Russia's military has not commented on the reported raids.

Zhyvytsky also says three humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians are expected to open from 09:00 local time.

On Wednesday, about 5,000 people were evacuated from Sumy, the regional capital that has been under heavy Russian bombardment for days.

Image source, Getty Images

The US official estimate for the number of Russians killed in the first two weeks of the war is about 5,000 to 6,000, officials tell CBS News, the BBC's partner in the US.

The number of Russian troops wounded is estimated to be about 15,000 to 18,000, going by assumptions that the rate of injured is typically three times the figure for those killed.

One US official who wished to remain anonymous called this projection "very, very significant casualties", and compared the death rate to some World War Two battles.

Ukraine has claimed that 12,000 Russian soldiers have died in combat. Last week Russia said fewer than 500 of its troops had died in Ukraine.

The proverbial fog of war together with propaganda make all of these claims hard to verify.

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Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called out more than 50 global brands it says are still operating in Russia.

On Wednesday, it posted on Facebook an infographic containing brand logos and the text: "Every ruble paid in taxes to Russia turns into deaths and tears of Ukrainian children."

Names on the list include Johnson & Johnson, Kraft Heinz, and tire makers Bridgestone, Yokohama and Pirelli.

It added that such companies should cease their Russian operations or responsible consumers and governments should boycott their products.

However, some of the companies listed have since withdrawn from Russia.

This includes Nestle, Sony and Oreo maker Mondelez International.

Image source, Getty Images

Metals and mining giant Rio Tinto is cutting ties with Russia.

A spokesman for the Anglo-Australian firm, which is headquartered in London, told Reuters it is "in the process of terminating all commercial relationships it has with any Russian business".

Those comments clarified earlier remarks by a top Rio executive, the head of its copper operations, who told an energy conference on Thursday morning that it would be "very difficult" for the company to stop all imports from Russia.

Diana Kuryshko
BBC News Ukrainian

Image source, Ukraine Military/Handout via Reuters

In Ukraine's southern port of Mariupol, residents have now resorted to melting snow and cooking on open fires outside.

The city - which has been under fierce shelling for more than a week - is a complete ruin.

No water, no food, and sometimes no communication. Railway tracks have been damaged, and there is no way people can escape. All evacuation attempts in recent days have failed because of shelling.

Local resident Oksana has somehow managed to call her daughter Tetiana, who is not in the city.

"We are being constantly bombed. No electricity or gas, but we are trying to help children and the elderly. We share everything we have - water and cereals," Oksana says.

She is outraged that no-one in the city is fighting looters, and there is no organised aid provision.

Read more about Mariupol and other besieged Ukrainian cities (in Ukrainian).

Marc Weller
Professor of international law, University of Cambridge

Image source, Reuters

The US has rejected Poland’s offer of 20 MiG fighter jets for the war in Ukraine, fearing escalation.

The fighters, while piloted by Ukrainians, would potentially be fuelled and armed at the vast US Ramstein airbase in Germany or in a Nato state closer to Ukraine. They might also receive covert electronic warfare and tactical targeting support.

As the victim of an armed attack, Ukraine is entitled to self-defence. It can lawfully receive military supplies in its defence. Kyiv would also be entitled to invite Nato to join the fight on its behalf, for instance by enforcing an air exclusion zone over Ukraine.

Yet Moscow sees its invasion as justified self-defence against Nato encroachment along with its false claim that ethnic Russians are threatened with genocide in eastern Ukraine. Direct foreign intervention will be considered by an increasingly cornered Kremlin as an act of war to frustrate its aims.

Moscow might argue the MiGs would move the “theatre of war” westwards into Nato, and could expose the military infrastructure servicing them to counter-strikes.

Russia has so far tolerated the West’s supply of defensive weapons to Ukraine, but deploying warplanes would be a significant escalatory step. Even if they were based in Ukraine, Moscow could argue Nato provided weapons that extend the conflict into Russian territory.

Image source, Getty Images

US Vice-President Kamala Harris has arrived in Warsaw, giving her a chance to negotiate directly with Polish leaders on the issue of fighter jet transfers to Ukraine.

The topic has exposed disagreements within the Nato alliance.

On Tuesday, Poland's offer to provide the US with MiG-29 fighter jets as an intermediary step toward transferring them to Ukraine was rejected as "not tenable" by American officials.

Earlier today, the US defence department went even further, calling it a "high risk" move that could escalate the crisis.

In advance of Harris' trip, a senior administration official said the topic of Polish jets would "absolutely" come up during her meetings - but was non-committal on where the talks would go.

Read more about the fighter jet rift here

Image source, Getty Images

In a sign of Russia's growing isolation, domestic carmaker Lada is halting production on its factory floors.

The company says crippling Western sanctions mean it can no longer gather the parts and supplies it needs.

Founded in Soviet Russia in 1973, the iconic brand is well-known in the region for its affordability.

During his second stint as prime minister, Vladimir Putin was often photographed driving Lada models and calling on all Russians to buy one. "You won't regret it," he said in 2010.

The company is owned by French carmaker Renault but its vehicles are assembled by local automobile manufacturer AvtoVAZ.

Lada accounted for 21% of auto sales in Russia last year.

Image source, Getty Images

Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba has arrived in Turkey for peace negotiations with Russia.

The talks will be held on Thursday in the city of Antalya at the invitation of Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was also seen arriving in Turkey.

The three-way talks will be the first between the nation's top diplomats since the Russian invasion two weeks ago.

Image source, Reuters

Russia is "not abandoning its plans to encircle" Ukraine's capital Kyiv, Ukraine's military has said in its latest update on the key battleground developments.

In its bulletin at 24:00 local time (22:00 GMT) on Wednesday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said its "defence forces are repelling and holding back" the Russian offensive "in all directions".

In some sectors "the occupying forces lost their combat capability" and were now bringing in their reserves, the statement said.

Ukraine also accused its northern neighbour, Belarus, of helping Russia with fuel and lubricants, and also allowing Moscow to use the country's railways and airfields.

Russia and Belarus have not publicly commented on the Ukrainian statement, which has not been independently verified.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved $1.4bn (£1.1bn) in emergency funding for Ukraine to meet "urgent balance of payment needs".

The Fund's executive board said Ukrainian authorities would work with the IMF "to design an appropriate economic programme aimed at rehabilitation and growth, when conditions permit".

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva added: "Once the war is over and a proper damage assessment can be performed, additional large support is likely to be needed to support reconstruction efforts."

Image source, Getty Images

In his nightly video address, external, Zelensky called on European citizens to do more to pressure their governments to intervene in Ukraine.

"Europeans! You won’t be able to say that you didn't see what happened to Ukrainians, what happened to Mariupol residents. You saw. You know," he says.

He calls for the West to increase sanctions on Russia, and to "put pressure" on Moscow to force it to negotiate and end the war.

"We have not done and never would have done anything similar to this war crime to any of the cities of the Donetsk, Luhansk or any other region," he says, referring to eastern breakway regions of Ukraine.

"To any of the cities on earth."

He added that the evacuation of civilians was continuing, with 35,000 people rescued so far. Wednesday's evacuees were departing from Sumy, Kyiv and Enerhodar.

Image source, Reuters

Russia could possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine or create a "false flag" operation that uses them, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said.

Writing on Twitter, Psaki criticised , externalRussia for spreading "false claims" that the US is developing chemical weapons in Ukraine.

She said Russia could possibly be laying the groundwork for the use of chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, though she did not provide any evidence.

"Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has seemingly endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them," she says.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Russian defence ministry said Ukrainian forces had transported about 80 tons of ammonia to Zolochiv, Kharkiv.

On Tuesday, Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland told a congressional hearing in Washington the US was helping Ukrainian authorities protect biological research facilities in the country from potentially being seized by the Russians.

Image source, Ukraine Military/Reuters

Hours after accusing Moscow of an "atrocity" by bombing a maternity and children's hospital in the city of Mariupol, Ukraine's president has launched a website to track alleged "crimes and human rights violations" committed by Russia in Ukraine.

The site, https://humanrights.gov.ua/, will "collect and process information on human rights violations by the Russian Federation" during the war,says the head of President Zelensky's office, Andriy Yermak, external.

The site asks people to fill out a form with the "the fact of human rights violations by the aggressor" and attach pictures or videos.

Image source, Ukraine Government

"The collected facts will be used as evidence for the defence and representation of Ukraine" in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Yermak says.

The ICJ, the UN's top court, said on Monday it would decide “as soon as possible” on a Ukrainian demand for an emergency order that Russia halt hostilities immediately.

Seperately,the International Criminal Court (ICC) is investigatingpossible war crimes committed by Russia during the conflict.

Image source, handout

More from Zelensky's address about the Russian air strike that hit a maternity and children's hospital in the city of Mariupol, injuring at least 17 people.

"What kind of country is this - the Russian Federation, which is afraid of hospitals and maternity hospitals and destroys them?" President Zelensky asks in his latest video address from Kyiv.

"Did someone in the maternity hospital abuse Russian-speakers? What was that? Was it the 'denazification' of the hospital?" he continues.

"It is beyond atrocities already. Everything that the invaders are doing to Mariupol is beyond atrocities already," says Zelensky.

"Today, we must be united in condemning this war crime of Russia, which reflects all the evil that the invaders brought to our land."

He goes on to call the attack on the maternity hospital "final proof... that the genocide of Ukrainians is taking place."

Read more on the hospital bombing here.