Abdujalil Abdurasulov
BBC News, Kyiv

People who managed to escape Mariupol in southern Ukraine have been speaking to the BBC of desperate scenes in the city where Russian forces have intensified a siege.

Father Pavel Komashevsky, a priest, said residential areas had been bombed non-stop day and night with jets roaring overhead and Grad missiles detonating.

He said with the power cut, and food and water running out, residents started a mass looting of shops and pharmacies.

Father Pavel said he had left several days ago in a column of about a hundred private cars. Plans to evacuate through a humanitarian corridor were abandoned because of Russian shelling.

He said the convoy was turned back at a Russian checkpoint but local drivers offered a different route to get to territory controlled by Ukrainian forces.

On Sunday, the International Red Cross demanded access for aid deliveries and an agreed plan for their evacuation.

Image source, Youtube

Activists have claimed they have broken into a French villa purportedly owned by a former relative of Vladimir Putin, saying they intend to house Ukrainian refugees there.

Videos posted online show a man waving the Ukrainian flag from the balcony of a villa - said to be located in the French seaside town of Biarritz - as well as a tour of the luxurious interior.

The videos also carry text in French and Ukrainian, saying: "Victory at Biarritz - the taking of Putin's palace" and "Now the People's Mansion is ready to welcome the refugees of Putin's regime".

One of the activists, Pierre Haffner, told independent Russian newspaper The Insider , externalthat while inspecting the villa he found documents that appeared to belong to Putin's former son-in-law Kirill Shamalov, and Russian oligarch Gennady Timchenko, a close friend of Putin.

The Insider said the villa was once owned by Timchenko and later transferred to Shamalov, citing local property records.

Another activist, Vladimir Osechkin, said on Facebook that they intended to submit a proposal to local authorities to use the villa as a shelter for refugees, adding that it was big enough to house dozens of people.

The BBC cannot immediately verify these claims.

But Biarritz is known to be popular with wealthy Russians, and members of Putin's family reportedly own property in the town., external

In its daily update, Ukraine's Staff of the Armed Forces said it successfully struck down four planes, three helicopters and several unmanned aircraft belonging to Russian forces in the last 24 hours.

It also said it launched "crushing strikes" on Russia's field bases and warehouses to disrupt its logistical supply system on Ukrainian territory.

It added Russian forces had not made any further gains, and were focused on "consolidating and maintaining previously-occupied frontiers".

The statement said civilian infrastructure - including religious facilities - were being co-opted by Russian forces to equip firing positions and to deploy weapons and military equipment.

It also claimed the "moral and psychological condition" of Russian forces remained at a "low level", citing the refusal of Russian soldiers to obey commands or participate in combat.

The BBC is not able to independently verify any of these claims.

The BBC's Eastern Europe correspondent, Sarah Rainsford, has just tweeted that Dnipro - southeast of Kyiv - is experiencing its "longest siren yet".

The former editor of China's state-run newspaper Global Times newspaper Hu Xijin has said China and the US must reach an agreement calling on all countries to stop funnelling military aid to both Ukraine and Russia.

His tweet came hours after the US warned Beijing it would "absolutely" face consequences if it helped Moscow evade sweeping sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

US officials say Russia has asked China for military aid to support their invasion of Ukraine, adding to fears that Beijing's help might undermine efforts by the West to help Ukrainian forces defend their country.

The Global Times is known for its hawkish nationalistic tone.

But a spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington said he had "never heard of that."

Image source, Getty Images

The Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority (BCAA) announced on Sunday that it would suspend the airworthiness certificates of Russian-operated planes on the Bermuda Aircraft Registry from 13 March onwards.

An airworthiness certificate is a permit for both commercial and cargo airplanes. The permit is issued by the civil aviation authority of the country in which an aircraft is registered. Under most circumstances, an aircraft cannot fly without an airworthiness certificate.

However, according to the Kommersant newspaper, external, Russian airlines are expecting the Federal Air Transport Agency to allow them to fly without valid airworthiness certificates, before re-registration with the Russian air transport authority.

According to Interfax, 745 of Russia's 1,367 aircraft are registered in Bermuda.

BCAA said that international sanctions on the aviation sector have had a significant impact on the aviation authority's ability to carry out safety checks on Russian-operated aircraft on the Bermuda Aircraft Registry.

BCAA's decision comes after several nations and businesses imposed sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

This video verified by the BBC shows multiple high-rise buildings being bombarded by Russian shelling in the southern port city of Mariupol.

The incident took place on Sunday, following days of intense shelling by Russian military forces.

Ukrainian authorities say Mariupol has been subject to relentless bombardment since Russian troops surrounded it on 2 March, killing an estimated 2,187 civilians.

Since then, the roughly 400,000 people who remain in the city have been left with no access to water, food, and medicine.

Repeated attempts by the Ukrainian government to deliver aid have been foiled by Russian shelling, adding to fears of a looming humanitarian crisis.

The US embassy in Kyiv has once again urged US citizens to leave Ukraine immediately, as ongoing Russian attacks have made the security situation "violent and unpredictable".

The embassy warned remaining US citizens to "carefully consider" the routes and risks of travel, as Ukraine’s roads may be crowded, exposed to combat operations, or have deteriorated infrastructure due to damage to bridges and roads.

The US State Department revealed in January that it does not have an accurate count of the total number of Americans still in Ukraine, other than remaining US government personnel.

Oleh Chernysh
BBC News Ukrainian

Image source, Getty Images

Since the start of the invasion, most of the world's attention has focused on Russian attacks on the east and the south of Ukraine, as well as the areas around Kyiv.

But just west of the capital, in the Zhytomyr region, residents have faced massive daily bombardment - which have killed civilians and left many without homes.

In the first two weeks of the invasion, Russians have launched more than 40 rocket and air attacks on the city of Zhytomyr itself as well as on surrounding towns and villages.

Dozens of people have been killed, both troops and civilians. So why is Russia attacking this part of Ukraine so heavily?

The city, which had a population of about 280,000 before the war, is a key point in the logistical and humanitarian corridor, Zhytomyr's mayor Serhiy Sukhomlyn tells the BBC. Aid from Europe is being delivered to Kyiv and further east via Zhytomyr, and refugees are travelling in the opposite direction.

Read more about Zhytomyr here.

Image source, EPA

The US says China will face harsh "consequences" if it aids Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, according to US media reports.

Unnamed officials reportedly told multiple US news outlets that Russia asked China to provide military assistance after it began the invasion.

The Chinese embassy in Washington said it was not aware of this request.

The warning comes ahead of a meeting in Rome on Monday between top US and China officials.

Since the start of the crisis, Beijing has expressed strong rhetorical support for long-time ally Moscow but is not publicly known to have provided any military or economic support.

However local media outlets citing US officials, say that Russia has in recent days specifically asked China for military equipment, including drones. China's response to that request is not known.

Read more about the upcoming discussions between China and the US here.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the UK will supply Ukraine with more than 500 generators.

The generators will provide energy for essential services, including shelters and hospitals. They will also supply enough energy to power 20,000 homes.

This announcement came after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky made a direct request to the UK for the generators.

Johnson said the generators will help ease power cuts being experienced across Ukraine. He added that it will also "help keep vital services running so the people of Ukraine can continue to defend their country".

The head of Sumy's regional government says that there will be no civilian evacuations from the area on Monday.

Sumy, a city in northeastern Ukraine, has been the scene of heavy fighting since 24 February. On 8 March, more than 20 civilians were reported killed by an airstrike that hit a residential area in the town.

On his Telegram channel, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi said that "none of the routes have been agreed upon today," referring to corridors created by Russia to allow civilians to safely evacuate.

Zhivitsky added that "negotiations are ongoing".

Last week, approximately 5,000 civilians, including 1,700 foreign students - many of them from India - were evacuated through a humanitarian corridor towards Poltava.

Ukrainian authorities, however, have repeatedly accused Russian forces of shooting at and blocking civilian evacuations.

Image source, Twitter

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to widespread falsehoods being shared across social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. With so much information being shared daily, it can become difficult to discern what's real, and what isn't.

There are a number of steps, however, that one can take to spot false posts:

•Watch out for old videos. Many fake videos depict other conflicts, sometimes shared by well-meaning but shocked viewers. Look for clues, such as weather, road signs, and languages spoken. Reverse image searches can reveal if a video has been shared online before.

•Be careful to note who is sharing the content to see if they are trusted and reputable. Some of the misleading videos are shared by those in search of likes and shares, while others are using social media to boost their own narratives and political agendas.

•Think before you share. Much of the content about the war on social media is scary and triggers a reaction that leads people to share posts without taking steps to verify the information. Disinformation spreads quickly because it plays on our pre-existing emotions and biases.

Read more about disinformation and how to spot it here.

Image source, Reuters

The Australian government has joined the UK and the US in announcing "fresh sanctions on 33 Russian oligarchs, prominent businesspeople and their immediate family members".

Roman Abramovich, Chelsea FC owner, is one of the people sanctioned, alongside Alexey Miller, Dmitri Lebedev, Sergey Chemezov, Nikolay Tokarev, Igor Shuvalov, Kirill Dmitriev and several others.

Australia said the sanctions announced today reinforce the country's "commitment to sanction those people who have amassed vast personal wealth and are of economic and strategic significance to Russia".

The statement went on to say, external: "The Australian government reiterates our strongest support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and for the people of Ukraine."

Robin Brant
BBC News, Beijing

Image source, Getty Images

The EU and US help Ukraine, China helps Russia; if that’s how this goes then it's a delineation that will make the war in Ukraine an even more consequential one.

The White House has decided to make public its claim just as President Biden's top security adviser is due to meet China's most senior diplomat. It appears to be a tactical move, to put pressure on China; presumably to either confirm or deny it.

The bigger aim could be to try to make Xi Jinping weigh up the pros and cons to his current position of what was last week called a "rock solid" relationship with Moscow. Remember that it was just weeks ago, as the Winter Olympics opened in Beijing, that Presidents Xi and Putin declared a new alliance that had "no limit".

Military aid could, clearly, be part of that. But in the days after Russia's invasion, China has condemned the UK, the US, and others for giving weapons to Ukraine's military, saying they were adding "fuel to the fire".

If the US intelligence assessment is correct and Beijing follows through on that request, then they too would be "adding fuel".

Expectations have been raised a notch ahead of renewed dialogue between the two countries.

Dmitry Peskov, Russia's negotiator and President Vladimir Putin's press secretary, said the talks will take place via video-conference.

Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukraine's negotiator and adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, confirmed the Kremlin's statement.

In a video posted on social media, Podolyak said Russia was beginning to engage constructively.

He added: "Russia now much more adequately perceives the world around it. It is much more sensitive to the position of Ukraine, which has been proven in battlefields, and in Ukraine's actions in terms of protecting its interests."

On Sunday, Zelensky said his delegation is in talks with their Russian counterparts every day.

Kevin Jackson
BBC Scotland

As the conflict in Ukraine continues there are now estimated 1.5 million refugees in Poland alone.

They cross the border by car, train or on foot and head to reception centres in towns and villages along the border. The title sounds official, but these "centres" are makeshift sports halls or community centres, staffed largely by volunteers.

We visited one of them in the town of Hrubieszow. Originally a small community hall, it's now busy and chaotic, filled with disorientated and scared refugees.

Aneta Nowaczewska lives nearby and has spent the last few weeks helping to run the centre. She tells us that they were originally set up to look after 200 people at the start of the invasion, there are now 600 beds crammed into the tiny space.

Volunteers provide food and blankets donated by the local community, but also from areas all over Europe, including aid from Scotland.

Some people stay for a few hours to get some sleep and a bite to eat and move on somewhere else. Every so often an announcement is made over a loudspeaker offering people lifts to other areas of Poland.

Read more about Polish volunteers stepping up to help Ukrainian refugees here.

It's just past 4 AM in Kyiv.

If you're just joining us, here's an update of what's been happening over the last few hours.

China help: Moscow has reportedly asked Beijing for both military supplies and economic assistance. A top US official has warned that China will face "severe consequences" if it helps Russia evade sanctions.

Naval blockade: The UK's Ministry of Defence says Russia has established a blockade over Ukraine's Black Sea coast, effectively cutting the country off from international maritime traffic.

Zelensky plea: In a live TV address, the Ukrainian president again called for Nato leaders to impose a no-fly zone, saying that if they don't, "it's only a matter of time" before Russian bombs fall on Nato territory.

Russia-Ukraine talks: Both sides have said discussions will resume on Monday via video.

Biden-Macron: US President Joe Biden held a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, in which the two leaders reiterated their commitment to Ukraine and to hold Russia accountable for the invasion.

Last night, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk gave an update on the evacuation of civilians and attempts to get to Mariupol.

More than 140,000 civilians had been evacuated from conflict zones in the country, she said in an interview on national television.

Several thousand were evacuated from towns in the Kyiv region, and some 5,000 people had also been evacuated from the eastern Luhansk region, she added.

But she said a humanitarian convoy had once again failed to reach the besieged port city of Mariupol because of Russian shelling.

"The column has stayed in [the Russian-occupied city of] Berdiansk, and will tomorrow again attempt to reach Mariupol,” she is quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

Fears are growing for the humanitarian crisis in the city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has visited wounded soldiers recovering at a military hospital.

Zelensky chatted to the injured troops, posed for selfies and gave medals to the patients and the workers caring for them.