Over in the surrounded south-eastern city of Mariupol - which has been under bombardment without essential services and supplies for nearly two weeks, the city council says 2,187 residents are now known to have been killed.

Local officials said there had been at least 22 Russian strikes on the city in the past day.

"People have been in a difficult situation for 12 days. There is no electricity, water or heating in the city. There is almost no mobile communication. The last reserves of food and water are running out," a statement said.

Russian forces have captured the city's eastern outskirts.

Recent satellite photos show extensive damage to residential and civilian infrastructure.

We can now bring you some reaction over the death of US journalist Brent Renaud in Ukraine.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says the US will impose "appropriate consequences" on Russia. News of the death was "shocking and horrifying", he said, and US officials would be consulting with Ukrainian officials to determine "how this happened".

Chernihiv is north of Kyiv near the border with Belarus. Residential buildings in the city have been hit repeatedly.

We have more about the events leading to the death of US journalist Brent Renaud.

Another US journalist, Juan Arredondo, was taken to hospital after the incident. He told an Italian reporter that he was with Brent Renaud when they came under fire, in a video published on Twitter, external:

"We were across one of the first bridges in Irpin, going to film other refugees leaving, and we got into a car, somebody offered to take us to the other bridge and we crossed a checkpoint, and they start shooting at us.

"So the driver turned around, and they kept shooting; there's two of us. My friend is Brent Renaud, and he's been shot and left behind."

He goes on to say he doesn't know what happened to Renaud.

"I saw him being shot in the neck, and we got split," adding he was brought to a hospital by ambulance.

Abdujalil Abdurasulov
BBC News, Kyiv

The Ukrainian authorities have announced a number of evacuation routes. But in Kyiv region, they do not mention the villages and towns that are closer to the border with Belarus.

The Russian forces entered the town of Ivankiv, 65km north-west of Kyiv in the beginning of the invasion. The residents who spoke to the BBC at that time said that Russian soldiers opened fire at anyone who tried to leave the town. They couldn’t even collect their bodies.

As more troops arrived in Ivankiv from Belarus, it is believed that the Russians are using this place as a ground base for reinforcement before launching a new offensive on the capital Kyiv.

Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why they are not letting any civilians to leave since they could inform the Ukrainian forces about the movements of Russian troops and their positions.

The last time when the BBC was able to connect to the residents of Ivankiv, they said that they were running out of food supplies and were desperately hoping to be evacuated.

It’s been eight days since all communications with Ivankiv were cut off.

The mayor of the city of Lviv in the west of the country - a hub for people fleeing the conflict - has been speaking to the BBC.

“Lviv today is a huge centre of war refugees, more than 200,000 people come to Lviv... and my responsibility, my duty is to give them the maximum. It’s my job," Andriy Sadovyi said.

“This morning's attack is [a] shock.

“I had a meeting with Polish politicians and Polish mayors. I sent a very strong message, 20km (12.5 miles) from the European Union’s borders. We need military equipment, we need bullet-proof vests, we need [helmets]… We need together support and help, help [for] refugees, and help [for] Ukrainian troops.”

Asked if Lviv, as a city close a Nato country, is a target, he says Lviv is in a similar situation to other cities in Ukraine, in that it is difficult to predict what the next target will be.

In a final message to the countries of Nato now that the war has come that much closer to the border with them, he says:

“We need closed sky, we need military equipment… We need [a] decision today. We need bullet-proof vests today, not tomorrow. Tomorrow, Russian missile finish in the European Union.”

Image source, Getty Images

A US journalist, Brent Renaud, has been shot dead in the town of Irpin outside Kyiv, police say.

Kyiv's police chief Andriy Nebytov said he had been targeted by Russian soldiers. Two other journalists were injured and taken to hospital.

It is the first reported death of a foreign journalist covering the war in Ukraine.

Photographs are circulating showing a press ID for Renaud that was issued by the New York Times.

In a statement, the newspaper said it was saddened to hear of Renaud's death but that he had not been working for the newspaper in Ukraine.

He last worked for the newspaper in 2015, the NYT said, and the press ID he was wearing in Ukraine had been issued years ago. It was not immediately clear who Renaud was working for in Ukraine.

The former mayor of Polish capital Warsaw has given one of his homes over to refugees fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sophie Raworth, Marcin Swiecicki said he currently has 13 people staying at the house, though at one point had 17.

“We [had previously planned] to rent it out for some extra money,” he said. “But we have the resources to live on, so of course [we made it available].”

“This was the decision of all the family.”

Over two million people have now left Ukraine, with around 250,000 of them currently in Warsaw.

Also speaking to the BBC, Irish Taoiseach Michael Martin said he believed all countries in the EU should do what Ireland has done and allow refugees to come from Ukraine without the need for visas or other checks.

“It will logistically be very, very challenging,” he said. “But we believe we need to do it, because we believe this is a battle between democracy and authoritarianism, fundamentally.”

Fergal Keane
BBC News, Lviv

The anger in the mayor’s voice was palpable. “We will send the Russians home in their coffins or they will be buried in the ground here,” he said. Volodmyr Maceluh was standing outside the municipal office in Novojavorivsk, about five kilometres from where emergency workers were still recovering the dead and injured from the rubble of the military base attacked by Russia in the early hours of the morning.

The mayor’s anger is widely felt here. But this escalation is not unexpected. In recent days Russia has warned that it would hit targets in the west of the country to try to stop the shipment of EU and Nato weapons to Ukraine. Much of this materiel is thought to arrive into Ukraine via Poland.

Until the past few days western Ukraine has been relatively secure – for refugees but also for Ukraine’s military. It seemed only a matter of time before Russia turned its attention to military facilities and airports. There were strikes on airports near the cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk the night before last.

The missiles arriving across the Polish border have helped Ukraine to mount a stiff resistance and counter – at least partially – Russia’s significant advantages in armoured forces. However, interdicting weapons supplies is notoriously difficult, as the experiences of wars in the Middle East, Vietnam and Afghanistan have shown.

Image source, Reuters

Yalda Hakim
BBC World News presenter, in Lviv

At a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Lviv, just 80km from Poland, hundreds of mourners gather to remember the fallen.

Just two weeks into this war, Ukraine's president says more than 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed.

Air raid sirens interrupt the service, but many of the faithful who have gathered this Sunday morning continue to pray.

Others rush down into the crypt of the church, which now also serves as a bunker from potential Russian bombing.

The conflict feels like it is getting dangerously close to this part of the country, which has become both a sanctuary and a way station to Europe for tens of thousands of people fleeing the fighting which has convulsed the north, east and south of Ukraine.

The citizens of Lviv tell me, although military bases around them are increasingly being targeted by Russian missiles, they hope their city - a Unesco world heritage site - will be spared destruction as it was, miraculously, during the Second World War.

But they also have no illusions about the potential for catastrophic violence and say they are preparing themselves should the war arrive on their doorstep.

Crowds have taken to the streets of the southern Ukrainian port city of Kherson to protest its occupation by Russian forces.

It comes amid reports that Russia is planning to stage a sham referendum in the city so as to create another breakaway region, like those in Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, and install a puppet administration.

Pictures showed people gathered in Freedom Square in the centre of Kherson waving Ukrainian flags and holding signs saying: "Kherson is Ukraine."

Image source, Suspilne Kherson

Image source, Suspilne Kherson

Image source, Suspilne Kherson

At least 13 journalists and 12 others are reported to have been detained during anti-war protests in St Petersburg, external.

“They didn’t explain the reason for the detention," journalist Andrey Okun wrote on his Telegram channel.

He said the detained reporters were all wearing press vests and carrying their press cards: "But this is of no interest to anyone, the goal is to make sure that no-one covers anything."

Image source, Paper

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says the most important task at hand is to bring aid to the beseiged city of Mariupol.

He said a humanitarian convoy was just 80km - around two hours' drive - from the city, which has been under constant attack from Russian forces for almost a week.

"We are doing everything to break the resistance of the occupiers, who are blocking even priests of the Orthodox Church," Zelensky wrote, in a post on Facebook.

Earlier we brought you news of a priest who had managed to flee the city last Sunday just before the bombardment started.

Image source, National Police of Ukraine/Reuters

Anti-war demonstrations are once again taking place around the world, including in Russia - where vocal Kremlin critic, Alexei Navalny has called for people there to take a stand against President Putin and the invasion of Ukraine.

Police rounded up some of the protesters in Manezhnaya Square in central Moscow, as you can see below.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

On day 18 of Russia's invasion, fighting is continuing to rage across Ukraine.

• Russia's assault has now widened to targets in the country's west. A barrage of Russian missiles have struck a military base, in Yavoriv, close to the border with Poland, killing 35 people.
• The mayor of another western city, Ivano-Frankivsk, says Russian troops continue to hit its airport. And in Lviv - a western hub for people fleeing the conflict - air raid sirens sounded.
• More fighting is also continuing in outskirts north of the capital Kyiv, as it braces for a possible encirclement by Russian forces.
• And further north, in Chernihiv at least one person was killed when an apartment block was destroyed by Russian fire, authorities say.
• In Ukraine's east, Russian troops are trying to surround Ukrainian forces as they advance from the port of Mariupol in the south and the country's second-largest city of Kharkiv in the north, UK defence officials say. Kharkhiv has suffered some of the heaviest Russian bombardment, with videos showing streets completely bombed-out and many buildings flattened. As Russian forces surround Mariupol, aid groups are warning of a humanitarian catastrophe.
• And in the south, an air strike on the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv, near the strategic port of Odesa, killed nine people on Sunday, local officials say.

Pope Francis has issued a strong condemnation of the Russian attack on Ukraine.

“In the name of God, let the cry of the suffering people be heard, and let the bombings and attacks stop," he said during his weekly Sunday prayer at St Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

“In the name of God, I ask you, stop this massacre.”

Bombing of children’s hospitals and civilian targets is “barbaric” and has “no valid strategic reason”, the Pope added.

Image source, Getty Images

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said he believes there is “no argument” for new investment in the Russian economy.

Speaking in a video address posted on social media, Sunak said: “Since the start of the Russian invasion, we’ve seen widespread commitments from firms and investors to end their involvement with Russian assets.

“I want to make it crystal clear that if firms or investors decide that they need to end their financial relationship with Russia, then the government fully supports you.

“When I met leading businesses last week, I welcomed the consensus on the need to inflict maximum economic pain on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and his regime.

“While I recognise that it may be challenging to wind down existing investments, I believe there is no argument for new investment in the Russian economy.”

The alleged abduction of the mayor of the southern city of Dniprorudne, Yevhen Matveyev, comes hours after Russian forces in another southern city, Melitopol, reportedly installed a new mayor after its first was also kidnapped.

The alleged abduction of Melitopol's mayor Ivan Fedorov on Friday prompted hundreds of protesters to take to the streets, shouting: "Free the mayor!"

Last night, Galina Danilchenko, a former city council member, was announced as the new mayor on local TV.

Danilchenko urged residents not to take part in what she called "extremist actions".

A curfew has been announced in the city and protests banned.

Image source, Melitopol Acting Mayor's Office

As you've seen earlier, UK Housing Secretary Michael Gove spoke to the BBC's Sunday Morning programme as he announced a new visa route for Ukrainian refugees, allowing individuals to offer a spare room to someone fleeing the war in return for a £350 "thank you" payment.

Asked if he would open his own home to a Ukrainian refugee, he says: "Yes."

"I'm exploring what I can do," he adds. "Without going into my personal circumstances, there are a couple of things I need to sort out - but yes."

Questioned about whether the government had been too slow to respond to the crisis, he says it was "only natural" for refugees to go to Ukraine's geographical neighbours first, but said the new scheme was the fastest way for the UK to help.

The homes of sanctions oligarchs could be used to house refugees from the war in Ukraine, a top UK minister says.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sophie Raworth, Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing, and Communities Michael Gove said: “I want to explore an option which would allow us to use the homes and properties of sanctioned individuals, for as long as they are sanctioned, for humanitarian and other purposes.

“There’s quite a high legal bar to cross and we’re not talking about permanent confiscation.

“But we are saying, ‘You’re sanctioned, you’re supporting Putin, this home is here, you have no right to use or profit from it... If we can use it in order to help others, let’s do that.’”

He added that the government wants to strengthen current measures that prevent oligarchs only from selling their UK homes, not from living in them.

“If your wealth and your influence is being deployed in order to support or to provide comfort to Putin, given what he’s doing, then I’m afraid you have to bear the consequences,” he said.