Summary

  • President Joe Biden calls Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” for the first time as the US sends $1bn in weapons to Ukraine

  • The Kremlin labels Biden's comments "unacceptable and unforgivable rhetoric"

  • In the besieged city of Mariupol, Russia has attacked a theatre where civilians have been sheltering, the city's deputy mayor tells the BBC

  • Between 1,000 and 1,200 people may have been inside, Serhiy Orlov says. The number of casualties is unknown

  • In a virtual address to US Congress, President Zelenksy repeated his plea for a no-fly zone and called for more sanctions on Russia

  1. Inside the abandoned Polish shopping centre housing refugeespublished at 09:25 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    People at Krakow refugee centre

    We've been telling you this morning about the abandoned shopping centre on the outskirts of Krakow, Poland, that has been converted into a temporary relief centre to welcome more refugees in the city.

    More than 1.8 million Ukrainians have crossed into Poland alone since the conflict began and the country is feeling the pressure of welcoming that number of refugees.

    The centre - which closed down six months ago - is designed to hold about 400 people initially, but they have capacity to expand that even more, says the BBC's Dan Johnson who is there.

    It aims to take the pressure off the city's creaking facilities and resources, and relieve the lack of accommodation, with refugees having to sleep on the floor of the city's railway station.

    Karol Pytlarski from the city's municipal social welfare centre says the refugee centre already has 100 people and will probably become full later today.

    "Our main goal is to provide the best help possible for the people who are coming from the war, we are trying to [make them] feel a little bit like [they're at] home, to give them rest, so they can get through, get together and think about the future."

    Kitchen at Krakow refugee centre
    Image caption,

    Some of the empty shops in the centre have been turned into kitchens...

    Camp beds at Krakow refugee centre
    Image caption,

    ..a place to sleep..

    Children's playroom at Krakow refugee centre
    Image caption,

    ...and a children's playroom

  2. Where is Russia journalist? We don't knowpublished at 09:16 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    Jenny Hill
    BBC Berlin correspondent

    More now on the story of the woman who interrupted a Russian evening news programme on the state-controlled Channel 1 to hold up an anti-war sign.

    State media in Russia haven't covered this protest. Just one independent newspaper has put an image on its front cover but they've had to blur out the words on the sign that this journalist was holding because it's effectively a criminal offence to publish the words.

    We don't know where the journalist, named as Marina Ovsyannikova, is. She was detained last night. Her lawyer reportedly tried to find her in all of the police stations close to the television centre but has been unable, apparently, to find her.

    One state news agency has just reported that a pre-trial investigation has begun against her.

    We assume she will turn up in a court in Moscow at some point this morning, but we'll have to wait and see.

    Marina OvsyannikovaImage source, Channel One
    Image caption,

    Marina Ovsyannikova interrupts a live news bulletin on Russia's state TV "Channel One" holding up a sign that reads "No War"

  3. More sustained artillery in Kyiv today than I’ve heard in two weekspublished at 08:59 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    Jeremy Bowen
    BBC News, Kyiv

    Residential building his by a russian strike in Mostyts’kyymasyv

    This is the scene this morning after an impact at Mostyts’kyymasyv, north-west Kyiv. It is in the direction of Irpin which is about 15km away where there’s been much fighting.

    There are some very upset people, elderly and traumatised.

    Residents have been throwing out buckets of broken glass from their flats and pieces of debris. There is lots of damage. I’m not sure about casualties, one local person said one injured which seems low. Many were maybe saved by sheltering in basements.

    There was more sustained rumble of artillery today than I’ve heard in more than two weeks here.

    Much is coming from fight for Irpin, which is very important for any future battle for Kyiv.

    Russians have been unable to cross Irpin river, a natural defence for Kyiv.

    Ukrainians have blown bridges, and Ukrainian defenders prevent them using pontoon bridges.

    Ukrainian generals I’ve met here believe rivers and extensive marshland make the job of attacking Kyiv much harder.

    Read more here.

  4. Ukrainian people's defence has been ferocious - UK ministerpublished at 08:49 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    Here's a video clip from UK Foreign Office minister James Cleverly's interview on BBC Breakfast, where he says that the Russian plan of attack is not working and has been met with "ferocious" defence by the Ukrainians.

  5. Acts of defiance within Russia incredibly important - UK ministerpublished at 08:38 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    Woman protesting on TVImage source, Channel One

    More now from UK foreign office minister James Cleverly, who has been responding to the shock interruption of a Russian news programme on state-controlled TV by a news editor holding up an anti-war sign.

    Cleverly tells BBC Breakfast these acts of defiance - which also include people taking to the streets in Russia - are important and show a "huge deal of bravery" in what is an oppressive, authoritarian state.

    He says "we are worried" about the woman who held up the sign, named as Marina Ovsyannikova following reports that her lawyer has been unable to locate her.

    Her sign referred to Russian propaganda, and Cleverly also says it's "really important that the Russian people" understand what is being done in their name in Ukraine as they have been "systematically lied to by Putin".

  6. WATCH: Kyiv residential building hit by Russian air strikepublished at 08:28 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    Media caption,

    Ukraine crisis: Kyiv residential buildings hit in Russian air strike

    As we've been reporting, a number of residential buildings in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv have been badly damaged by Russian air strikes this morning.

    Two people were killed in an airstrike that hit one block of flats, according to Ukraine's state emergency service.

  7. Polish, Czech and Slovenian leaders to visit Kyiv laterpublished at 08:19 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki during a press conference in front of the Palace of Versailles near Paris, FranceImage source, EPA
    Image caption,

    Poland's Mateusz Morawiecki will be among those visiting Ukraine's capital

    The prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia will all travel to Kyiv later to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky.

    The visit was confirmed by the Polish government, who said the purpose of the trip was "to confirm the unequivocal support of the entire European Union for the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

    "The aim of this visit is also to present a broad package of support for Ukraine and Ukrainians," he said.

    The Czech PM added that the official European Council visit aimed to reiterate support for freedom and independence.

  8. Ukraine's president addresses Russian troops in video messagepublished at 08:09 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently handed awards to injured servicemen at a military hospital in KyivImage source, EPA
    Image caption,

    The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently handed awards to injured servicemen at a military hospital in Kyiv

    Overnight, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky published another video message where he sounded a note of cautious optimism about ongoing peace talks with Russia.

    He claimed Russia was beginning to realise victory would not come on the battlefield.

    "They have already begun to understand that they will not achieve anything by war," Zelensky said.

    The president also addressed Russian troops directly, saying: "If you surrender to our forces, we will treat you the way people are supposed to be treated."

    Zelensky also expressed his gratitude to the woman who ran onto the set of a Russian evening news programme on the state-controlled Channel 1 with an anti-war sign.

    As we reported earlier, she has been named as Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at the channel.

    You can read Zelensky's full address here, external.

  9. Russian plan of attack not working - Cleverlypublished at 07:56 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    James Cleverly

    UK Foreign Office minister James Cleverly has told BBC Breakfast that Russia's "plan of attack is not working" - but as a result we are seeing more civilian areas targeted.

    "It was meant to be very easy, it was meant to be some kind of lightning war where Russian troops swept across Ukraine."

    Instead what we are seeing is ferocious defence by the Ukrainians, which is incredibly frustrating to Vladimir Putin, Cleverly says.

    Sadly as a by-product of Putin's anger and frustration at the ineffective attack, we are seeing an escalation in the "targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure", he says.

    Asked whether the war could be over by May, as some Ukrainian officials are suggesting, Cleverly says it's "incredibly difficult" to make predictions like that, but the UK must make sure that Putin fails in Ukraine.

  10. Two killed in airstrike on residential building in Kyiv - emergency servicespublished at 07:43 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    A badly damaged residential building in Kyiv
    Image caption,

    A number of residential buildings in Kyiv have been badly damaged by airstrikes

    Two people have been killed in an airstrike that hit a residential building in Kyiv, according to Ukraine's state emergency service.

    Another 35 people were rescued.

    The Kyiv City State Administration has compiled a list of buildings in the Ukrainian capital that have been damaged by the shelling overnight:

    • Two residential buildings of nine and 16 floors in the Sviatoshynskyi district
    • A 10-storey residential building in Podilskyi district
    • A house in the private sector of Darnytskyi district
    • Part of the Lukyanivska metro station. The subway line is still working

  11. 'We are them and it could easily be us'published at 07:32 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    Graham Monks, a builder from Taunton, Somerset

    Graham Monks from Taunton in Somerset drove to Poland last Friday to take food, clothing and medical supplies to the Ukrainian-Polish border.

    "We gave all the goods to charities at the border, but in hindsight it was a bit of a waste of resources bringing the goods over here when we could have just bought them here instead. Hard cash is more useful for the people in need of help here."

    Graham is now helping in the Galeria Plaza on the outskirts of Krakow, an abandoned shopping centre that is now being transformed to provide more space for refugees.

    There are rows of camp-beds lined up in former department stores. Other empty shops have been fitted with showers, toilets, a kitchen, a canteen and a children’s playroom.

    In the UK, Graham is a builder. He has cleared all his upcoming contracts to help Ukrainian refugees in Poland. He says: “I would like to think that if a similar situation happened in the UK, people would help us. We are them and it could easily be us.”

  12. Kyiv terrain will slow Russian troops, say Ukraine generalspublished at 07:19 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    Jeremy Bowen
    BBC News, Kyiv

    Media caption,

    Ukraine war: Residents rescued after Kyiv apartment block strike on Monday

    At a briefing in their war room on Monday, the two Ukrainian generals responsible for the defence of Kyiv told the BBC how their forces were fighting hard to keep Russian artillery out of range, and explained why they believe the city has strengths that will make all the difference against the Russians.

    Kyiv is feeling the sharp touch of the war more acutely, along with Russia's destructive firepower.

    A nine-storey block of flats was hit by a Russian missile on Monday morning, killing at least one person and wrecking the building, making dozens of Ukrainians homeless. It would have been worse had many residents not taken to shelters.

    But the centre of Kyiv and many of its sprawling suburbs are still untouched by Russian weaponry.

    The city's topography and terrain is on Ukraine's side, Gen Andriy Krischenko told me.

    It is big and sprawling. It is cut up by rivers, not just the mighty Dnieper which divides Kyiv in two, but its tributaries.

    Read more.

  13. News editor interrupts Russian TV news showpublished at 07:10 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    Media caption,

    Watch: Anti-war demonstrator disrupts Russia's state TV news

    We saw footage last night of a woman holding an anti-war sign ran onto the set of a Russian evening news programme on the state-controlled Channel 1.

    The sign, clearly visible behind the presenter, read "no war, stop the war, don't believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here".

    The woman has been named as Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at the channel.

    Her voice could be heard during the broadcast saying "No to war! Stop the war!", before the programme director cut to a recorded news report.

    Before the protest Ovsyannikova recorded a video in which she called events in Ukraine a "crime", and said she was ashamed to work for what she called Kremlin propaganda.

    Russian TV news is tightly controlled by the Kremlin and only reflects the Russian version of events in Ukraine.

    Ovsyannikova is believed to be in police custody.

    Read more here.

  14. Another choppy night in Kyivpublished at 07:02 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    James Waterhouse
    Kyiv correspondent, BBC News

    The BBC's James Waterhouse in Kyiv

    We had another unique alarm clock at about 5am, a series of explosions, echoey bangs were heard through the now quiet centre of Kyiv, it was followed by car alarms suggesting that some damage had been done. The curtain in my room actually moved when it happened.

    And then we saw reports this morning, once again, of burning residential buildings.

    We've had air raid sirens in Kyiv, we've had air raid sirens across central Ukraine, in Odessa in the south, as well as the Khmelnytskyi region in the west.

  15. More Kyiv residential buildings hit this morningpublished at 06:49 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    Flames envelop a residential building hit by a Russian strikeImage source, UKRAINE STATE EMERGENCY

    Ukraine authorities have released more images of a separate nine-storey residential tower in the Svyatoshinsky district of Kyiv on fire after an air strike.

    The fire was extinguished at 05:36 local time (03:36 GMT).

    Authorities did not state if there were any casualties.

    Firefighting crews outside a tall residential building in KyivImage source, UKRAINE STATE EMERGENCY
  16. Kyiv Metro station damaged in blastpublished at 06:35 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    Kyiv's metro network has tweeted that one of the blasts this morning damaged the facade of the Lukyanivska station and offices.

    Lukyanivska is quite close to centre of Kyiv. The station's been closed due to the damage.

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  17. The latest developments in Ukrainepublished at 06:25 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    To those of you just joining us, good morning. It's just after 08:30 in Ukraine and many will be waking up to their 20th day of Russia's invasion. Here's a round-up of the latest developments:

    • Russian shelling of Kyiv continues this morning, with a residential building set ablaze after explosions were heard in the capital. The fire has now been extinguished, says Ukraine's state emergency service
    • Evacuation corridors are planned to be in place between 09:00 and 21:00 local time in the north-eastern Sumy region, says the regional state administration
    • Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are set to continue today, according to Ukraine's president
    • A Ukrainian government adviser had earlier said he expects the war to be over by early May
  18. One injured in residential building fire in Kyivpublished at 06:15 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    A blaze in a residential building in Kyiv has been extinguished, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Services (SES) in a post on Facebook.

    A fire broke out on the first five floors of the 10-storey building, said the SES - adding that the fire was put out at 06:51 local time (04:51 GMT).

    No deaths were reported, but one person was reported injured and rushed to the hospital.

    We heard reports earlier this morning of large blasts in the capital Ukraine. The full extent of the damage is still unclear.

    Firefighters directing a water hose to put out the fire at the apartment complexImage source, Ukraine SES
    Image caption,

    Firefighters had raced to extinguish the blaze at an apartment complex in Kyiv

  19. Four Russian helicopters shot down - Ukraine Armed Forcespublished at 05:56 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    As Ukraine heads into the twentieth day of the Russian invasion on its territory, the General Staff of Ukrainian Armed Forces has provided its daily morning update:

    • Russian forces remain focused on maintaining their gains on Ukrainian territory, and have failed to make further advances
    • However Russian troops have continued to launch missile and bomb attacks on critical infrastructure and are co-opting civilian infrastructure
    • Russian soldiers have been using healthcare facilities in occupied territories to treat wounded personnel
    • Four helicopters, one plane and a cruise missile belonging to Russia were struck down by Ukrainian forces
    • Ukrainian units have managed to fend off Russian attempts to capture the heavily-contested southern port city of Mariupol and there have been no further signs of naval landings by Russian forces in the Black Sea region
    • The moral and psychological state of Russian troops "remains low", with Russian servicemen apparently refusing to carry out commands

    The BBC has not been able to verify these claims.

  20. Evacuation corridors out of Sumy planned today: Officialpublished at 05:38 Greenwich Mean Time 15 March 2022

    Evacuation corridors from four cities in the north-eastern Sumy region of Ukraine will be in place today, according to a local official.

    According to a Telegram post, external from Dmytro Zhyvytsky, the head of the Sumy regional administration, evacuation routes from the cities of Sumy, Konotop, Trostianets and Lebedyn will be in place between 09:00 and 21:00 local time.

    Sumy - near the Russian border - has been subject to heavy shelling with reports of power and water cut off since Russia invaded.