Authorities in Mariupol say around 30,000 people have left the city so far, according to Reuters.

The local council estimates that more than 350,000 people are still sheltering in the city.

The port city is encircled by Russian forces and has seen some of the fiercest bombardment of the conflict.

Reuters reports long queues of cars heading north from Mariupol, some with signs in the windscreens with the word "children" written in Russian.

Ukrainian officials say residents have been trapped in the city by Russian shelling without heating, electricity and running water for most of the past two weeks.

The city's council adds that work is ongoing to establish the number of possible casualties from the strike on the Mariupol theatre where more than 1,000 people - mainly women and children - were hiding in a bomb shelter.

There are more details about that bombing in eastern Ukraine here.

Image source, .

Image source, Getty Images

Arnold Schwarzenegger has posted a video message to Twitter urging Russians to push back against the pro-war narrative being presented by the Russian government.

In a clip which runs for over nine minutes, external - which has been viewed over a million times in little more than two hours - Schwarzenegger speaks of his love for Russia and recalls trips to the country during his career as a bodybuilder.

The film star and former California governor tells Russians that they are "not being told the truth about the consequences of this war" and informs them that "bombs are raining down on innocent civilians".

Listing a host of Russian attacks against Ukrainian cities, Schwarzenegger tells Russians that as a result of the humanitarian crisis Vladimir Putin's invasion has unleashed "Russia is now isolated from the society of nations".

He adds that "thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed" after being caught between Ukrainian forces "fighting for their homeland and the Russian leadership fighting for conquest".

The Terminator star concludes by heaping praise on the thousands of Russia protesters detained by police in recent weeks, telling them "the world has seen your bravery", adding "you are my heroes".

Image source, Reuters

Authorities in the besieged eastern city of Mariupol have said that up to 90% of buildings in the city have been destroyed by Russian forces in their daily bombardment of the city.

Lesia Vasylenko, a Ukrainian MP, wrote on Twitter that the city is being "destroyed from the sky" and repeated President Volodymyr Zelensky's call on Western nations to impose a no-fly zone over the country.

The report comes amid reports that rescue teams in the city are trying to bring out survivors of an attack on a theatre, where about 1,000 people - mainly women and children - were hiding in a bomb shelter.

The rescue attempt is ongoing amid heavy shelling from Russian forces on the periphery of the city.

Read more here about the situation at that bombed theatre.

Image source, Getty Images

US President Joe Biden and the Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin are discussing the war in Ukraine in virtual talks held in Washington DC.

The pair had been due to meet face-to-face, but Martin tested positive for Covid-19 while visiting the US capital.

Earlier, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said: "They will discuss their countries' contributions to the international effort to support the people of Ukraine and to impose costs on Russia for its unprovoked and unjustified war."

Other issues on the agenda include the global pandemic and the US-Ireland relationship.

The taoiseach was due to meet Biden and then to take part in the traditional shamrock handover ceremony in the Oval Office as part of St Patrick's Day celebrations.

He was also due to attend a breakfast hosted by Vice-President Kamala Harris.

Broadcaster RTÉ has reported that the taoiseach is self-isolating and is described as feeling well.

Image source, Getty Images

The European Space Agency (Esa) has suspended a Mars programme it was working on in conjunction with Russian space agency Roscosmos.

In a statement posted on its website, Esa said it would be impossible to continue co-operating with Roscosmos on its ExoMars rover mission, which aims to carry out further research on the surface of Mars.

It said Esa's ruling council had made the decision unanimously, external in response to the situation in Ukraine.

"We deeply deplore the human casualties and tragic consequences of the aggression towards Ukraine," the statement reads. "While recognising the impact on scientific exploration of space, Esa is fully aligned with the sanctions imposed on Russia by its member states."

The British-built Rosalind Franklin Mars rover was due to launch on a Russian rocket in September and land eight months later using Russian hardware.

Last month, Esa said "sanctions and the wider context" on Russia's invasion of Ukraine had put a big question mark next to the mission.

Some £200 million has been raised to help Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, the UK Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) says.

That total includes £25 million matched by the UK government, it says.

Donations to the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal help DEC charities and its partners in Europe.

Sue Inglish, DEC Chair of Trustees, says the response has been "absolutely phenomenal".

"This amazing total shows what's possible when we all come together as charities, as communities, as a country, to help people who are facing unimaginable hardships," she adds.

The appeal raised £55m in a day when it launched this month.

Jessy Kaner
BBC News Russian

Image source, Getty Images

Bestselling Russian crime writer Boris Akunin has predicted the invasion of Ukraine is the endgame for Putin and that Russians must come together to present another, better Russia to the world and do everything they can to help Ukrainian refugees.

Along with dance legend Mikhail Baryshnikov and economist Sergei Guriev, he has launched an initiative to raise money for Ukrainian refugees called TrueRussia.org.

Boris Akunin, whose real name is Grigory Ckhartishvili, is the author of the popular Fandorin detective novels and has lived in the UK since 2014. Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet Union to Canada in 1974 and Sergei Guriev is a Paris economics professor who fled Russia in 2013.

Akunin told the BBC that Ukrainian TV stations were calling him every day to appear on their programmes.

"But now I must talk to Russians. Maybe we can't stop the war, but we can help in the humanitarian crisis, and we must unite and do everything we can to get rid of Putin, so we can rebuild a normal Russia.”

Akunin said all Russians who made good after the fall of the Soviet Union shared responsibility for the current regime and should now deal with the new reality.

“I have the feeling I’m living in a dystopian novel and for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, I’m afraid there’s a real threat of nuclear war.”

Image source, Reuters

Ukrainian journalists are to be given personal protective equipment and training for working in hostile environments by Unesco, the UN agency has said.

Unesco said it would provide an initial batch of 125 sets of bullet-proof vests and helmets to help displaced Ukrainian journalists continue their work and support the free flow of information during war.

It said thousands of journalists were reporting from the ground in Ukraine, many without the necessary protective equipment or training, having been thrust into the role of war correspondent.

The equipment will be distributed from next week by Reporters Without Borders, via its Press Freedom Centre in Lviv, and the International Federation of Journalists, Unesco said.

Audrey Azoulay, director-general of Unesco, said: “Every day, journalists and media workers are risking their lives in Ukraine to provide life-saving information to local populations and inform the world of the reality of this war.

"We are determined to support and protect them in every way possible."

The war in Ukraine has claimed the lives of some journalists. You can read about some of those fatalities here.

Damien McGuinness
BBC News, Berlin

Image source, EPA

Volodymyr Zelensky's virtual address to German MPs today was once again tailored to appeal to his audience with well-chosen historical parallels, as he described a new type of Berlin Wall being built - dividing Europe between freedom and oppression.

His emotive speech to the German parliament, the Bundestag, was heard by some who would have grown up in communist East Germany behind the Berlin Wall.

During the Cold War, Germany's dogged negotiation and engagement with Moscow contributed to the fall of the wall and German reunification.

Since then, Germany has tried to use trade, business and energy links to integrate a peaceful Russia into the West.

But President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine three weeks ago has destroyed many of those aspirations.

Zelensky expressed outrage that some German businesses were still operating in Russia. The controversial - now cancelled - Russian-German gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 was "cement for that new wall" dividing Europe, he said.

Germany's continued reluctance to allow Ukraine into the European Union was "another brick" in that new wall.

• Read more from Damien here

Image source, Reuters

We reported earlier about comments made by US President Joe Biden in which he labelled his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as a "war criminal".

Now, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has urged European leaders to do the same.

"I am appealing to all members of the European Parliament to recognise that Putin is a war criminal, as it has been done in the United States," he told a committee in Brussels via video link.

"It's not simply a war. It's state terror," he said.

His comments come after UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss also said there was "very, very strong evidence" that Putin was a "war criminal".

Experts have warned, however, that such language is likely to escalate diplomatic tensions even further.

Reznikov also repeated calls by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky for a no-fly zone to be implemented to protect his country from air strikes and shelling.

"The longer you hesitate, the more it will be perceived by our children and grandchildren as your complicity in this crime," he said. "So please, make this decision because your electorate will reflect upon your actions."

Image source, Getty Images

We're hearing that US basketball star Brittney Griner's detention in Russia has been extended for another two months, according to Reuters news agency.

It says Russian news agency TASS has reported that the Khimkinsky court of the Moscow region ruled that Griner should remain in prison until 19 May.

The 31-year-old, a centre for the Phoenix Mercury, is believed to have been arrested by Russian authorities on drug charges a month ago after arriving on a flight from the US.

According to Reuters, TASS reported: "The court granted the petition of the investigation and extended the term of US citizen Griner's detention until 19 May."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week that American officials are "doing everything we can" to help her.

Earlier, former US first lady Hillary Clinton joined calls for Griner to be released, tweeting "Free Britney", external and a link to a BBC article about her detention.

Image source, Getty Images

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin could yet meet if the conditions to resolve the conflict are within reach.

Speaking alongside Çavuşoğlu at a joint news conference in the western city of Lviv, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that they had agreed to focus their efforts on setting up a meeting between Putin and Zelensky.

"There is a possibility that the two leaders will meet if there is a ground for an agreement on the issues that we see as rapprochement,” Çavuşoğlu said. "We said yesterday that we would be happy to host."

"It is necessary to prepare the groundwork for a meeting at the level of leaders as soon as possible. We have already announced that we are ready to act as housekeeper for this," he added.

Kuleba told Çavuşoğlu that he hoped Turkey would be "among the countries" that could serve as a guarantor of any peace deal between the states.

Russian TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who interrupted a live Russian news broadcast holding an anti-war sign, said her interrogators could not believe her decision to protest about the war in Ukraine was her own decision.

Speaking to the BBC's Caroline Davies, Ovsyannikova explained that she needed to break free from being a "cog in the Russian propaganda machine," and urged other Russians to resist "Kremlin propaganda."

Image source, PA Media

Survivors are said to be emerging from the ruins of a theatre bombed by Russia in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

Despite pictures of devastation at the scene, many civilians who were sheltering there are thought to have survived in a basement that withstood Wednesday's attack.

For 10 days, that basement was a refuge for Kate, a 38-year-old Mariupol native, and her 17-year-old son.

Their own home, like many others in the besieged city, had been destroyed by Russian attacks, and they thought the Donetsk Regional Theatre of Drama was a place where they would be relatively safe.

Mother and son squeezed into the building's dark rooms, corridors and halls with dozens of other families. Some women, Kate said, carried babies that were just four or five months old.

Kate, who used to work at the city's zoo shop and did not want to give her full name, said: "In the beginning, it was really tough, because we didn't have a well-organised food supply.

"So on the first two days, adults didn't have any food. We gave it only to the children."

Read more.

Bruno Boelpaep
BBC News, Brussels

Image source, Getty Images

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium have decided to host Ukrainian refugees.

The Belgian Royal Palace has confirmed to the BBC that two houses owned by Belgium’s Royal Trust will be made available for three Ukrainian families.

One of the houses is located in Brussels and the other is in the southern region of Wallonia.

A spokesman for the Royal Palace told the BBC that King Philippe had been moved by the testimonies he heard when meeting with Ukrainians, mostly women and children, while visiting a registration centre in Brussels on Wednesday.

The decision to host was announced shortly after the visit.

This is not the first time Belgium’s royal family has shown solidarity with those in need.

Last summer, people who lost their homes in the country’s worst floods in decades were also invited to stay in houses owned by the Royal Trust.

Another building located just outside Brussels will also be made available to serve as collective housing if more space is required.

So far more than 10,000 Ukrainians refugees have registered in Belgium and have been given temporary international protection and a status that allows them to live and work in Belgium for one year.

Belgian authorities estimate 200,000 Ukrainians will arrive in Belgium in the coming weeks.

Image source, STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE / HANDOUT

As many as 53 civilians have reportedly been killed by Russian forces in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv since Wednesday, according to its regional governor, Vyacheslav Chaus.

"The enemy continues systemic artillery and air strikes on the regional centre. They are destroying civilian infrastructure," he reported on the messaging service Telegram.

"We are suffering huge losses. Fifty-three bodies of our citizens were delivered to the city morgues over the past day alone."

Chaus said local authorities were working to restore power, water and gas supplies to parts of the city despite continued shelling.

The governor also announced another round of talks with Russian troops in order to organise a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from the city.

Russian advances across Ukraine have slowed in recent days amid mounting casualties, but attempts to encircle and cut off the capital Kyiv continue.

Image source, .

Russian forces are attempting to encircle and cut off the capital, but large areas around the city remain under Ukrainian control, especially in the south.

Ukrainian generals in the city say they are focused on keeping Russian artillery out of range of the city centre

Image source, .

Russian forces have made rapid gains across the south of the country, pushing east and west from Crimea.

In the south east, civilians remain trapped in Mariupol, a port city of about half a million people, which is encircled by Russian forces and has come under heavy fire.

Image source, .

Fighting continues in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where Russian-backed separatists held significant territory before the Russian invasion.

In the north east, Russian troops have almost surrounded the city of Sumy, bombed vital infrastructure and cut off supply routes.

Dominic Casciani
Legal Correspondent

Image source, Sergei Orlov

US President Joe Biden has called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" when discussing the conflict in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson have both previously accused Russia of carrying out war crimes.

It may not seem like it, but "even war has rules", external, as the International Committee of the Red Cross puts it.

These are contained in treaties called the Geneva Conventions and a string of other international laws and agreements.

Among the rules of war are that civilians cannot be deliberately attacked - nor can the infrastructure that is vital to their survival.

Some weapons are banned, external because of the indiscriminate or appalling suffering they cause - such as anti-personnel landmines and chemical or biological weapons.

Read more here.

Image source, SES of Ukraine

The mayor of the eastern city of Merefa has accused Russian troops of shelling a residential area in the city, destroying a school, cultural centre and several private properties.

Veniamin Sitov told local media that the strike occurred around 03:30 local time (01:30 GMT) and said that there were no civilian casualties, but claimed several soldiers had been killed.

"The centre of the culture house was hit, there was nothing left of it," Sitov said.

"There were people in it. Thank God there are no casualties among civilians, there are among the military. Civilians managed to run out of the destruction, the military were sent to the hospital. The fire at the school continues to be extinguished," he added.

Merefa sits just outside Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv, which has faced almost daily bombardment from Russian forces since the conflict began.

We have some more detail now on news that the UK will deploy its Sabre anti-air missile system to Nato ally Poland, along with 100 troops.

The troops are to be sent on a short deployment of three to six months.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the Sabre missile system was being sent to protect Polish airspace and was purely for defensive purposes.

The US and Germany have already sent air defence systems to Nato's eastern flank.

The BBC's defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said it was part of a heightened military stance to defend allies following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.