Image source, Getty Images

Ukraine's president was given a standing ovation for his 10-minute address to Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, even though he delivered some sharp words to his audience.

Appealing to MPs to help stop Russia's war, he drew on Germany's own experience, both from World War Two and the fall of Communism.

He spoke of the 108 children killed since the invasion began and said every year politicians remembered the Holocaust and said "never again - and now we see those words are worthless".

Ukraine had repeatedly turned to Germany before the war to limit economic ties with Russia, he reminded MPs, but instead Berlin had helped Russia erect a wall "between freedom and bondage". "Tear down this wall," he said.

After he finished, the Bundestag moved swiftly on to a debate about compulsory Covid vaccinations. One opposition MP, Sepp Müller, complained that bombs were falling on theatres where children were sheltering and, instead of having a proper debate, the government was going back to "business as usual".

Here's what you need to know if you're catching up this lunchtime:

• Ukraine has accused Russian forces of bombing a theatre where civilians were sheltering in the besieged southern city of Mariupol.
• Authorities in Ukraine also say at least 107 children have been killed since the start of the invasion
• Some 1.95 million people have fled Ukraine to Poland since the war began, the Polish Border Guard agency said.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Germany for its assistance during an address in Berlin, but told lawmakers their support "came too late to stop war".
• The Kremlin has said Russia's negotiators are putting colossal energy into talks to reach a potential peace deal with Ukraine.
• The Russian state TV journalist who staged an anti-war protest during a live bulletin has told the BBC she "could not remain on the sidelines".
• The UK is to deploy the Sky Sabre missile system in Poland, along with 100 troops, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said.

• And Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told the BBC there is "very, very strong evidence" that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a "war criminal", after comments made by US President Joe Biden.

Image source, Getty

The war in Ukraine could cut global economic growth by more than one percentage point in the first year after the invasion, according to a new report.

The Organisation for Economic Development (OECD) says the impact could also cause a "deep recession" in Russia if it is sustained.

Although Russia and Ukraine only make up a small percentage of the global economy, they are huge producers of raw materials.

The OECD also warns that the conflict could push up prices globally by about 2.5%.

Costs were already going up due to increased demand as Covid restrictions ease.

It comes as the Bank of England raises UK interest rates to 0.75%, citing concerns the war in Ukraine will push prices up further.

Read our global trade correspondent Dharshini David's full analysis here.

Image source, Reuters

More from Russian journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who says she hoped her televised protest - in which she held a handwritten sign saying "no war" - would encourage people to question local media reports.

"To the Russians, I wanted to show you are zombified by this Kremlin propaganda, stop believing it. Stop listening to the Kremlin channels," she tells the BBC.

"Learn to look for information, analyse it. Western sources, Ukrainian sources, I understand it’s very hard in the conditions of an information war to find alternative information, but you need to try to look for it."

Ovsyannikova, an editor at Russia's state-controlled Channel One broadcaster, was detained and questioned for 14 hours following her stunt on Monday.

She adds that conspiracy theories were "building up about me", which she claims were "set up by the FSB [Russian secret service]".

We'll bring you video of Ovsyannikova's interview with our Moscow correspondent Caroline Davies later.

The Russian state TV journalist who staged an anti-war protest during a live bulletin tells the BBC she "could not remain on the sidelines".

"I really wanted to show the western audience that Russians are against war. Not all Russians are like this," Marina Ovsyannikova says.

Ovsyannikova, who was fined 30,000 roubles (£213) under Russia's protest laws, said she knew she would be arrested.

Image source, Oksana Tura

The last time UK-based Oksana Tura spoke to her parents in Mariupol was 1 March when she tried to persuade them to leave and go somewhere safe. She hasn't been able to contact them since.

"I don’t know how they would get out, the bridges have been blown up, they have one vehicle but mum has had a stroke and she’s not agile or able to run.

"I pray they are safe but I feel helpless."

The West Midlands teaching assistant said: "It’s a tragedy, the city seems to have been left to its own devices, no-one is giving us the true picture of what is happening there.

"If people are running, screaming in terror around them, where would they go?

"But I have to believe they are in good hands, that people are looking after them, because people do have good hearts.

"That thought is the only thing keeping me going and giving me hope.”

Image source, .

Speaking about the deployment of Sky Sabre, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace pointed out it was the UK's newest medium-range air defence missile.

In December, the government announced it was replacing the Rapier system.

Sky Sabre is the same missile type that Poland is developing for future use, said Wallace, who was speaking following talks with his Polish counterpart, Mariusz Blaszczak.

He added: “I hope this sends a message to the Kremlin that don’t doubt us for one second that we will stand together, stand up for our values and defend our friends such as Poland from any further aggression."

Image source, Getty Images

The Kremlin has said Russia's negotiators are putting colossal energy into talks to reach a potential peace deal with Ukraine.

But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov criticised inaction on the part of Kyiv's delegation, saying "we do not see a similar zeal from the Ukrainian side".

He added that while elements of a potential 15-point peace deal revealed by the Financial Times, external on Wednesday "are on the agenda", overall the report was incorrect.

Peskov also attacked a ruling at the International Court of Justice, which ordered Russia to halt its invasion of Ukraine. He said the court had not seen any evidence to support the Kremlin’s justification for the war and that Ukraine was committing genocide against Russian-speakers in the east of the country.

He said Russia "will not be able to take this decision into account," adding that both parties - Russia and Ukraine - must agree for the ruling to be implemented.

Echoing comments made by President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday night, Peskov attacked some Russian citizens, who he said have shown themselves to be "traitors", pointing to those resigning from their jobs and fleeing the country.

"In such difficult times... many people show their true colours," Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

Liz Truss says more than 100,000 people have signed up to be part of the government's Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Under the scheme, each household housing a refugee will be offered £350 a month, tax-free.

The foreign secretary says "it is not possible" for her to take in a refugee because of her job and family.

"But I do admire those who have put themselves forward and we've seen an incredible response," she tells BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

At least 107 children have been killed and more than 120 have been wounded since Russia invaded Ukraine, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office says.

Most of the fatalities were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kherson, Mykolayiv and Zhytomyr regions.

Over 410 educational institutions have been damaged by shelling, and 63 of them fully destroyed, it says.

At least 11 hospitals have been shelled, it adds.

The West "didn't do enough early enough" to stop Vladimir Putin, Liz Truss tells BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour - dating back to his actions in the Donbas region in Ukraine and in Syria.

"There was too much complacency. We didn't do enough to challenge Vladimir Putin and we're now seeing these horrendous crimes taking place that violate international law," she says.

She says the UK has "led" efforts to supply weapons to Ukraine and impose sanctions on Russia.

She says she wants to see tougher sanctions when it comes to banks, as well as oil and gas.

"If he succeeds in Ukraine we're likely to see even further devastation right across eastern Europe," she adds.

We heard a moment ago from UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who said the UK was deploying the Sky Sabre anti-air missile system to Poland, along with 100 troops, to protect Polish airspace from "further aggression by Russia".

Poland is a member of the Nato military alliance the UK is also part of.

But what is Sky Sabre?

Described by the UK government as a "a state-of-the-art air defence system", it is said to be capable of hitting a tennis ball-sized object travelling at the speed of sound.

According to the British Army, the system includes three components: a 3D surveillance radar, a battle management and intelligence suite and a missile launcher.

It fires 99kg missiles that can reach speeds of up to 2,300 mph.

In practice, it will give Poland the ability to defend itself from jet fighters, missiles and bombs.

Image source, Getty Images

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has been speaking at a news conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Stoltenberg told reporters that "President Putin's war against Ukraine has shattered peace and shocked the world".

He paid tribute to Kyiv's forces and pledged to continue supporting them "to uphold the right to self-defence enshrined in the UN charter".

He commended Germany for its military and humanitarian support of Ukraine, and while he noted that "Nato has a responsibility to prevent this war from escalating further," he warned members of the security bloc that "we cannot take peace and security for granted".

"Yesterday, defence ministers started considering what we must do to reinforce our defence and deterrence for the longer term. This will require major increases to defence investment," Stoltenberg said.

Meanwhile, Scholz said that Germany has increased funding for its armed forces to ensure "that Nato is capable of fulfilling its duties and mandate".

More now on news the UK will deploy the Sky Sabre missile system and 100 troops in Poland.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace made the announcement on Thursday during a visit to Warsaw.

It comes as Nato moves to bolster the security of its eastern flank following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Wallace told a news conference: "We are going to deploy the Sky Sabre medium-range, anti-air missile system to Poland with about 100 personnel to make sure that we stand alongside Poland, protecting her airspace from any further aggression by Russia."

The UK is to deploy the Sky Sabre missile system in Poland, along with 100 troops, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said.

Earlier this week, at least 35 people were killed in a Russian airstrike on the Yavoriv training base, near a major crossing point into Poland used by refugees from the conflict.

We'll bring you more details when we have them.

Image source, Getty Images

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says there is "very, very strong evidence" that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a "war criminal".

US President Joe Biden described Russian leader Vladimir Putin as such in a move likely to escalate diplomatic tensions even further.

Asked about the comment on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Truss says she didn't think it was a mistake to have said it.

"There's very, very strong evidence that he is," she says.

"There's very, very strong evidence that war crimes have been committed and that Vladimir Putin is behind them."

She says: "It's ultimately a matter for the International Criminal Court to decide who is and isn't a war criminal and for us to bring the evidence and the best thing we can do at the moment, which is what we're doing."

She says the UK is "collecting that evidence on the ground to make sure Vladimir Putin is held to account for these crimes".

Image source, Getty Images

One of Russia's wealthiest oligarch's has said that sanctions will not deter Vladimir Putin from continuing with his invasion of Ukraine, warning the West that it is failing to understand how power in Moscow works.

Mikhail Fridman, the owner of Alfa Bank, told Bloomberg news that trying to force, external Russia's oligarchs to put pressure on Putin is an unrealistic aim.

“If the people who are in charge in the EU believe that because of sanctions, I could approach Mr. Putin and tell him to stop the war, and it will work, then I’m afraid we’re all in big trouble," Fridman said.

"That means those who are making this decision understand nothing about how Russia works. And that’s dangerous for the future.”

Fridman, who has been sanctioned by the UK and EU, said it is unlikely that anyone in Putin's orbit could discuss ending the war with him.

“The power distance between Mr Putin and anybody else is like the distance between the Earth and the cosmos,” Fridman said. "To say anything to Putin against the war, for anybody, would be kind of suicide.”

You can read more here about the Russian oligarchs facing global sanctions.

The bombing of the Mariupol theatre where people were sheltering from the shelling "looks to be specific targeting of civilian infrastructure" and a "self-evident breach of international humanitarian law", the UK's Foreign Office minister says.

Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain, James Cleverley said it is important to collect evidence of these actions so that those responsible, "whether they are battlefield commanders, right up to the top of the organisation, can be held accountable once this war is concluded."

Pressed on whether he thought the bombing of the shelter "looked like a war crime", Cleverley replied: "As I say, the targeting of civilian infrastructure is against international humanitarian law and the law of armed conflict.

"Ultimately it is for international courts and tribunals to make the formal decision but self-evidently, this is civilian infrastructure which we've seen had the word 'kids' painted in Russian outside of this building.

"This looks to be targeting, this looks to be specific targeting of civilian infrastructure and, as I say, that is a self-evident breach of international law and the law of armed conflict."

You can read more about the theatre bombing here.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says the return of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori to the UK from Iran is "completely separate" from the conflict in Ukraine.

"Of course the war in Ukraine is a very, very serious issue - but this is a completely separate issue about our longstanding debt to Iran and, of course, about the unfairly detained British citizens," she tells BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

Britain and Iran's interests have come closer together in recent weeks, during the conflict, writes our diplomatic correspondent, James Landale.

"If sanctions can be lifted and Iran can start selling its oil again, that could help reduce global energy prices," he writes.

"That is in the interests of both the UK and Iran. In that context, both sides might want to clear the diplomatic decks and make a deal more likely."

Image source, Getty Images

Peace talks are a "great thing" but the West must not become "distracted" by them, says Gen Sir Nick Parker, former commander of land forces in the British Army.

Gen Parker, who has advised Ukraine’s Minister of Defence, tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The reality is that a sovereign country has been invaded and every day we're seeing scenes of devastation and death."

He says that while the West may wish for Russia's fight to "diminish", the country has "taken batterings before".

He said western powers should therefore "be planning for the worst case and then developing options based on that".

"We need to have a clear plan that accepts that we're not going to have a no-fly zone, that accepts that we're not actually going to put our troops into Ukraine, but is going to co-ordinate this broader response," he says.

"So that we create the conditions that allows Ukraine to go back to its original borders, which must be our objective."