Image source, Facebook

More now from the Ukrainian president, who delivered a late night video address.

President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Russia's incessant bombing of Mariupol, the port city encircled by Russian troops in the south-east.

He claimed Russian forces in the city would "go down in history" as being responsible for "war crimes".

“To do this to a peaceful city, what the occupiers did, is a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come,” he said.

For more than two weeks now, the city has seen frequent bombing which has cut off all electricity, gas, running water and other supplies.

Russian strikes have hit civilian shelters, a children and maternity hospital, and several residential buildings. On Wednesday a bomb fell on a theatre where hundreds of people had taken refuge.

More than 2,400 people are said to have been killed in the city; there are mass graves and bodies on the street.

Russian forces have advanced deeper into the city. Along with the aerial shelling, there's also now reports of intense fighting on the streets.

On Saturday, a senior UK defence official told the BBC Russia is using a strategy of attrition in Ukraine.

Ukraine authorities say they've managed to move 71 children from a baby orphanage in Sumy to a safer area. The infants had been sheltering in a bunker for the past weeks.

Russian troops have encircled the city in the north-east and there's been shelling this week.

"With the first opportunity to evacuate through the humanitarian corridor, we took the children out of the specialised orphanage in the combat zone," said Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, the region's governor.

He shared photos of the children on Facebook.

"These are children who do not have parents (for various reasons) and most of them need constant medical attention."

He said some remained under the care of hospital staff.

Image source, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi

Image source, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi

Image source, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi

In its daily morning update, Ukraine's military says that rather than launching fresh offensives, Russian forces were largely focused on replenishing their losses and repairing damaged equipment throughout Saturday.

It also accused Russia of "deliberately creating conditions for a humanitarian crisis" in the areas its forces were occupying, by preventing an aid convoy from reaching Kherson last night.

In an earlier post, the military claimed to have restored its line of defence in the south in several areas, and said that it had successfully halted a Russian offensive near Izyum in the east.

The BBC cannot independently verify these claims.

Image source, Getty Images

Ukraine on Saturday called on China to join the West in condemning the invasion of its ally, Russia.

There is no indication that China is about to abandon Russia. Beijing has sought to keep a diplomatic distance from the conflict, choosing to abstain in a UN vote condemning Russia's invasion.

And in fact, not long after Zelensky's call, a senior Chinese government official said that sanctions imposed by Western nations on Russia over Ukraine were increasingly "outrageous".

Moscow has asked China for military equipment in support of its invasion of Ukraine, according to US official quoted in media reports. China says this is untrue and has called the reports "disinformation".

But what else can China offer its ally, especially as sanctions start to bite Moscow?

China is one of the biggest markets for Russian oil, gas and coal.

Read more here: What military and economic support could China offer Russia?

Russia is only making limited advances in its invasion of Ukraine with its initial offensive, the Institute for the Study of War has said. The US-based think-tank completed an assessment on the successfulness of Russia's early offensive campaign. Here some of the key findings, external by the research institute:

• Conditions are being set for the war throughout most of Ukraine to become a stalemate that could last for weeks or months
• The more protracted the stalemate, the more deadly it could become
• Small groups of Russian troops are focused on localised fighting, rather than launching a large-scale operation
• If Mariupol does fall to the Russians, it is unlikely to free up troops for the wider campaign, due to scale of damage inflicted by the Ukrainian defenders
• Russian forces will likely capture Mariupol or force the city to capitulate within the coming weeks

• The Russians have likely abandoned plans to encircle Kyiv from the west or to assault to seize the city from the west in the near future
• They are instead likely seeking to set conditions for an expanded artillery and missile bombardment of Kyiv by moving into effective artillery range of its centre
• Continued and expanded support of Ukraine by Western nations will be vital

It is nearly 7am in Ukraine, and BBC correspondents in the western city of Lviv have reported hearing air sirens in the past hour - followed by the all clear signal.

Residents in many other cities and regions across Ukraine have also been woken up by air sirens, in what has become a daily occurrence. These include the capital Kyiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia, according to local media.

Image source, Ukrainian presidency

Ukraine's president has announced restrictions on the activities of 11 political parties in the country, including some accused of having ties to the Russian state.

In a video address uploaded overnight, President Volodymyr Zelensky listed several names, including Opposition Platform - For Life, one of the largest pro-Russian parties with representatives in Ukraine's parliament.

Other restricted parties include Opposition Bloc, Party of Sharia, Ours, Left Opposition, Union of Left Forces, State, Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, Socialist party Ukraine, Socialists, and Vladimir Saldo Bloc.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Justice would act immediately to enforce the ban, which Mr Zelensky said would last for as long as martial law remains in place.

Image source, Instagram / Beton

A Ukrainian punk band has rewritten the lyrics to The Clash's 1979 hit London Calling in an effort to raise money for the war effort.

"Kyiv calling to the whole world...come out of neutrality, you boys and girls," the three members of Beton sing in the new version.

The self-described "punk-hardcore" group's three members - comprising an architect, orthopaedist and businessman - said they recorded the track in the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, and that members of The Clash supported the cover.

If you're just joining our live page, welcome. This is Tessa Wong and Frances Mao in Singapore, and Leo Sands in London, bringing you the latest developments on Ukraine. Here's a quick recap:

• Mariupol city officials say several thousand residents have been forcibly taken by Russian forces to Russian cities over the past week - the BBC has yet to confirm this claim
• Mariupol has been under intense bombing all week and locals there remain trapped with no electricity, gas or running water in some areas
• Russian forces have advanced into the southern city, where the mayor told the BBC that street fighting was also hindering efforts to rescue survivors trapped under a theatre that was shelled on Wednesday
• On Saturday a Russia missile also struck a military barracks where 200 soldiers were sleeping – in what’s believed to be one of the deadliest rocket strikes in this war
• Ukrainian PM Zelensky again urged for Russia to commit to meaningful peace negotiations
• Ukraine also called on China to take a stand against Russia’s aggression. The UK PM similarly pressed Beijing.
• But a senior Chinese government official says that sanctions imposed by Western nations on Russia are increasingly "outrageous”
• More than two million Ukrainians have fled to Poland, of about 3.3 million refugees so far
• The UN's human rights office says at least 847 civilians, including 64 children, have been killed in Ukraine since the invasion began, mostly by shelling and airstrikes

BBC Monitoring

Some 1,500 media outlets spreading Russian propaganda have been blocked in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency said over the weekend.

It quoted the National Police saying: "We have managed to block a total of 1,500 outlets of the aggressor.

"The blocked channels had an estimated audience of 15 million people.

"In addition, 3,178 publications justifying war crimes and the deaths of Ukrainian civilians have been taken down."

The police added that outlets and publications had been blocked following complaints filed by Ukrainian web users on the Telegram channels set up by the Ukrainian cyber-police, StopRussiaChannel and StopDrugsBot.

Image source, Reuters

A refugee from Mariupol, in eastern Ukraine, has recalled his family's escape from the besieged city, after shelling hit the area of the basement they were sheltering in.

Oleksandr Bezimov and his family fled to Lviv, in the west of the country. He told Reuters new agency "When the artillery sound is non-stop, when planes fly over all night and bombard the city, it is very loud, it feels very nervous".

Oleksandr escaped with his wife and stepdaughter, but he hasn't seen his son since 2 March.

"The outskirts of the city were simply destroyed. And then I realised there were no safe places in the city anymore," he continued.

As many 300,000 civilians are unable to evacuate Mariupol, after Russian troops made their way through armoured columns that were protecting the city.

In footage filmed by Oleksandr, apartment buildings devastated by the bombardment can be seen.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Pope Francis has made a surprise visit to Ukrainian war refugees being treated at the Vatican's children's hospital in Rome.

About 50 children from Ukraine have been treated at the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital since the war began.

Nineteen are currently patients there. Some had fled Ukraine in the early days of the war and had neurological conditions or cancer, while others were being treated for "serious blast wounds" the Vatican said.

"Let us pray for them... the children at the Bambino Gesu wounded by war," Pope Francis said earlier on Saturday as he addressed a children's choir.

Yolande Knell
BBC Middle East correspondent, Jerusalem

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to deliver a video address to members of the Israeli Parliament on Sunday.

Israel has appeared unwilling to be seen siding too closely with Ukraine as it tries to keep working relations with Russia and act as a mediator in the conflict.

Zelensky has already spoken to other lawmakers around the world - including in the UK and the US - asking for support.

With Israel’s parliament currently in recess and the building under renovation, the plan is for him to address members on a specially-secured Zoom call. The speech will be simultaneously shown on a big screen in a square in Tel Aviv.

Reports suggest Zelensky will invoke his Jewishness and compare his country’s efforts to fight back against Russia’s invasion to World War Two and Nazi Germany.

Israel has attempted to remain relatively neutral in this conflict. While Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has condemned the Russian invasion, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett - who’s been trying to act as a go-between - has pointedly refrained from doing so.

Allan Little
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Several factors must now be alarming Vladimir Putin, beyond the state of his own armed forces.

One of these will be the resilience of the Ukrainian defence. Did Putin really expect the Russian-speaking people of Ukraine to welcome his troops as liberators?

But his biggest miscalculation has been to underestimate the resolve of the West.

Almost overnight, Germany has transformed its attitude to its role in the world.

The country, along with the rest of the democratic world, will now move to end its dependence on Russian gas. We are seeing a root-and-branch redrawing of the map of global energy distribution, aimed at cutting Russia out of it.

No-one expected the West to sanction the Russian Central Bank. Already, the rouble has collapsed and interest rates have doubled.

No other major economy has ever been subjected to a package of sanctions this punitive. It amounts to the expulsion of Russia from the global economy.

Read more from Allan here.

Australian has banned exports of alumina and aluminum ores, including bauxite, to Russia as new sanctions take effect over to the military invasion of Ukraine.

"Russia relies on Australia for nearly 20% of its alumina needs," the Australian government said. It added that the move will limit Russia's capacity to produce aluminium, which is a critical export for Russia.

Australia has so far imposed a total of 476 sanctions on 443 individuals, including businessmen close to Vladimir Putin, as well as 33 entities, a statement said.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has just entered its 25th day. Here are some photos from Saturday as the war rages on.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

President Zelensky used a speech to a rally in Switzerland on Saturday to criticise Swiss firms that have chosen to carry on doing business with Russia.

In a video message screened outside the Swiss parliament, Zelensky singled out the food giant Nestle.

The company's slogan is "good food, good life", he said.

"Business works in Russia even though our children are dying and our cities are being destroyed," he said, while people in Mariupol were "without food, without water, without electricity, under bombardment".

In response, a Nestle spokesperson told the BBC that company has "taken unprecedented steps to significantly scale back our operations in Russia, including stopping all imports and exports from the country except for essential food items".

"In line with the actions of other international food companies, we have taken the difficult decision to continue to provide essential food and beverages to the Russian people and we will continue to support our employees in Russia," the statement continues.

"Continuing to supply essential items to people in Russia does not mean we continue doing business as usual in the country," it said, adding that Nestle is making no investments in the country and is taking no actions to promote the sale of its products.

"Our operations are not generating any profit in the country," it added.

Russia is failing to gain control of Ukraine airspace - one of Moscow's principal objectives, the UK defence ministry says.

The ministry's latest intelligence update says Russia "has failed to gain control of the air and is largely relying on stand-off weapons" launched from Russian airspace.

"Gaining control of the air was one of Russia's principal objectives for the opening days of the conflict and their continued failure to do so has significantly blunted their operational progress," the ministry says.

Image source, Getty Images

Ukraine has just entered the early hours of Sunday morning and day 25 of the war. If you're just joining us, or catching up on the latest events, here are some of the recent developments from Russia's invasion of Ukraine:

• The mayor of Mariupol says there are intense street battles in the city centre hampering efforts to rescue the hundreds of people still trapped in the basement of a bombed theatre. Russian forces have encircled the southern port city, which has faced days of heavy bombardment
• He also says several thousand residents from the besieged city have been sent to Russia
• Russian air raids on Mykolaiv have been taking place throughout the day. It comes a day after a deadly strike on a military barracks in the southern Ukrainian city, where about 200 soldiers are reported to have been sleeping
• Ukraine called on China to take a stand against Russia's aggression. But a senior Chinese government official says that sanctions imposed by Western nations on Russia are increasingly "outrageous"
• Ukraine's President Zelensky has urged Switzerland to crack down on Russian elites and told the country's banks to freeze their funds
• The UN's human rights office says at least 847 civilians, including 64 children, have been killed in Ukraine since the invasion began, mostly by shelling and airstrikes. But it says the true total is likely to be much higher
• More than 3.3 million refugees have fled Ukraine across the western border, and around two million more are displaced within the country, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says

Image source, EPA

A private jet has been grounded in the UK, while "possible Russian links" are investigated, transport secretary Grant Shapps has said.

Shapps said ministers were taking action against the Russian president Vladimir Putin and his "illegal war" in Ukraine, by banning all aircrafts owned, operated or chartered by Russians from flying to or landing in the UK.

The jet, which is registered in Luxembourg, had landed in Farnborough, a town about 55km southwest of London, after flying from the US on 3 March. UK officials believe Eugene Shvidler, an oil tycoon, was a passenger.

The Department for Transport said it would not comment on any links to individuals while it investigated the issue further.