Image source, Getty Images

Thousands of Khakiv residents in Ukraine have taken shelter in subway stations in the north-eastern city, and some of them have been there since the start of the invasion.

Ten million people have now fled their homes in Ukraine because of the Russian invasion, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Tom Bateman
BBC Middle East correspondent

These are the first face-to-face talks in more than two weeks and there is a hurried feel to them. The Russians landed last night and the Ukrainian delegation even later, after what they called logistical delays.

Turkey’s leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, held a phone call a day earlier with his Russian counterpart. He has been trying to position his country as the key mediator and in the call, he urged the Kremlin to agree a ceasefire.

But hopes are not high.

The discussions are between Russian and Ukrainian presidential advisers, not matching the level of foreign ministers who met in Turkey for failed peace negotiations earlier this month. They will pick up where the delegations' near-daily video calls have left off.

Ukraine's president has said he is willing to consider neutrality (meaning Ukraine would not ally itself militarily with others), but not before a referendum, or the withdrawal of Russian troops.

That still puts a gulf between his position and Russia’s demands. Even hopes for new humanitarian corridors seem dim after Ukraine decided against implementing them due to fears of attacks by Russian forces.

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators are meeting in Turkey for face-to-face talks for the first time in two weeks, with Kyiv seeking a ceasefire without giving up territory or sovereignty.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said of the talks in Istanbul: "We are not trading people, land or sovereignty."

"The minimum programme will be humanitarian questions, and the maximum programme is reaching an agreement on a ceasefire," he said on national television.

But Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko said that he doubted there would be any breakthrough.

A senior US State Department official cast similar doubt on hopes for progress, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin did not appear ready to make compromises to end the war.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said talks so far had not yielded any substantial progress, but it was important they continued in person. He declined to give more information.

If you're just joining us, welcome. Here are the latest developments:

• Russian and Ukrainian delegations have arrived in Istanbul for the first talks in weeks. Ukraine says its priority is to negotiate a ceasefire, but both the US and Ukraine have also expressed scepticism about Russia's intentions

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded overnight for world powers to toughen sanctions on Russia, including an oil embargo
• Air raid sirens sounded before dawn on Tuesday, while officials say exit routes from some cities are blocked by Russian attacks

• Sources close to the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich say he suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning at peace talks earlier this month. He has now recovered. Two Ukrainian peace negotiators were also said to have been affected
• US President Joe Biden has said he won’t “walk back” his controversial comment that Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”. Biden said he was exprressing the "moral outrage that I feel", rather than "articulating a policy change"
• The UK's Ministry of Defence believes that mercenaries from Russia's Wagner group have been sent to eastern Ukraine, with an estimated 1,000 personnel on the way
• A senior US defence official confirmed that Ukraine has managed to retake the town of Trostyanets near Sumy and that Russia's advance on Kyiv has stalled amid a shift in focus towards the eastern Donbas region

And with that, this is Jude Sheerin and Bernd Debusmann signing off from Washington DC. Our colleagues Tessa Wong and Zubaidah Abduljalil in Singapore will continue to update you with the latest developments.

Sean Penn says he is in Ukraine to help with charity programmes for refugees.

In a tweet posted to his official account on Monday afternoon, the actor was pictured alongside the head of Lviv's regional administration, Maxim Kozitsky.

At the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, Penn was in the capital, Kyiv, filming a documentary.

Since then, his charitable organisation has been working to provide housing and education for Ukrainian refugees in Poland.

Earlier this week, Penn threatened to smelt his Oscar awards if Ukraine's president was not invited to address the event in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Some pre-schools in Ukraine have reopened for the first time since the war broke out.

Solomiia Boikovych, who runs a network of kindergartens in Ukraine, said teachers and pupils have been practising drills for when air raid sirens sound "so the kids would know what to do and what rules to follow".

"We had to practise that in real life - I was there when the kids were going down to the shelter and there were no negative emotions, no panic," she said.

The children saw it as a game and started to play in the shelter, just as they had above ground, she added.

One of the kindergartens that opened in the shelter has a play area, a book corner and arts centre, she said.

"Before the war started we had already prepared lots of water, some food, sleeping bags," Boikovych added.

She said education had been hugely disrupted for all Ukrainian children.

"We need some time - we do not have any books with recommendations of what to do when war comes in the 21st Century."

Image source, Getty Images

A Ukrainian delegation has arrived in Istanbul, Turkey for peace talks with their Russian counterparts.

The delegation is led by Ukraine's defence minister, Oleksii Reznikov, as well as Mikhail Podolyak, the head of the president's office.

The group says their top priority is to secure a ceasefire, although there is scepticism about whether this is likely.

The face-to-face talks, the first in more than two weeks,will be hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:00 local time (07:00 GMT) on Tuesday.

Among other things, Russia is demanding that Ukraine abandon any intention of joining Nato - an issue Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he is willing to compromise on.

Other thorny issues expected to be discussed include the fate of separatist-held regions in Ukraine's east, as well as the status of Crimea, which was formally annexed by Russia in 2014.

The biggest issue is that of territorypublished at 01:58 British Summer Time 29 March 2022

01:58 BST 29 March 2022

Lyse Doucet
Chief International Correspondent, Kyiv

There will be no real progress at the negotiating table until President Putin makes more progress with the territory.

In other words, until he achieves what the defence ministry says is his main priority: the Donbas – the liberation of eastern Ukraine, as the ministry puts it, and a land corridor connecting that area with the Crimean peninsula.

When it comes to neutrality, we've been hearing from Turkish and Israeli mediators for some time that they believe Putin and President Zelensky are more realistic now.

The biggest issue is the issue of territory. Zelensky has said Russian forces should withdraw to the positions they were in before the invasion began on 24 February. Then he said we can discuss a compromise.

But, right now, it doesn't seem that Putin is ready to make a compromise. And, quite frankly, everyone I speak to here - with this war and with these sirens - are not ready to compromise on territory.

Image source, Gett

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces says that Russian units in the country have been left "disoriented" and "weakened" after facing stiff resistance.

In a daily operational update, the general staff said that a large part of the Russian force deployed inside Ukraine "is cut off from logistics".

"The command of the Russian occupying forces is trying to compensate for the decline in the combat potential of the enemy's units by indiscriminate artillery fire and rocket-bomb attacks, thus destroying the infrastructure of Ukrainian cities," the update said.

The general staff also said that Ukrainian forces were continuing to mount an effective defence across the country, and had retaken two settlements - Kamyanka and Topolske - from the Russians.

Earlier in the day, a senior US defence official said Russia's advance on Kyiv had largely stalled as it refocused efforts in the eastern region of Donbas.

Here's US President Joe Biden earlier clarifying his remark in Poland on Saturday that Putin shouldn't remain in power.

The comment ricocheted around the world, rattling US allies, triggering a swift clarification from the White House, and prompting America's top diplomat to emphasise there was no US policy of regime change in Russia.

But on Monday Biden said: "It's ridiculous. Nobody believes that I was talking about taking down Putin."

Here's a photo below of talking points that Biden was holding at the White House podium.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

More than 1,000 people were evacuated from humanitarian corridors in Ukraine on Sunday, according to the deputy head of the president's office.

In an online post, Kyrylo Tymoshenko said that a total of 1,099 people were evacuated, including 586 who left the besieged port city of Mariupol by car and 513 who were evacuated from the Luhansk region.

Earlier on Monday, the UN's humanitarian co-ordinator in Ukraine, Osnat Lubrani, said that "guaranteed safe passage" for civilians is crucial to allow humanitarian aid to reach those in need.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says he has directed the body's humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths "to explore with the parties involved" the possibility of a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine.

Image source, Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has prodded Western nations to toughen sanctions on Russia, including an oil embargo.

In his nightly video address, he harshly criticised the “passive” nature of some sanctions, saying the world cannot wait for Russian actions to respond.

Zelensky lamented that “strong preventive sanctions”, if they had been adopted by world powers earlier, might have prevented the invasion.

He slapped his hand on the table at times to press his point during the seven-minute address:

"A full-scale war has begun," Zelensky said. "Now there are many hints and warnings that supposedly tougher sanctions, such as an embargo on Russian oil supplies to Europe, will be put in place if Russia uses chemical weapons.

"There are simply no words. We, people who are alive, have to wait. Doesn't everything the Russia military has done to date warrant an oil embargo? Don't phosphorous bombs warrant it? A shelled chemical production facility or a shelled nuclear power plant doesn't warrant it?"

Zelensky said he plans to address the parliaments of several countries this week to urge them to provide more weapons.

“Ukrainians should not die just because someone cannot find enough courage to hand over the necessary weapons,” he said.

"Fear always makes you an accomplice."

Image source, Reuters

Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun says people are "pessimistic" about the latest peace talks, which are due to be held in Istanbul on Tuesday.

"I'm very much afraid we shall have to deal with this militarily," she says.

She also says making any deals with Russia right now "would compromise Ukraine's territorial integrity".

Sovsun points out Ukraine did receive "a lot of military aid", adding "we are grateful for that".

She says the country has mainly been given anti-tank weapons, which have allowed Ukrainian forces to destroy up to half of the Russian tanks that have been sent to the country.

But she highlights the need for other weapons like "the longer range weapon that can be used to destroy artillery that is now killing people in Mariupol" and any equipment "to help us cover the sky".

If you're just joining us, here are the latest developments from the war in Ukraine:

• Sources close to the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich say he suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning at peace talks earlier this month. He has now recovered. Two Ukrainian peace negotiators were also said to have been affected
• US President Joe Biden has said he won’t “walk back” his controversial comment that Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”. Biden said he was exprressing the "moral outrage that I feel", rather than "articulating a policy change"
• The UK's Ministry of Defence believes that mercenaries from Russia's Wagner group have been sent to eastern Ukraine, with an estimated 1,000 personnel on the way
• A senior US defence official confirmed that Ukraine has managed to retake the town of Trostyanets near Sumy and that Russia's advance on Kyiv has stalled amid a shift in focus towards the eastern Donbas region.

In an interview with the Economist, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the UK has been more keen to supply weapons to Ukraine than some other countries.

"To be honest, [Boris] Johnson is a leader who is helping more. The leaders of countries react according to how their constituents act. In this case, Johnson is an example," he said.

"Britain wants Ukraine to win and Russia to lose, but I’m not ready to say whether Britain wants the war to drag on or not," he added.

Image source, .

Image source, Getty Images

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and offered "his full support" to Ukraine.

According to a Downing Street spokesperson, the two leaders discussed the "appalling humanitarian situation" in Mariupol, where heavy fighting has raged between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Johnson's offer of support included humanitarian support and more defensive equipment, the spokesperson added.

"The prime minister reiterated the UK would maintain and strengthen economic pressure on Putin's regime," the spokesperson added.

Zelensky provided an update on negotiations, they said.

Russia has deployed mercenaries from the infamous Wagner Group to eastern Ukraine, the UK's Ministry of Defence says.

In its latest operational update, the MoD said that the group is expected to deploy more than 1,000 personnel - including senior leaders of the group - to "undertake combat operations" in Ukraine.

"Due to heavy losses and a largely stalled invasion, Russia has likely been forced to reprioritise Wagner personnel for Ukraine at the expense of operations in Africa and Syria," the MoD added.

The Wagner group is considered one of Russia's most secretive organisations. Officially, it doesn't exist, but up to 10,000 operatives are believed to have taken at least one contract with the group over the last seven years to go to hotspots including Syria, Libya and the Central African Republic.

Read more about Russia's recruitment of mercenaries to fight in Ukraine here.

Ukrtelecom, Ukraine’s state-owned telephone company, came under cyberattack by Russia on Monday, according to the country’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection (Ssscip)

In a tweet, the Ssscip said that the company’s IT infrastructure came under an attack, which was neutralised. As of about 2040 BST, the company was working on resuming services.

“In order to preserve its network infrastructure and to continue providing services to Ukraine’s Armed Forces as well as to the customers, Ukrtelecom has temporarily limited providing its services to the majority of private users and business clients,” another Tweet noted.

Olga Malchevska
BBC News, Ukraine

His desk is located safely away from the windows – in case there is any shooting outside. He's also prepared to take his things and move to the corridor to get better protection behind his home's walls. That’s how 16-year-old Vlad Levchuk from Kyiv describes his new schooling reality.

Although studying resumed at his school N167 today, he says some lessons started online last week.

"To be honest, I felt relieved. I missed studying. The war didn’t cancel our university exams in future, as it did not cancel our future," he said.

He adds: "This month of isolation was unbearable for me because of its uncertainty. As for the online studying – we got trained to do it during the Covid pandemic."

Vlad says he is lucky not to be studying in the basement as he believes the situation in Kyiv is safer now, and there is no internet in the basement.

He got scared just once – when there was shooting outside his home last week. "I heard the gun shooting right next to my window, and later on I found out that there were Russian soldiers trying to kill our territorial defence group people," he said.

Vlad says he moved to a safer area in his flat, and adds that when there is an air raid siren, his teachers say he should disconnect immediately to take shelter – until it's safe.

“We are trying to be online whenever our students need us, nobody thinks about working hours,” says Olena Kulinich, who teaches English and is assistant headteacher at the same school.

"Studying now is not only about the books, it’s about communication first of all – about letting our pupils know that we are here for them," she says.

Olena does not teach Vlad but both of them pointed out during our interviews that teachers are not being strict now if somebody cannot join the class – safety comes first.

According to the Ukraine's education minister, learning is on hold in just two regions, with 13 other areas carrying on with online schooling for three weeks.

Image source, Getty Images

The United Nations and its partners have delivered supplies to 890,000 people across Ukraine since the war began on 24 February, according to Osnat Lubrani, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine.

In a statement, Lubrani said that on Monday, the UN was able to bring food rations, medical supplies, and household items to "thousands" of people in the Kharkiv area.

But the humanitarian aid that has been delivered to date, Lubrani added, is "not enough".

"We continue to scale up our relief operations so that we can reach the most vulnerable people in dire need," she said in a statement.

She added that safe passage must be guaranteed by all parties in the fighting.

"We cannot deliver aid when the shelling continues and roads are mined. Pauses in the fighting are needed to allow free, safe passage for people to leave in whichever direction they choose," she said.