Image source, EPA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his priorities will be sovereignty and territorial integrity at the next round of negotiations with Russia.

Peace talks are due to take place in Turkey this week.

"Effective guarantees of security are a must," he said.

"Obviously our goal is peace and return to normal life in our country as soon as possible", he says.

He earlier said that he was willing to discuss adopting a neutral status, a major point of contention with Russia.

Image source, Getty Images

The UK Government's top legal adviser has appointed a war crimes lawyer to advise Ukraine over the Russian invasion.

Attorney General Suella Braveman says Sir Howard Morrison QC will act as an independent adviser to Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova.

Sir Howard has served as a judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court (ICC) for more than 12 years, including overseeing cases involving figures such as Serbian war criminal Radovan Karadzic.

Earlier this month Braverman signed a joint statement of support with Venediktova, pledging support to gather evidence of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Ukraine by Putin's regime.

She told the House of Commons on Thursday "all options are on the table" when it comes to seeking to prosecute Putin's regime for war crimes but has insisted the UK's preferred approach is to hold those responsible to account through the ICC.

Image source, Reuters

Germany is considering buying a missile defence system to shield against a potential Russian attack, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said

"This is certainly one of the issues we are discussing and for good reason", he told public broadcaster ARD when asked whether Germany might buy a system such as Israel's Iron Dome.

He didn't specify what type of missile defence system Berlin was considering.

When asked whether Germany wanted to buy one with a longer range than its existing Patriot batteries, Scholz said:

"We need to be aware that we have a neighbour who is prepared to use violence to enforce their interests."

Germany has transformed its defence policy following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, announcing tens of billions of dollars more for the army and pledging to meet to Nato's military spending target of 2% of GDP.

The scale of the disaster in Ukraine's south-eastern city Mariupol demands immediate action, French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said at the Doha Forum, a meeting of policy makers.

"You can very well see that Mariupol is a second Aleppo with, I hope, a collective guilt if we don't do anything," he said, referring to a Syrian city that saw some of the worst fighting of the country's brutal civil war.

"Mariupol is a siege war that Russia's been in for a month now. Maybe it wasn't envisaged as a siege war but today we're in siege warfare, and Mariupol is one of the most striking examples.

"Military sieges are horrible wars because civil populations are massacred, annihilated. The suffering is terrible."

Image source, Reuters

Laurence Peter
BBC News

Image source, Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies.

Ukraine has accused Russia of forcibly relocating thousands of civilians from Mariupol, the strategic port city devastated by Russian shelling.

Russia is housing an estimated 5,000 at a temporary camp in Bezimenne, 90km (56 miles) east of Mariupol, seen in satellite images.

Russian media have reported on the camp and on transfers of Mariupol refugees to the southern Russian city of Taganrog. From there some have gone by train to Yaroslavl and Ryazan, more than 1,000km to the north.

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said 40,000 had been moved from Ukraine to Russian-held territory without any coordination with Kyiv. Other Ukrainian officials have also accused Russia of conducting "deportations".

It is not yet clear how many evacuees went willingly under Russian escort. Many Ukrainians have relatives in Russia. The BBC was unable to independently verify the evacuee numbers.

Russia denies that it is forcibly moving out thousands of Ukrainians. Such a coercive policy would violate international humanitarian law.

Read more about the controversy here.

Russia has effectively isolated Ukraine from international maritime trade through its blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) says.

In its regular assessment of the fighting,, external the MoD said Russia's navy was continuing to conduct sporadic missile strikes against targets throughout Ukraine.

While Russia's advance has stalled elsewhere, it has had more success in the south.

Image source, Reuters

If you are just joining us, here are the latest developments:

Zelensky considers neutrality: Ukraine would be prepared to discuss adopting neutral status, its President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. In an interview with Russian media he says such a status would have to be guaranteed by third parties and put to a referendum. One of Russia's President Vladimir Putin's demands has been that Ukraine renounces its intention to join Nato

Russia "trying to split Ukraine": The Ukrainian military intelligence service is warning that Russia is trying to split Ukraine into two halves, similar to North and South Korea. Intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov says Russia's President Putin is trying to separate the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine from the rest of the country

Russia transfers civilians: Ukraine has accused Russia of forcibly relocating thousands of civilians from Mariupol, the strategic port city devastated by Russian shelling. Russia is housing an estimated 5,000 people at a temporary camp in Bezimenne, east of Mariupol

US denies calling for regime change: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has denied that the United States has plans to bring about regime change in Russia. Mr Blinken's comments come a day after President Joe Biden said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, shouldn't be allowed to remain in power. Biden's remarks prompted warnings they could hamper efforts to end the war.

Image source, EPA

Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine has been the target of intense Russian bombardment for weeks. This has led authorities and residents in the city to take action to protect the statue of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko with a huge mountain of sandbags.

Shevchenko is known as "the national poet of Ukraine" and one of the fathers of the country's literature, as a result his statue is a significant symbol for the city.

Lucy Williamson
BBC News, Lviv

Image source, Reuters

Doctors have begun seeing a sharp rise in the number of premature births in some areas of Ukraine.

Prenatal clinics in both Lviv and Kharkiv tell the BBC the premature birth rate has doubled or tripled in recent weeks, as a result of stress and medical issues linked to the war.

In the besieged city of Kharkiv, Polina's fighting for her life. She’s only five days old and weighed less than 1.5 lb (just over 600g) when she was born.

“Infections, lack of medical help, bad nutrition - war creates a risk of premature birth”, says Iryna Kondratova, director at the clinic where Polina was born.

Early deliveries now account for 50% of all births at her clinic.

Not all hospitals across Ukraine are reporting a rise but at the maternity hospital in Lviv, which has seen a recent influx of mothers from conflict zones, premature deliveries have doubled from one in 10, to one in five.

The hospital has begun building a special underground bunker to house babies in intensive care in the event of air strikes.

In Kharkiv, already under heavy bombardment, staff have chosen not to go to the shelters, but to stay on the ward with the smallest babies and live through the bombing with them.

Image source, Reuters

President Joe Biden's speech in Warsaw during which he said Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power" may have prompted fury in Moscow and clarifications in Washington - but it appears to have gone down very well in Ukraine.

Biden condemned the Russian war against Ukraine as a threat to the post-World War Two world order and promised the West would continue to exert pressure on Putin's government.

BBC Monitoring's analysis of Ukrainian media shows the US president's speech was broadcast live and was the top news story in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian media hailed the speech as "historic" and expressed hope Biden's words would translate into more arms supplies for Kyiv to end the war "against the Russian dictatorship".

The Pryamyy TV channel highlighted Biden's statement that Russia will never defeat Ukraine.

Journalist Vitaliy Portnikov said on Twitter the address was a "new and strong call for freedom and to fight" against the Russian regime.

Pundit Volodymyr Fesenko compared Biden's address with President John F. Kennedy's "historic Berlin speech" and said Biden's "rhetoric was correct".

You can watch a clip of Biden's speech below.

Image source, EPA

Ukraine has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) not to open a planned office in southern Russia, saying it would legitimise Moscow's "humanitarian corridors" and the alleged abduction and forced deportations of Ukrainians.

Earlier, Russian media reported the head of the Red Cross had asked Russia to facilitate the opening of a Red Cross office in Rostov-on-Don, where temporary accommodation camps have been erected by Russia for people transported from Ukraine.

Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine's top humanitarian official, who says Russia has created the sham safe corridors, says the Red Cross is being "used" by the Russians.

But the ICRC has told Reuters it has no "first-hand" information about reports of forced evacuations to Russia from Ukraine and it does not facilitate any such operations.

It says its priority "is to reach victims of armed conflict, wherever they are, in order to assist them".

More on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's 90-minute interview with independent Russian media now.

In the interview, Zelensky says that as part of a peace deal with Russia, Ukraine is prepared to discuss adopting a neutral status, but it would have to be guaranteed by third parties and put to a referendum, Reuters reports.

"Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to go for it. This is the most important point," he says in the video call.

The Ukrainian leader - speaking in Russian throughout - adds Russia's invasion has caused the destruction of Russian-speaking cities in Ukraine.

The use of the Russian language in Ukraine is something that has been discussed during peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, Reuters reports Zelensky as saying. But he adds Ukraine has refused to discuss other Russian demands, such as the demilitarisation of Ukraine.

Image source, Ukrainian Association 'Yednist'

People in Hungary have left 300 pairs of worn shoes on the banks of the Danube river in Budapest to commemorate the victims of those who died during the bombing of Mariupol's theatre on 16 March.

In a Facebook post, external, the organisers of the memorial said the shoes had been placed near the existing 'Shoes on the Danube Bank' memorial, which commemorates the massacre of Hungarian Jews during World War Two.

It wrote: "People of Europe have to take all possible and impossible measures to end this tragedy. Until that happens, new shoes will appear here".

Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba described his feelings of gratitude to the organisers of the memorial in a Facebook post, external, and said activists had been inspired by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's speech earlier this week to an EU summit in which he made reference to the Hungarian Jewish memorial.

Kuleba added, "history is repeating itself, right now, before our eyes. Therefore, it is not enough to sympathize now, we need to prove with concrete deeds that it is really 'Never again'."

Adam Easton
Warsaw Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

More than two-and-a-quarter million people have fled to Poland from Ukraine since the Russian invasion more than a month ago.

The Polish border guard says numbers crossing the border have been falling recently but there was a slight increase on Saturday.

Before the war began, Poland was home to a large Ukrainian community and most of the refugees initially went to stay with family and friends already living here.

As the weeks have passed, more and more women and children are coming that have nowhere to stay.

Thousands of Poles have opened their homes to them, but that’s a temporary solution.

Local officials in large cities including Warsaw and Krakow, which have attracted the biggest numbers, say they have run out of space. They have urged the government to implement a plan to provide housing over the longer term for the refugees.

Some of the refugees have already left Poland for other countries. A researcher at Warsaw University estimates up to 1.3 million remain.

Zhanna Bezpiatchuk
BBC Ukrainian Service reporter

Image source, EPA

“Russians want to cut me off from my home by this strike. No way!” - a young waitress in one of Lviv's restaurants drops a few words on her way to the next client.

She was checking on social media what exactly the Russian missiles hit in Lviv. It turned out her home is quite close to the oil storage facility that was attacked from the air.

That was the first massive strike on Lviv. After this attack the city expected one more. And even the least alarmist residents went to bomb shelters.

The next morning brought just a little relief and lots of strain.

Image source, EPA

“Many people in Lviv still believed that the first strike which happened a week ago was the exception and war is far away. Now the mental condition of people here changed. Nobody knows what to expect next. Nobody will trust the long silence without air alerts”, says Iryna Luniova, a director of one of Lviv's schools.

Her team of teachers helps refugees. Normally, they had to persuade them to go to shelters. After fleeing danger zones in the other regions these people felt safe in Lviv.

“I thought a lot that Russia won’t miss the chance to attack us in western Ukraine. And, finally, this worst scenario happened”, says Iryna.

The 15-year-old daughter of one of her colleagues had a stroke out of fear yesterday. Their family lives close to the attacked location. Lviv surgeons carried out a six-hour-long operation to save her life.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon one can see many families of local residents and refugees on a walk with their children in the Ivan Franko landscape park. And now the main question they all ask is whether it’s still safe enough to keep their kids in Lviv.

Image source, Getty Images

Will Vernon
BBC News, Moscow

Image source, EPA/UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE

The Russian state media regulator, Roskomnadzor, has issued a warning to Russian media over an interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The regulator warned the press they must not publish the interview and that “an investigation has been started in order to identify the level of responsibility and what response will be taken” in relation to the media that carried out the interview.

Roskomnadzor notes some of the media outlets that conducted the interview are designated “foreign agents” in Russia.

Earlier, liberal Russian outlet Meduza announced it had interviewed Zelensky, along with Dozhd TV and Russian newspaper Kommersant. Meduza and Dozhd are both blocked in Russia and Dozhd has suspended all journalistic activities.

Russia has recently passed new laws restricting the way in which Russian media can report on the war in Ukraine.

The most stringent of the new laws, against disseminating "fakes" on the activities of the Russian Armed Forces, carries serious criminal charges of up to 15 years in prison.

Earlier the separatist leader of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine said a referendum could be held soon on joining Russia, according to Reuters news agency citing the self-proclaimed republic's news outlet, in which it quoted its leader.

Now Ukraine's foreign ministry has said any "fake" referendums held in occupied parts of Ukraine will be "null and void".

Writing on Twitter, external, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, Oleg Nikolenko, said "no country in the world will ever recognize the forceful change of Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders.

"Instead, Russia will facе an even stronger international response, further deepening its isolation."

Three days before ordering troops into Ukraine on 24 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised the Ukrainian breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent states, though the rest of the world considers them part of Ukraine.

Katya Adler
Europe Editor

Five weeks into Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, imagine for a moment what it's like to live there now.

Would you try to run? Ten million Ukrainians have, according to the United Nations.

Displaced and disoriented, often with no idea where to go next, refugees are forced to put their trust in strangers.

"For predators and human traffickers, the war in Ukraine is not a tragedy," UN Secretary General António Guterres has warned on Twitter. "It's an opportunity - and women and children are the targets."

Trafficking rings are notoriously active in Ukraine and neighbouring countries in peace time. The fog of war is perfect cover to increase business.

Read more from Katya as she speaks to concerned refugees, and some of the volunteers, human rights workers and anti-traffickers trying to protect young female Ukrainians forced to flee their home country.

Hanna Chornous
BBC News, Kyiv

Young people are leisurely chatting by a hipster coffee shop in central Kyiv. It’s one of many places with excellent coffee, something the city has become known for in recent years. A group of friends are playing table tennis nearby in the afternoon sun.

“We have reopened and are going to keep working as long as we can,” barista Mykola tells us. “We are doing this to make people smile.”

The Kashtan café where he is working is one of the places serving customers still staying in the city.

“Death to the Russian invaders. Coffee for defenders is free,” a sign at another coffee place says. Not charging the military or territorial defence fighters is a common practice.

Many trendy Kyiv restaurants and cafes have turned into field kitchens, cooking thousands of free meals for the city defenders or people in need.

Some serve customers too, in attempt to bring a sense of normality to the residents, operating limited hours to respect the daily curfew. The Kyiv authorities have put together a map of cafes and other businesses now open.

As we leave with our flat whites in hands, dull thuds of explosions are heard in the distance. A grim reminder that Kyiv is still very much a city in wartime.

The next round of face-to-face negotiations between Ukraine and Russia will take place in Turkey, starting tomorrow, one of the Ukrainian negotiators says.

David Arakhamia says on Facebook the talks will take place from Monday to Wednesday.

Ukraine described previous talks with Russia since the start of the invasion last month as "very difficult".

The first round of talks between the two teams of negotiators took place in Belarus, which is Russia's ally, but Turkey has played a part in the diplomatic attempts to end the war, with the Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish foreign ministers meeting in Antalya earlier this month.