Image source, Getty Images

Russian forces are "very, very close" to the city centre of embattled Mariupol, according to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

In a briefing for reporters at the Pentagon, Kirby accused Russia of targeting civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, and hospitals.

"The town is just being shellacked with airstrikes in [the] bombardment," Kirby said.

"The place is just being decimated from a structural perspective by the onslaught of Russian airstrikes."

Kirby also said that at "an appropriate time" the US will review lessons learned from the war and their role in supporting Ukrainian forces.

"[The US will] take a look at what we have learned by watching and seeing how Russia has underperformed and how, quite frankly, amazingly that Ukrainians have performed," he said.

"We all want to learn from things as we see them and we're going to learn from our own behaviors here, our efforts to help Ukraine defend itself."

Image source, Reuters

The White House says it has intelligence that Russian President Vladimir Putin feels he has been misled by his military advisers, which has resulted in persistent tension between him and his military leadership.

"We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions, because his senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth," White House director of communications Kate Bedingfield told journalists.

She said it was "increasingly clear" that Russia's invasion of Ukraine had been a "strategic blunder" that would leave it weaker over the long term.

Bedingfield also said the US had "continued to see evidence today of Russia attacking and advancing in places where they had previously said they would not".

Russia said on Tuesday it would reduce military operations around the capital Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv in order to focus on the eastern Donbas region, but local officials said attacks continued overnight in Chernihiv.

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The world through its media

Image source, EPA

The mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, has appealed to local businesses to gradually resume work.

Speaking in a video address posted to his Telegram channel, Ihor Terekhov said: "The city and the country need to restart the economy.

"In recent weeks, the president and the government have significantly simplified the rules for doing business and significantly reduced tax rates. I ask Kharkiv entrepreneurs: Gradually return to work."

The mayor explained that while it might be "impossible" to return to full capacity right away, "it can be done in a reduced way".

According to Terekhov, as of 30 March, as a result of Russian actions, 1,531 civilian infrastructure facilities have been destroyed in the city, including 1,292 residential buildings, 70 schools, 54 kindergartens, 16 hospitals, and 239 administrative buildings.

Image source, Getty Images

More from the US now, as Pentagon spokesman John Kirby has said that Russian troop movements away from Kyiv are a “repositioning” – rather than a withdrawal – to allow them to refocus their efforts on other parts of Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Kirby said that less than 20% of the Russian battalion-size groups deployed near Ukraine’s capital have “started to reposition” to the north, possibly headed towards Belarus.

“We’ve not seen them reposition to their home garrison, and that’s not a small point,” he added. “If the Russians are serious about de-escalating... then they should send them home.”

Kirby added that the Pentagon believes that the forces moving away from Kyiv are likely to be refitted in Belarus before being redeployed for “future operations” in Ukraine.

Most of the forces that have begun moving north, Kirby said, are those near Hostomel Airport near Kyiv, which was the scene of heavy fighting in the opening days of the war in late February.

Image source, Getty Images

The US military's top commander in Europe says he believes that the "force posture" of US troops in the region must "change" to reflect a growing threat from Russia.

Gen Tod Wolters, who leads the military's European Command, told a congressional hearing that Russia's "senseless act" - the invasion of Ukraine - provides an opportunity to "re-examine the permanent military architecture that exists" on the continent.

Wolters added that this would involve both on-the-ground troop deployments in Eastern Europe and "air policing", as well as naval forces.

Wolters also said that the US has established two centres - each with about 100 personnel - that are working to funnel military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Ukrainian liaison officers are present at these centres.

As we've been reporting, more than four million people in Ukraine have fled the country since the war began, the United Nations has said today.

Now the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has said two million of that number are children.

Combined with another 2.5 million children who have been displaced within the country, it means 60% of children in Ukraine have been forced from their homes, Unicef said.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, A Ukrainian woman and her child rest in a refuge room at Przemysl Glowny train station in Poland

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

We've continued to get more reaction today to yesterday's peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. But what is the latest situation on the ground?

• Regrouping: Ukraine's military has warned that Russia is regrouping its forces to concentrate on fighting in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk - collectively known as the Donbas - which are largely in the hands of Russian-backed separatists
• Shelling: The Ukrainian governor in Donetsk says there's been Russian shelling along all the cities and towns on the front-line that separates the two sides. Shelling has also been reported in the Luhansk region. Authorities there say there have been 35 artillery attacks on local towns in 24 hours
• Mariupol: Russian forces are also still trying to take the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian Defence Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said
• Scaling back? Despite Russia's pledge on Tuesday to "drastically reduce" military combat operations around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv, Chernihiv's regional governor said Russian forces carried out strikes on the city "all night long"
• Kyiv: The sound of artillery could be heard on the edge of Kyiv city centre this morning

France sees no sign of a breakthrough in talks between Ukraine and Russia , French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has said.

"The war continues, and for now as far as I know there is no breakthrough or anything new," he said in an interview with broadcasters France 24 and RFI.

"There are many statements from the Russian authorities... I will only believe actions," he added.

Earlier today Russia also said there was nothing very promising said or any breakthroughs achieved in talks in Turkey on Tuesday.

Russia will continue to allow European countries to pay for its gas with euros and not rubles as it had previously threatened, the German government has said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Scholz that payments from Europe next month "would continue to be in euros and transferred as usual to the Gazprom Bank which is not affected by sanctions", German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said.

The bank would then convert the payments into rubles, Hebestreit quoted Putin as saying.

"Scholz did not agree to this procedure in the conversation, but asked for written information to better understand the procedure."

Russia had previously said that "unfriendly" countries would have to pay for its gas in roubles from 31 March.

The German spokesman added that Scholz remained committed to a G7 agreement that energy supplies from Russia would be paid for only in euros or US dollars.

Germany gets about half its gas and a third of its oil from Russia and has warned that it could face a recession if supplies suddenly stopped.

Slovakia has announced it's limiting the number of Russian diplomats who can work at the Russian embassy in Bratislava.

Technically, these are not expulsions, but 35 Russian diplomats will have to leave the country.

Slovakia's foreign ministry said it had taken the decision in response to activities of Russian embassy staff that were in conflict with the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.

A source told the BBC's Danny Aeberhard the move would, in effect, halve the size of Russia's diplomatic mission to Slovakia.

It comes after four EU countries expelled more than 40 Russian diplomats suspected of spying on Tuesday.

Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic issued expulsion orders to a total of 43 embassy staffers on Tuesday afternoon.

As we reported earlier, a US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts have landed safely in Kazakhstan in a capsule travelling from the International Space Station.

Nasa's Mark Vande Hei and Russians Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov shared a Soyuz MS-19 capsule for their voyage home.

You can watch the moment of their landing below.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, the number of people who have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded has now topped four million.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has been visiting a centre where refugees are staying in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

He said numbers crossing the border into Poland have dropped and the situation is "not like before".

“Now, it is a very fluid situation," he said. "Some people maybe come to see their relatives, some people go to other countries, some people stay in Poland... I think everybody is watching how the war is going.”

He urged donors to be flexible about where their money could be spent, given changing needs within Ukraine and in countries like Poland.

"We need to be ready for any movement in this very difficult situation," he said.

Image source, Reuters

Lucy Manning
BBC News Special Correspondent

Image source, Yuliia Chernovil

Garry Taylor, a project manager in south-east England, made contact with Yuliia Chernovil and her seven-year-old daughter Alisa via social media a day after the UK's Home for Ukraine scheme was launched.

The mother and daughter had to flee the eastern region of Donetsk, heading for Lviv. They are now living in a refugee camp in Warsaw, across the border in Poland, with rows of camp beds lined up next to each other.

With two children of his own, Garry was keen to help out and share his house, with its large garden and trampoline.

But two weeks on, his would-be guests are still stuck in Poland waiting for a passport for Alisa to be issued. "The process hasn't been thought through," he says. "It's embarrassing having to ask every day: 'Have you had any news on your visa'?"

"You've got countries across Europe welcoming people with open arms. I've seen some leaflets in Poland saying: 'Don't worry about the formalities, we'll worry about those afterwards.' Yet, you've got all of this red tape that we seem to have created here."

Read more about Garry and Yuliia's experience of the UK's Homes for Ukraine scheme

Among the many places offering shelter to Ukrainian refugees is the Sihastria Monastery in northern Romania.

One of those who has taken refuge is Iryna who travelled from Kharkiv with her best friend and their children - spending three days in her old van. This is her story.

Image source, EPA

We're now hearing from the White House about that phone call this afternoon between Presidents Biden and Zelensky.

Biden told the Ukrainian president that the US intends to provide Ukraine with $500m in direct budgetary aid, the White House said.

"The leaders discussed how the United States is working around the clock to fulfil the main security assistance requests by Ukraine, the critical effects those weapons have had on the conflict, and continued efforts by the United States with allies and partners to identify additional capabilities to help the Ukrainian military defend its country," it said in a statement.

Biden also reviewed the additional sanctions and humanitarian assistance announced last week, while President Zelensky updated him on the status of Ukraine’s negotiations with Russia, the White House said.

The UK has announced new laws which aim to "prevent Russian oligarch access to UK aviation and maritime technical services".

The UK's Foreign Office said the legislation would prohibit the maintenance of aircraft or ships belonging to sanctioned Russian oligarchs or their businesses.

The department said the new powers had been used immediately to sanction Russian businessmen Eugene Shvidler and Oleg Tinkov.

Meanwhile, the finance, trade and shipping sanctions imposed in relation to Crimea have been expanded to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said: "There is no doubt that [Vladimir] Putin and his elite have been surprised by the strength of our sanctions.

"We will continue to ramp up the pressure so long as Russian troops are in Ukraine, targeting not only the businesses of oligarchs but also their assets and international lifestyles."

Image source, Reuters

Of the 28,300 applications to the UK's Homes for Ukraine scheme, 2,700 visas for refugees have now been issued, the government has said.

Homes for Ukraine, which launched on 14 March, aims to allow people, charities, community groups and other organisations to sponsor named refugees, housing them in their homes or buildings. We don't know how people have actually arrived and settled into UK homes.

Charities have said the process "is just too difficult" for those fleeing Ukraine.

A further 22,800 visas from 31,200 applications have been issued under the UK's Ukraine Family Scheme, the Home Office said. These are for refugees with close relatives living in the UK.

There has been criticism of the scale and the speed of the UK's response to the refugee crisis prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The British Red Cross said the quickest way to help people would be for the UK to stop requiring visas - which would bring it in line with many other countries.

Labour said the government had made "shamefully slow progress" in helping refugees from Ukraine, external, pointing out that just one in 100 Homes for Ukraine applications had resulted in a visa so far.

Read our full story here.

Earlier the White House said US President Joe Biden would be holding a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky has tweeted that their conversation lasted an hour, and covered assessments of the situations on the ground and in talks - as well as sanctions, aid and "specific defensive support".

Lucy Manning
BBC News Special Correspondent

"That's her, isn't it?" Clare Maddox nervously asked her daughter, Sophia, as they waited by the arrivals gates at Stansted Airport.

They were looking out for a mother and daughter - two refugees who were among the first to arrive in the UK under the government's Homes for Ukraine scheme.

It had been 11 years since they last saw Diana Sachavo in the flesh. She'd visited the UK, aged 10. Diana had come over with the help of the charity Chernobyl Children's Lifeline and stayed with the Maddoxes at their house in Billericay, Essex.

After, they'd stayed in touch. Now she was returning - alongside her mother - this time as a refugee.

"I'm so glad you are here," Clare told them, as she was introduced to Diana's mum, Olena, for the first time. Their flight from Lithuania had just landed and Clare tearfully hugged both women, not letting them go.

They arrived in the UK as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, which launched two weeks ago. Yet latest figures suggest they are among the lucky ones.

Read more about Diana, Olena and the UK's refguee scheme

Image source, Reuters

As we reported earlier, some 4,019,000 people have now fled Ukraine since the start of the war on 24 February, according to the latest figures from the UN refugee agency.

More than six million people are displaced within Ukraine, meaning that in total at least a quarter of the population have abandoned their homes because of the war.

It's the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two.

As of 29 March, external:

• Poland had taken in 2,336,799 refugees
• Romania 608,936
• Moldova 387,151
• Hungary 364,804
• Russia 350,632
• Slovakia 281,172
• Belarus 10,902

Read more

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