Czech Republic’s ministry of foreign affairs has asked Russian diplomats to resign in a letter posted on Twitter on Friday, external.

The Czech foreign ministry said Russian colleagues must “recognize evil” caused by Russia and not become accomplices to the “apocalyptic destruction” of Ukraine.

They added that colleagues "with morals and good hearts” should “leave this sinking ship, which only attracts the wrath of freedom-loving people around the world”.

The Russian mission in Geneva responded to the letter on their Twitter account, external, sarcastically thanking the Czech ministry for their “generous offer” but declining it.

“We have plenty of conscience and already maintain the capacity to recognize an [American flag emoji] lapdog, when we see one”, the Russian mission added.

The Czech letter said Russia would face consequences for their “unjust war”.

As we've been reporting, an ICRC attempt to evacuate civilians from the besieged port city of Mariupol by bus was postponed until Saturday at the earliest.

However, busloads of Mariupol residents who had already reached Berdyansk (see above map) have now reached the relative safety of Zaporizhzhia.

The AFP news agency counted around 30 buses arriving in the city, which is around 200km from Mariupol.

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk confirmed the news via Telegram, saying:

• 42 buses from the city of Berdyansk with Mariupol residents had left for Zaporizhzhia
• 12 buses from Melitopol with local residents were also en route
• More than 300 private cars were following the buses

Addressing those who still remain in Mariupol, she said: "We know how much you want to be saved. Every day we will try and try to break through until you get a chance to leave the city, and most important, to live a peaceful life."

The city has been under heavy Russian shelling over the past five weeks, leaving residents without food, running water and heat.

You may recognise the name Sean Penn from award-winning movies such as Mystic River or Milk.

But the California-born actor has also become well-known for his political and social activism, from befriending Hugo Chavez to secretly interviewing drug-kingpin-on-the-lam El Chapo.

Most recently, Penn has exhaustively advocated for the US to provide more support to Ukraine than it already is.

He has met with President Zelensky, pushed for a Nato-imposed no-fly zone, and even threatened to melt down his Oscar if Zelensky was not invited to speak at the Academy Awards.

In his latest exploit on Thursday, Penn called on billionaires to step up and buy military aircraft to help Ukraine, laying out how much it would cost. The tweet prompted a response from Ukraine's air force.

Image source, .

The governor of Odesa says three Russian missiles hit a residential district in the port city and caused casualties.

Maksym Marchenko alleged the missiles were fired from Moscow-annexed Crimea in the south.

Also on Friday, Ukraine's military said its anti-air defences had prevented an attack on critical infrastructure facilities in the city.

"The enemy tried in an insidious way to hit critical infrastructure facilities, the destruction of which could be dangerous for the civilian population," its southern command wrote on Facebook.

"Thanks to the timely and effective response of the air defence forces, the missiles did not hit the targets the enemy had been aiming at."

The BBC has not independently verified either of the reports.

The UK has released one of its regular intelligence updates,, external this time focusing on the oil depot attack in Belgorod in Russia early this morning.

As we've been reporting, Russia is blaming Ukraine for the attack - while Ukraine denies responsibility. If it was Ukraine, it would be the first known time their forces have flown into Russian airspace to attack.

The UK does not attribute responsibility, but says: "The probable loss of fuel and ammunition supplies from these depots will likely add additional short-term strain to Russia’s already stretched logistic chains.

"Supplies to Russian forces encircling Kharkhiv (60 km from Belgorod) may be particularly affected."

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

As we've reported, the International Committee of the Red Cross operation to bring aid to the besieged city of Mariupol - and lead an evacuation of civilians back out - has been frustrated for a second day in a row.

A spokeswoman for the Red Cross in Kyiv, Alyona Synenko, says "the stumbling block is the lack of very precise and very concrete agreements and the respect of these agreements on all levels".

She says it is the "responsiblity on both sides of this conflict" to allow the aid to reach its destination and admits to "disillusionment and disappointment" with the situation.

It "actually hurts me to think about people in Mariupol who were waiting for this convoy and were hoping to leave the nightmare that they are trapped in for the past weeks," she says.

Why the Red Cross had to postpone their Mariupol missionpublished at 21:44 British Summer Time 1 April 2022

21:44 BST 1 April 2022

Wyre Davies
BBC News, Zaporizhzhia

Image source, Reuters

The failure of a Red Cross operation to complete a plan to bring aid to the besieged city of Mariupol and evacuate hundreds of refugees shows just how difficult it is to organise such an operation when one of the belligerent parties – in this case Russia – has no real interest, yet, in ceasing hostilities and allowing desperately needed humanitarian aid in.

In the words of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) itself, it was "desperately important that the operation takes place – the lives of thousands of people in Mariupol depend on it".

The plan, however, was hastily put together and was, perhaps, in hindsight, unrealistic.

The Red Cross, for example, had intended to deliver at least two truckloads of medical supplies to Mariupol as part of the deal, but it became apparent that Russia wasn’t going to allow that to happen.

So, the small convoy that left Zaporizhzhia on Friday morning consisted of just three small vehicles.

Those vehicles and the Red Cross staff accompanying them had a crucial task – to facilitate the transfer of civilians from Mariupol and surrounding areas in at least 40 buses provided by the Ukrainian government.

But it became apparent that those organising the buses and the Red Cross had not been able to co-ordinate their operations as closely as should have been the case.

It wasn’t clear where the ICRC convoy was meant to meet the buses, that had travelled south the previous day. Furthermore, the aim of completing the operation in the space of one day was always going to be unrealistic, given the distance between the “safe” city of Zaporizhzhia and Mariupol and the high number of Russian military checkpoints the convoy would have to negotiate – not to mention Ukrainian checkpoints.

Even as the Red Cross convoy left Zaporizhzhia there was a statement from the office of the mayor of Mariupol saying the city was still too dangerous and that it was, in effect, closed to anyone trying to enter or leave.

Of course, thousands of Mariupol residents have been able to flee under their own steam, by driving often bomb-damaged cars through those Russian checkpoints and mined roads.

But tens of thousands of people remain in the beleaguered city, without food or water. The need for medical and other humanitarian help is overwhelming and there is barely a building left standing in a city that has been ravaged by Russian shelling.

And following on from Oleksiy Danilov's comments in our previous post, here's Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Merezhko - who has been speaking about the oil depot attack to the BBC World Service's Newshour programme.

"I suppose there can be two plausible explanations for what had happened in Belgorod," he says.

"The first one is that it was just an accident, which Russia is trying to blame on Ukraine. But I suppose that the most plausible and the most likely explanation is that it was a [Russian] provocation, deliberate provocation, and there are two reasons to believe in this version.

"The first one is that it's not in the interest of Ukraine to conduct such a military operation in the territory of Russia because it's too risky and it can lead to more escalation, which is dangerous in our situation.

"False flag operations is the most likely explanation, because Putin right now is desperate in trying to justify or to find a pretext in order to somehow explain his aggressiveness and his aggression against Ukraine.

"Maybe he needs such an explanation for internal use, so to speak."

The Russians say the attack, in the early hours of Friday, was carried out by two Ukrainian helicopters. Watch the footage below.

BBC Monitoring

Image source, Getty Images

As we reported earlier, Ukraine's security chief has denied that Ukraine attacked an oil depot in Russia this morning. Now we have more details of Oleksiy Danilov's comments.

Speaking on Ukrainian television, Danilov hinted that the attack may have been carried out by Russians unhappy with the war - and he said similar incidents would likely follow.

"The society of the Russian Federation is beginning to understand something," he said.

Earlier, the local governor in Belgorod had attributed Friday's attack to two Ukrainian helicopters, which the Ukrainian Defence Ministry would neither confirm nor deny.

Danilov also commented on Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's statement that reports of a Ukrainian attack on the depot were not conducive to peace talks.

"When they kill our children, our women, is that conducive to talks? When they wreak havoc on our territory?" he asked.

Orla Guerin
BBC News, Irpin, near Kyiv

The battle-scarred town of Irpin now stands as an example of Ukrainian resistance, and of Russian defeat.

President Putin's forces managed to enter the town but didn't manage to push through it. If they had, Kyiv would have been their next stop - the capital is just a short drive away, 13 miles (21km) down the road. Blocking the Russian advance here was critical.

We reached the city centre under armed escort, driving through streets strewn with rubble and downed power lines - and devoid of life.

Ukrainian forces gave us a careful tour - avoiding some main roads. We were told Russian forces might be present in the forests on the outskirts, though the mayor, Oleksandr Markushyn, insists the town itself is completely under Ukrainian control.

Troops proudly showed us a Russian armoured personnel carrier which had been torn to shreds, its turret upturned. Another burnt out Russian vehicle was just down the road. But we were moved quickly from place to place because of the ongoing risk of Russian shelling.

Most of the 70,000 people who used to live in this middle class commuter city fled over the past month - darting out of basements, running the gauntlet of relentless Russian shelling.

Many may have little left to come back to. President Putin claims he is not targeting civilian areas, but the destroyed homes of Irpin give the lie to that.

We saw extensive damage in residential areas, including one high-rise block where a shell had punched a neat hole right through a corner apartment. There was a child's red toy car on the ground, close to a forsaken playground. There were cars with bullet riddled windscreens, and charred houses where the roofs have been ripped off.

Read the article in full here.

Image source, .

The UN’s cultural agency says at least 53 Ukrainian historical sites, religious buildings and museums have been damaged or partially destroyed since the start of the war.

Unesco said the list is not exhaustive, and experts continue to verify reports of other damage.

The damage of 29 religious sites, 16 historic buildings, four museums and four monuments was verified using satellite images and witness reports.

More than a dozen of the sites are in Kharkiv, one of the areas in Ukraine most affected by shelling.

The list does not include any information of sites or buildings in the besieged city of Mariupol.

Image source, Reuters

After a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba promised: "More hits on Russia's economy, financial system and trade are coming."

Kuleba wrote on Twitter that the duo had discussed ways the US could further support Ukraine's economy and military.

He added he was grateful for support that the US has been providing.

The State Department's own readout of the call also pledges to "continue to hold accountable those responsible for atrocities committed in Ukraine".

A Russian schoolteacher has been arrested after being reported to police by her pupils for making anti-war comments, according to local media.

The teenagers in the southern city of Penza are said to have recorded a conversation with Irina Gen, their English teacher, on 18 March.

They were apparently upset that a planned sports trip to the Czech Republic was not going ahead and asked Ms Gen for her opinion.

According to an alleged transcript of the conversation published by the Meduza website, she said it was right that the trip had been cancelled and that such things would continue until Russia "started behaving in a civilised way".

The 55-year-old compared the country to North Korea and "expressed a view of the war in Ukraine different from the official one", Meduza said.

It is thought Ms Gen could face a fine of up to $60,000 or a jail term of up to 10 years.

Image source, Reuters

As we reported earlier, Ukrainian forces have recaptured the town of Bucha, near the capital Kyiv, according to the local mayor.

But these pictures reveal the devastation caused in the suburb, following weeks of fighting with Russian forces.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Kasia Madera & Rebecca Hartmann in Lublin, Poland

The Helios student halls of residence in Lublin have been transformed into housing for refugees.

It is where Dorota Woroniecka, who works for the Polish Centre for International Aid (PCPM), has been giving out debit cards loaded with around 710 zloty ($166 / £129) to some of the most vulnerable refugees from Ukraine.

The Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance programme, she says, is designed to give those who apply independence and dignity. Those eligible can choose how to spend the money in any EU country.

It is topped up for three months and is funded by the PCPM foundation, with support from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and CARE USA.

The aim is to hand out these debit cards to an initial group of 7,000 Ukrainian refugee families.

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

Ukrainian forces have recaptured the town of Bucha, near the capital Kyiv, its mayor has said.

"March 31 will go down in the history of our town... as the day of its liberation from Russian (forces)," Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk said in a video on Friday, which appeared to be filmed outside Bucha's town hall.

This week Russia pledged to drastically scale back military operations around Kyiv and Chernihiv in northern Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces have been counter-attacking against Russia in a number of areas near Kyiv and beyond - as this map shows.

Image source, .

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has tweeted after speaking to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken...

Why the evacuation of Mariupol is crucialpublished at 18:39 British Summer Time 1 April 2022

18:39 BST 1 April 2022

Image source, Reuters

As the latest attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol fails, here's a reminder why this humanitarian effort is so important.

Mariupol has been shelled almost continuously by Russian forces for several weeks, and 90% of its buildings have been damaged. At least 5,000 people have died.

Russian troops have so far been unable to capture the whole city, though there has been street fighting in central areas.

At least 150,000 civilians are thought to remain in the city, which before the war was inhabited by half a million people. They have no food, running water or power.

Numerous efforts have been made, including by France, Greece and Turkey, to evacuate civilians and allow in humanitarian aid, but so far only a trickle of people have been able to leave by these corridors.

Meanwhile Ukraine has accused Russia of forcibly moving some 40,000 people into Russian-held territory.

And here's a line from Russia on the oil depot attack in Belgorod.

Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told state news channel Rossiya 24 that the depot only supplied fuel for civilian transport - not military.

"The oil storage facility has nothing to do with the Russian armed forces," he said.

Konashenkov said two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters entered Russia "at extremely low altitudes" at about 05:00 local times before carrying out a missile strike.

Ukraine has denied being behind the attack.

As we've just seen, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he could neither confirm or deny that Ukraine attacked an oil depot in Russia.

Now, Ukraine's top security official has gone further - denying Ukrainian forces were behind the attack.

Ukraine's Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov told national television: "For some reason they say that we did it, but according to our information this does not correspond to reality."