Image source, Getty Images

The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency will head a safety mission to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, after Russian troops were reported to have left the site.

Rafael Mariano Grossi said it would be the first of several such missions in Ukraine.

He told a news conference that Russian troops leaving the area was a step in the right direction, Reuters reports.

And he said radiation levels were "quite normal" around the site.

Some Russian troops were still in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Friday morning, the head of Ukraine's state nuclear company Energoatom said.

The facility is infamous for the 1986 disaster in which one of the reactors on the site exploded.

You can read more here.

Image source, EPA

As we’ve been reporting, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed an order on Thursday stating “unfriendly” foreign countries must pay for gas in roubles or risk supplies being cut.

The order will begin affecting payments from late April.

Speaking to reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there is not an immediate threat to Europe’s supplies.

"Does this mean that if there is no confirmation in roubles, then gas supplies will be cut off from April 1? No, it doesn't, and it doesn't follow from the decree.”

Russia supplies the European Union (EU) with about 40% of its gas imports, and 30% of its oil, which are mainly paid for in euros and dollars.

Read more on this story here.

As we reported earlier, three vehicles from the International Committee of the Red Cross are travelling towards the southern port city of Mariupol to begin civilian evacuations.

It's understood that the three vehicles will later lead a bigger convoy of 54 Ukrainian buses and private cars taking residents out of the besieged city.

Here's a selection of some photos from Mariupol.

Image source, Reuters

Mariupol has been under weeks of heavy bombardment, with mayor Vadym Boychenko telling the Reuters news agency that almost 5,000 people, including around 210 children, have been killed in the city.

Image source, Reuters

Buildings across the city have been destroyed by consistent shelling, including those in residential areas and public buildings such as hospitals, shopping centres and a theatre.

Image source, Reuters

The port city has been a key target for Russia's military throughout the conflict due to its proximity to Crimea, a peninsula that was annexed by Russia in 2014.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says he cannot confirm or deny reports of Ukraine's involvement in the strike on the fuel depot in Belgorod, as he did not have the military information.

"I am a civilian," he told reporters in Warsaw, according to AFP.

Ukraine's defence ministry has also declined to comment, with Reuters quoting spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk saying: "Ukraine is currently conducting a defensive operation against Russian aggression on the territory of Ukraine, and this does not mean that Ukraine is responsible for every catastrophe on Russia's territory...

"I will not confirm or deny these allegations."

The governor of the region said the attack was carried out by two Ukrainian helicopters, but Ukraine has not claimed responsibility.

Image source, Getty Images

You may remember that French actor Gerard Depardieu took up Russian citizenship in 2013 after leaving France for tax reasons.

The star, who received his Russian passport in person from Vladimir Putin, has now accused the Russian president of "crazy, unacceptable excesses" in Ukraine.

The comments have led to a response from the Kremlin, with Mr Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, saying the actor probably did not completely understand the situation in Ukraine and offered to explain it.

Read more on this story here.

More now on the attack on an oil storage facility in the Russian city of Belgorod, some 40km (25 miles) north of the Ukraine border.

The local governor said the attack was carried out by two Ukrainian helicopters - though Ukraine has not claimed responsibility.

If confirmed, it would be the first time Ukrainian aircraft have flown into Russian airspace to hit a target.

The footage in this video has been verified by the BBC but its source cannot be confirmed.

You can watch video below of the moment missiles strike the depot.

The death toll from a Russian missile strike on a regional administrative building in the southern city of Mykolaiv has risen to 28, its governor Vitaliy Kim says.

A rocket tore a hole through the nine-storey building, which included Kim's offices, shortly before 09:00 local (06:00 GMT) on Tuesday morning.

Shortly after the strike Kim had said the majority of people in the building had "miraculously" escaped, adding that he had not been there as he "overslept".

We have some more from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on their evacuation mission to Mariupol.

A spokesman for the group says it will act in a neutral intermediary role to lead the convoy out from Mariupol and to another Ukrainian city.

"We remain hopeful, we are in action moving toward Mariupol, but it’s not yet clear that this will happen today."

He goes on to say: "We're running out of adjectives to describe the horrors that residents in Mariupol have suffered.

"The situation is horrendous and deteriorating, and it’s now a humanitarian imperative that people be allowed to leave, and aid supplies be allowed in.

"The people of Mariupol have suffered weeks of heavy fighting, with dwindling water, food and medical supplies."

The ICRC says that piecing together safe passage for the route with the parties has been "extremely complex" and "ensuring that all the details are agreed upon and well understood by all sides, and then communicated down the chain of command, and to the residents of Mariupol, is a challenge".

Ukrainian forces are pushing back Russian troops north-east and north-west of the capital Kyiv, Reuters news agency reports an adviser to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky as saying.

Oleksiy Arestovych said the besieged port city of Mariupol was still holding out after weeks of bombardment but Russian forces were now trying to encircle the northern city of Chernihiv.

You can see more details of Russia's invasion and Ukraine's response here.

Image source, Russian Ministry of Emergency Situation

If you're just joining us, here's a recap of what's been happening today:

On the ground:

• Russia says Ukrainian helicopters attacked an oil depot in Belgorod - a Russian city just north of Ukraine. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the alleged strikes do not create "comfortable conditions" for peace talks

• Top-level Ukrainian and Russian authorities have approved a plan for further evacuations from Mariupol, the Red Cross says
• The humanitarian organisation has said it plans to lead a convoy on Friday of 54 Ukrainian buses and private cars out of the city, which has faced weeks of bombardment

• Russian forces are withdrawing from the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine but have not yet left entirely, the local governor has said
• The UK's Ministry of Defence says Ukraine has continued to make "succesful but limited" counterattacks to the east and north-east of Kyiv

On the diplomatic stage

• Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is in India as part of attempts by Moscow to strengthen ties with Delhi
• Today sees the start of new rules brought in by Russia to force foreign buyers of Russian gas to buy using roubles by opening special bank accounts

Image source, EPA

Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak by phone with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, the Kremlin said, according to Reuters news agency.

It comes after Istanbul hosted Russian-Ukrainian peace talks on Tuesday.

Erdogan has said Turkey is ready, in principle, to act as a security guarantor country for Ukraine, but details of such a format would need to be worked out.

Ukraine has proposed adopting neutral status - that is, not joining military alliances like Nato or hosting military bases - in return for countries offering to be guarantors of its security.

Erdogan spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by phone on Thursday.

Ankara has offered to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

As we've been reporting, efforts to evacuate civilians out of the besieged southern port city of Mariupol are continuing today.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has said it plans to lead a convoy later of 54 Ukrainian buses and private cars out of the city, which has faced weeks of bombardment.

As our updated map below shows, Russian forces have been tightening their grip on Mariupol over the last month.

Capturing the city would give Russia control of the Azov Sea coastline between Russia and Crimea.

Image source, RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF EMERGENCY SITUATION

Reports of Ukrainian military helicopters targeting an oil storage depot in Russia do not create conditions conducive to continuing peace talks, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Earlier today, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region, which lies north of Ukraine, said that an oil depot was ablaze following an attack by two Ukrainian helicopters.

Peskov was asked at his daily press briefing whether the reported attack amounted to an escalation of the conflict.

"Of course, this is not something that can be perceived as creating conditions comfortable for the continuation of negotiations," he replied, as reported by the Interfax news agency.

Peskov redirected further questions regarding the reported strikes to Russia's law enforcement agencies, according to the report.

He also said authorities were doing everything to reorganise the fuel supply chain and avoid disruption of energy supplies in Belgorod.

Image source, EPA

Russian forces are withdrawing from the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine but have not yet left entirely, the local governor has said.

Speaking in a video address on Friday, Viacheslav Chaus said: "Air and missile strikes are (still) possible in the region, nobody is ruling this out," Reuters news agency reported.

He added that Ukrainian forces were entering and securing settlements previously held by Russian troops.

Chaus said it was still too early for Ukrainian forces in the Chernihiv region to let their guard down as Russian troops "are still on our land."

Russia said on Tuesday it would cut back operations around Chernihiv and the capital Kyiv in an effort to "boost mutual trust" in peace talks.

But Chaus previously told the BBC attacks had continued overnight into Wednesday.

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

I’m in Goole in East Yorkshire — at the biggest ambulance factory in the UK.

Dozens of white vans are parked up round the back, which emerge from the warehouse ready to go as ambulances on our streets here at home.

But today, they are also spray-painting and refitting chunky old military vehicles here to turn them into battlefield-ready ambulances for Ukraine.

The first completed ones will leave this evening - and be in Ukraine in a few days' time.

Hear more about how this has happened on Radio 4's PM this afternoon at 5pm.

Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent in Odesa

As we've been reporting, Russian authorities have accused Ukraine of carrying out an air attack on an oil depot in Russian territory.

If confirmed - and Ukraine is yet to claim responsibility for the attack in Belgorod, near the Ukraine border - it would be the first known time Ukrainian aircraft have flown into Russian airspace to strike a target, bringing the war home to Russia.

Ukrainian helicopter pilots have plenty of experience of flying low and fast to avoid being detected by military radar and air defence systems. They’ve been doing exactly that in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine for years. I experienced and witnessed the extraordinary skills of the Ukrainian military pilots in 2018 – flying barely metres above the tree line and telegraph poles.

But if these reports are correct - flying at night, well into Russian territory, to launch an attack on an enemy fuel depot would have required extraordinary bravery - as well as finely-honed flying skills.

Low-flying helicopters are still vulnerable to short-range air defence systems. Flying at night would have lessened that risk, but heightened the danger of hitting an object near the ground.

This alleged attack alone will not dramatically alter the battle. But it could show Ukraine has managed to keep its air force functioning, and give a huge boost to the morale of Ukraine's military.

We are now hearing from the Kremlin as Russia responds to the alleged Ukrainian attack on a Russian oil depot in Belgorod.

The Kremlin says that the strike on the fuel depot does not create comfortable conditions to continue peace talks, Reuters reports.

A spokesman adds that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed on the incident and says everything is being done to reorganise the fuel supply chain to avoid disruption in the town, Reuters says.

As we've been reporting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is holding talks with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar as part of efforts to strengthen ties with the country.

Speaking at a briefing after the talks, Lavrov said some progress had been made in peace talks with Ukraine, according to Reuters news agency.

He said Moscow was preparing its response to Ukrainian proposals, which include Kyiv's offer to become neutral in return for security guarantees.

Lavrov said Kyiv had shown "much more understanding" of the situation in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, and Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which is largely under Russian control, as well as the necessity of Ukraine's neutral status.

Returning to Mariupol evacuation efforts the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said the plan has been approved by "top-level authorities" from Ukraine and Russia, Reuters news agency reports.

The organisation is hopeful the evacuation can take place on Friday and it plans to lead 54 Ukrainian buses and private cars in a convoy out of the beleaguered city.

But the ICRC has not received permission to take humanitarian aid and has departed without the pre-positioned medical and other supplies, a spokesman said.

ICRC spokesman Ewan Watson told reporters in Geneva: "This effort has been, and remains, extremely complex.

"There are a lot of moving parts and not all of the details are yet in place to ensure that this happens in a safe manner."

He added that it was hoped "thousands" could be brought to safety.

Vitaliy Shevchenko
BBC Monitoring

Image source, Getty Images

Ukrainian officials are reporting gains made outside Kyiv and also in the southern Kherson region.

The mayor of Brovary, a commuter town immediately to the north-east of Kyiv, said Russian troops had left all of the surrounding areas.

"The Ukrainian armed forces will perform certain clean-up operations today," mayor Ihor Sapozhko told Ukrainian TV.

Brovary itself was never captured by the Russian troops despite heavy fighting in neighbouring villages. Also in the Kyiv region, Ukrainian forces have "freed" the town of Vyshhorod immediately north of the Ukrainian capital, presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said on Telegram, external.

In the southern Kherson region, 11 towns and villages have been taken by Ukrainian forces, Arestovych added, external.

The BBC has not independently verified these claims.

Kherson remains the only major Ukrainian city captured by Russian forces.

On Tuesday, Moscow promised to reduce its military activity in two northern regions - Kyiv and Chernihiv - and Ukraine's army has said some Russian forces have been withdrawing from there.