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Ammunition stockpiles aboard a Russian ship that was famously defied by Ukrainian troops early in the war have detonated, according to a statement from the Russian defence ministry.

A fire caused the explosion on the Moskva, the statement in Russian media said, adding that all sailors had evacuated beforehand.

The statement said: "The cruiser Moskva's ammunition has detonated as a result of a fire on the warship.

"The vessel is seriously damaged. The entire crew have been evacuated. The cause of the blaze is being investigated."

It did not specify the cause of the fire.

But earlier on Wednesday, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet was hit by Ukrainian rockets, according to the governor of Odesa.

Ukrainian officials said Russia was struggling to rescue the estimated 510 crew members on board.

The Moskva warship rose to fame early in the war when Ukrainian defenders of Snake Island refused calls to surrender and told the Russian ship to "go to hell", before they were ultimately taken prisoner.

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Germany must draw up a schedule to withdraw from using Russia's gas supply, the head of energy utility association BDEW, Marie-Luise Wolff, has said.

There is pressure on Germany to stop providing funds for the Kremlin to wage war and to guard itself against a sudden stop of exports on the Russian side.

It comes as German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he had offered to visit Ukraine with other EU leaders, but Kyiv had told him he was not welcome due to his close ties with Russia and his support for the now-suspended Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline designed to double the flow of Russian gas to Germany.

"We must now use all our energy to prepare our exit from Russian gas supplies in detail and to underpin the necessary measures with an ambitious timetable," Wolff said.

Germany's leading economic institute said a Russian energy supply freeze would cause a recession in 2023 and has slashed its 2022 growth forecast for Europe's biggest economy because of the impact of the war in Ukraine.

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In his nightly address to the nation, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky argues that if Russia fails to pursue a peace agreement they must leave the international community forever.

"Either the Russian leadership will really seek peace or as a result of this war Russia will leave the international arena forever," he says.

Speaking about Russia's increasing strikes in the east and south, he said: "All this feverish activity of the occupiers testifies first of all to their insecurity.

"To the fact that even with significant stocks of Soviet military equipment and a significant number of soldiers... the Russian troops doubt their ability to break us, to break Ukraine.

"Well, we do everything to justify their doubts."

He also reiterated his call for a total embargo of Russian oil, saying: "The European Union must stop sponsoring Russia's military machine."

Zelensky expressed gratitude to President Biden after he pledged another massive weapons shipment to Ukraine.

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If you're just joining our live coverage, here are the latest developments:

US military aid

• The US has pledged another weapons shipment to Ukraine which President Biden said would give Ukrainian forces "new capabilities" in the fight against Russian invaders
• The shipment includes helicopters, backpack-worn Switchblade drones - also known as "kamikaze drones" - and howitzer cannons, armoured vehicles and other supplies
• It come after Biden accused Russia of "genocide" - a term that other countries such as France have been reluctant to use

'Crime scene' call

• In Bucha war crimes prosecutors visiting the site of civilian killings have called Ukraine a crime scene. "We have reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court are being committed," the International Criminal Court's Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said
• The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia visited President Zelensky in Ukraine, and also toured the formerly-occupied town of Borodyanka
• A major European security organisation says there are clear patterns of Russian troops violating international humanitarian law. A panel of OSCE experts said it had found credible evidence of torture and other punishments

Mariupol latest

• Earlier, Russia said more than a thousand Ukrainian marines had surrendered in the besieged port of Mariupol. But a Ukrainian presidential adviser insisted the city had not fallen
• Fighting in Mariupol, which has been left in ruins after a six-week assault, appears to be continuing around the Azovstal industrial district. If Russia takes the area it would reportedly have full control of the city

This is Nathan Williams and Gareth Evans in London handing over to our colleagues Jude Sheerin in Washington DC and Max Matza in Seattle.

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The Russian military has threatened to strike Ukraine's command centres in the capital, Kyiv, if there are continued attacks on its territory.

"We are seeing Ukrainian troops' attempts to carry out sabotage and strike Russian territory," the Russian defence ministry claimed in its regular evening briefing.

"If such cases continue, the Russian armed forces will strike decision-making centres, including in Kyiv," it added.

Russia has accused Ukraine of shelling its territory before, including an alleged attack on an air base last month.

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As we reported earlier, war crimes prosecutors have been visiting the site of civilian killings in Bucha.

Images of the town's streets strewn with bodies shocked the world earlier this month, and local officials say hundreds of civilians were killed and buried in mass graves.

"We have reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court are being committed," the International Criminal Court's Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan told reporters earlier.

"We have to pierce the fog of war to get to the truth,” Khan later wrote on Twitter. He also described Ukraine as a "crime scene".

Khan has been pictured visiting the site of a mass burial in Bucha.

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The $800m worth of US weaponry pledged by President Biden on Wednesday to Ukraine includes artillery and radar systems that may require "additional training" for Ukrainian troops.

"The systems that will probably require some additional training for Ukrainian forces are the howitzers (and) ... the counter artillery radar," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

The radar system, he said, is "not a very difficult system to operate, but it's not one that they have in their inventory".

Howitzers are a type of relatively short-barrelled cannon, used to lob shells into enemy lines.

According to the US Defense Department, the shipment will include 18 Howitzers along with 40,000 artillery rounds.

It will also include hundreds of missiles and Switchblade drones - also known as kamikaze drones due to the way they can be flown into their target.

The US is also sending 11 helicopters, hundreds of armoured vehicles, anti-personnel mines, body armour and chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear protective equipment.

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A Russian cruiser which was famously defied by Ukrainian troops on a small island at the start of the war has been hit by Ukrainian rockets in the Black Sea, according to Ukrainian officials.

The Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, received "very serious damage", Odesa regional governor Maksym Marchenko said.

"It has been confirmed that the missile cruiser Moskva today went exactly where it was sent by our border guards on Snake Island!" he said.

On the first day of the invasion, the small garrison refused calls from the ship for it to surrender, telling the ship to "go to hell".

Earlier on Wednesday a fire was reported on the ship. Ukrainian presidential aide Oleksiy Arestovych said Russian rescuers were unable to reach the vessel.

He said the ship could have as many as 510 crew members on board.

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The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have become the latest world leaders to hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ukraine.

They also visited the town of Borodyanka, near Kyiv.

Polish presidential adviser Jakub Kumoch said the aim of the trip was to show support to President Zelensky and the defenders of Ukraine "in a decisive moment".

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said it was "hard to believe that such war atrocities could be perpetrated in 21st-Century Europe".

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The US is to send an additional $800m in military assistance to Ukraine.

The announcement follows a phone call between Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Joe Biden.

Biden said the support would include new weapons tailored to combat Russia’s expected “wider assault” in the east of Ukraine.

The package also includes helicopters and what Biden called “new capabilities” such as artillery systems and armoured personnel carriers.

Senior US defence officials say the total military aid provided by the US now stands at more than $3bn.

Biden has said the weaponry supplied so far has helped ensure the failure of Russia’s initial war aims.

But he added it was not the time to rest, saying: “I assured President Zelenskyy that the American people will continue to stand with the brave Ukrainian people."

It is "at least plausible" to consider whether genocide could be an issue in relation to the war in Ukraine, according to a legal expert.

As we have been reporting, US President Joe Biden has said there was evidence of genocidal acts by Russian troops in Ukraine.

This was the first time he used the word genocide - defined under international law as a mass extermination of a particular group of people - in relation to the conflict in Ukraine.

Philippe Sands QC said to prove "genocidal intent" was "very difficult" in court.

But speaking on BBC Radio 4, the lawyer and University College London professor said: "I understand why both President Zelensky and President Biden are now using this word, because this is wrongdoing on a scale that is so great that I think it is at least plausible to raise the genocide issue.”

We have reports of more people being killed in Ukraine's north-eastern region of Kharkiv.

At least seven people were killed and 22 wounded by shelling in the past 24 hours, according to Kharkiv's governor Oleh Synegubov.

He has also said that Ukrainian troops have shot down two Russian planes that attacked the region.

Kharkiv - which sits near the border - has been under attack since the start of the war.

But unlike regions further to the west, which have seen Russian troops move away in recent days, it is still in the firing line.

This is because of its position on the edge of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, the area Russia hopes to take in its next offensive.

Image source, Reuters

A potential Russia-Ukraine ceasefire appears unlikely at this stage, UN chief Antonio Guterres has said.

He told reporters this afternoon: "At the present moment a global ceasefire in Ukraine doesn't seem possible."

Instead, he said the UN was focusing its efforts on supporting evacuees and boosting humanitarian aid.

Guterres said the UN had made proposals to Russia to "bring the parties together... to manage" humanitarian access and the evacuation of civilians, but had not yet received a response from Moscow.

"There are lots of things that can be done in order to guarantee evacuation of civilians," he said.

Donetsk Regional Police have shared footage of the moment a puppy is rescued from the rubble in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk.

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If you're just joining our live coverage, here are the latest developments:

• War crimes prosecutors visiting the site of civilian killings in Bucha have called Ukraine a crime scene. "We have reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court are being committed," the International Criminal Court's Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said
• A major European security organisation, meanwhile, says there are clear patterns of Russian troops violating international humanitarian law. A panel of OSCE experts said it had found credible evidence of torture and other punishments
• Earlier, Russia said more than a thousand Ukrainian marines had surrendered in the besieged port of Mariupol. But a Ukrainian presidential adviser insisted the city had not fallen
• Fighting in Mariupol, which has been left in ruins after a six-week assault, appears to be continuing around the Azovstal industrial district. If Russia takes the area it would reportedly have full control of the city
• Ukraine's President Zelensky has pleaded for the West to send heavy weaponry. He said Ukraine needed heavy artillery, armoured vehicles, tanks, air defence systems and combat aircraft
• In the last few moments, Ukraine's leader has spoken to US President Joe Biden. The pair discussed additional defence and financial aid

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US President Joe Biden and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky have just spoken by phone.

They discussed additional defensive and financial aid for Ukraine as well as tightening sanctions and alleged Russian war crimes, Zelensky wrote on Twitter.

It comes after the Ukrainian president made another impassioned plea to the West to send heavy weaponry to repel Russian aggression.

In an online English-language address, he said Ukraine needed heavy artillery, armoured vehicles, tanks, air defence systems and combat aircraft.

Rob Cameron
BBC Prague Correspondent

The Czech foreign ministry says its diplomats have returned to the embassy in Kyiv for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February.

The ministry tweeted a photo of three diplomats raising the Czech flag in front of the building.

In a statement, the ministry said it was one of the many steps the country was taking to show its support for Ukraine.

It would always stand with Ukraine, it said.

The Czech Republic has been one of the more muscular supporters of Ukraine as it defends itself from Russian aggression.

It was the first Nato or EU country to send tanks to the country, while a crowd-funding effort organised by the Ukrainian Embassy and the Czech Defence Ministry to buy weapons for the Ukrainian armed forces has approached 1bn Czech koruna, (£34m, 41m euros).

Russia has shifted the focus of its invasion to eastern Ukraine after withdrawing forces from Kyiv and the north.

And in recent days, Ukrainian officials have warned that it is preparing to launch a new offensive in the east targeting the Donbas region.

This has led analysts to examine Russian military activity around eastern Ukraine more closely.

These satellite images from Maxar show Russian military vehicles assembling just 8km (5 miles) from the border.

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More than 100 civilians have been killed in the north-eastern Sumy region - according to its military chief.

Dmytro Zhyvytsky said many corpses were discovered with their hands tied. Some showed signs of torture or gunshot wounds to the head.

He alleged that invading Russian soldiers had "fired on everyone", including the elderly and children.

Many people from the city were missing or had been captured, he added.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify these claims.

The discoveries in Sumy appear reminiscent of atrocities uncovered in Bucha. Russia has repeatedly denied committing any war crimes there.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court earlier labelled Ukraine a "crime scene" after visiting Bucha.