Russian ban of Boris Johnson and UK ministers not a surprisepublished at 14:05 British Summer Time 16 April 2022

14:05 BST 16 April 2022

Paul Adams
BBC Diplomatic correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Retaliation of this kind was always likely. Russia sees the UK as one of the international actors most intimately involved in efforts to support Ukraine militarily and isolate Russia economically and politically.

Russia’s move is unlikely to make a difference to the travel plans of the 13 British politicians. It’s unlikely any of them had a trip to Moscow in their diaries.

But it speaks to the Kremlin’s growing anger at the way the West has responded to its invasion of Ukraine and its willingness to lash out against those who it sees as having played a role in isolating Russia in the past (Theresa May helped to orchestrate the mass expulsion of scores of Russian diplomats from more than 20 Western allies in the wake of Russia’s use of a nerve agent in Salisbury in 2018).

Russia has warned that further shipments of Western military equipment to Ukraine could result in “unpredictable consequences”.

Banning political leaders is not exactly unexpected. What worries officials in London, Washington and elsewhere is that Russia has the ability, and possibly even the desire, to resort to other military means, including the use of unconventional weapons.

Image source, EPA

Here’s a round-up of the latest events in the ongoing war in Ukraine this afternoon:

• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and 12 other politicians are barred from entering Russia over their “hostile” stance on the conflict
• The UN records 1,982 civilian deaths since the start of the war, but warns the figure is an underestimate
• One person has been killed and several wounded in missile strikes that hit Ukraine’s capital Kyiv earlier today, the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says
• Russia warns of "unpredictable consequences" if the Western nations continue to supply weapons to Ukraine

• US officials say two Ukrainian Neptune Missiles hit the Russian Moskva warship and there were Russian casualties when the ship sank. Russia says a fire onboard caused the sinking

Image source, .

Image source, Getty

French cosmetics company L'Occitane has said it will close its shops and website in Russia in a U-turn of its original decision to keep them open.

Customers had threatened to boycott the brand, which said keeping the shops open would protect staff from potential "retaliation".

But in a statement released on Friday, the beauty firm said it would close the shops due to “enormous human suffering and escalating military action in Ukraine”.

L'Occitane is sold at more than 3,085 retail outlets worldwide and had sales of €1.5bn (£1.3bn) last year.

Rival beauty brands L’Oreal and Estee Lauder are among hundreds of international companies that have already closed shops and ceased online sales in Russia in protest at the war.

As well as having financial implications, the shuttering of Western companies in Russia has symbolic meaning, as they increased their presence in the country following the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union 30 years ago.

One person has been killed and several wounded in the missile strikes that hit Kyiv earlier today, Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko says.

Klitschko added that medics were fighting for the lives of those who had been wounded.

He added that Russian generals had threatened missile strikes on the capital - and that was what was occurring.

Air defences were trying to protect people, Klitchko added in his update on Telegram, "but the enemy is ruthless".

Image source, . EPA/RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY

Over the past couple of days, we've been reporting on the sinking of Russia's flagship Black Sea missile cruiser the Moskva.

There are conflicting reports from Ukrainian and Russian officials on the cause of the damage that led to the vessel's demise.

The Russian defence ministry said ammunition onboard exploded in an unexplained fire and the ship tipped over while being towed back to port, while Ukraine says it struck the vessel with its Neptune missiles.

Unnamed US officials have since told US media they believe the Ukrainian version.

But what facts are known about the sinking? Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

Details are starting to emerge about strikes in Kyiv overnight, with the city's mayor saying there were explosions in the Darnytskyi district on the capital's outskirts.

Rescue workers and medics were at the site, Vitali Klitschko said in an online post. It remains unclear if there have been any casualties and what specifically has been hit.

Last night was the second consecutive night that the Kyiv region has been targeted, after two weeks of relative calm in the area.

Anna Budko, a local resident, told BBC correspondent Yogita Limaye: "You forget sometimes that you’re still afraid of every sound, even if it comes from your neighbour’s house, or if someone bangs a car door.

"You shiver and try to overcome that. No words can describe how scary it is."

It comes after Russia on Friday threatened more strikes on strategic targets in Kyiv if Ukraine continued shelling Russian villages along the border.

Image source, PA

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been barred from entering Russia over the UK's "hostile" stance on the war in Ukraine, Moscow has said.

Russia's foreign ministry said Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, former prime minister Theresa May and First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon were among 13 British government members and politicians barred from entering the country.

The move was taken "in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the British government, in particular the imposition of sanctions against senior Russian officials", the ministry said in a statement, adding that it would expand the list soon.

Russia has already barred US President Joe Biden and a string of other US officials from entering the country.

Image source, EPA

The UN has recorded the killing of more than 1,900 civilians since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but warned the "actual figures are much higher".

Of the 1,982 civilians killed between 24 February and 14 April, 162 were children, said the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

A further 2,651 civilians had been injured - 256 of them children.

Most of the deaths and injuries had been caused by shelling and air strikes, the OHCHR said., external

The High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has previously expressed horror at reports of civilians killed in the town of Bucha, near the capital Kyiv, saying they raised "serious and disturbing questions about possible war crimes" and calling for evidence to be preserved.

Image source, Getty Images

More now on the explosions in Kyiv this morning.

Russian strikes targeted a military factory in the capital, according to Russia's defence ministry cited by TASS news agency.

Defence ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said 16 enemy targets were destroyed with high-precision missiles, including equipment, warehouses and weapons storage bases.

He added that a military equipment repair shop in Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine was also hit.

Image source, Getty Images

If you're just joining us, or want a recap, here's the latest developments in Ukraine this morning:

• Explosions hit Ukraine's capital Kyiv, as well as the western city of Lviv, according to Ukrainian officials. It is not known what sites were attacked, or whether there have been casualties

• Russia formally warns of "unpredictable consequences" if the US and allies keep supplying weapons to Ukraine
• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the war so far and as many as 10,000 have been injured
• US officials say the Russian Moskva warship was hit by two Ukrainian Neptune missiles and there were Russian casualties when the ship sank. Russia says a fire onboard caused it to sink
• The UN says 4,633 civilian casualties have now been officially recorded in Ukraine since the start of the war, but added that the number is likely to be far higher.

Russian troops are still trying to establish complete control of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine say.

The capture of Mariupol by Russia, if it happens, will be psychologically significant for both sides in this war.

A Russian victory in Mariupol would enable the Kremlin to show its population - through state-controlled media - that Russia was achieving its aims and making progress.

Here's what else the Ukrainian general staff said:

• Russia is continuing its partial blockade on the city of Kharkiv, where Ukraine's army has been repelling Russia for weeks
• Ten attacks have been repelled in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, with some military transport destroyed

The BBC could not independently verify these reports.

Battles continue to be fought across parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, according to the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces.

In its latest update, external, it said battles were most fierce in the eastern regions of Donetsk ad Luhansk.

It added that Russia was also focusing its efforts on establishing full control of the city of Mariupol in the south, as well as attacking Kharkiv in the north-east.

Attacks from the sky have also continued, causing deaths and casualties across a number of regions.

One of the most severely impacted regions is Luhansk, where the cities of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk and Kreminna were hit overnight. One person was killed and three were injured, according to Luhansk's regional governor. He added that a gas pipeline in Severodonetsk was cut off, and the city was without water or gas at present.

In central Ukraine, Poltava and Kirovograd also sustained casualties. In Poltava, one person was killed and one other was injured after a village in the region was hit, according to the regional governor.

The BBC cannot verify these reports.

Toby Luckhurst
BBC News, Lviv

Blasts heard here in the western city of Lviv this morning are far from the front lines in eastern Ukraine.

Air raid sirens are nothing new, however. Russian forces attacked the city in late March, striking industrial targets and injuring at least five people.

The most recent alarm rang out at 05:46 local time (03:20 BST) and was lifted just after 07:00. The official Telegram channel for Maksym Kozytsky, the governor of the region, has given no information about what happened, simply stating “our air defences were working” and promising more detail later.

None of the BBC team heard any explosions from our hotel here in the city centre. A contact in Lviv messaged to say that he saw two jets fly overhead early this morning - something we can’t independently confirm ourselves.

Telegram channels, however are quiet, suggesting at this stage that this wasn’t as significant an attack as the last in March. We’ll wait for more official comment on what may have happened.

Image source, AFP

As we reported earlier, US officials, speaking anonymously, say they believe the Russian missile cruiser was hit by two Ukrainian Neptune missiles and there were Russian casualties when the ship sank.

Russia says the Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, sank after a fire onboard.

The 510-crew warship was a symbol of Russia's military power, leading its naval assault on Ukraine.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's ministry of internal affairs, said the ship's captain, Anton Kuprin, had died during an "explosion and fire on board".

As well as Kyiv, explosions have also been heard in the city of Lviv, in western Ukraine this morning.

In the Telegram messaging app, external, Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said an air raid had taken place between 05:46 and 07:02 local time.

He said Ukraine's air defences were working, but supplied no further information on what was hit and whether there were any casualties.

Explosions have hit Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, according to the city's mayor.

Writing on Telegram, external, Vitali Klitschko said blasts hit the Darnytskyi district on the outskirts of the city.

He added that the number of casualties was unknown and that rescue workers were at the site.

Anna Foster
Reporting from Kyiv

In just a few weeks, the locals in Bucha have become accustomed to death.

It was once a peaceful and little-known suburb of Kyiv, before being occupied for Russian forces as they attempted to assault Kyiv.

Denys Davidoff stayed in the town throughout the occupation. When the Russians left he ventured back onto the streets, and was confronted with a vision of horror.

Many people around the world saw photos and videos of bodies lying scattered on the ground in Bucha, some with hands bound behind their backs. But Denys witnessed them himself.

"Some corpses were lying for such a long time that you could see their bodies were covered with the sand and the earth after it rained. At some point I realised I knew some of the people who were killed."

The people of Bucha are still processing the devastation they've lived through. But they aren't entirely safe just yet. More than 3,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance have been found around the Kyiv region so far.

Making these towns safe again for people to return to will be a huge job.

Read more about the situation in Bucha here.

Damage to Ukraine's transport infrastructure by Russian troops has presented a "significant challenge" to those delivering humanitarian aid to several parts of the north, the UK's Ministry of Defence says.

Russian troops are said to have destroyed bridges, used land mines and abandoned vehicles along key routes as they withdrew from the northern region.

In the city of Chernihiv for example, river crossings were destroyed - leaving behind only one pedestrian bridge in the city, which used to be home to 285,000 people.

Juli is an artist from Chernihiv in northern Ukraine.

For weeks, she's been documenting attacks by Russian forces, showing the destruction of large parts of the city.

But around two weeks ago, the shelling stopped.

"This silence is scary," she said, adding that many in the city were still living in constant fear.

"We really do not believe [the Russians] will not come back."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said up to 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died and as many as 10,000 have been left injured since the invasion began.

He gave the update of between 2,500 and 3,000 deaths in an interview with CNN, in which he also warned about the threat of potential Russian nuclear strike, as we reported earlier.

A month ago, Zelensky estimated that around 1,300 Ukrainian troops had died. But on both occasions, he claimed far more Russian soldiers had been killed.

The BBC has been unable to independently verify these figures, which do not include civilians.

Both sides in the conflict have made frequent claims about the casualties they have inflicted on each other - usually far higher than what their opponent's official count is.