Aleem Maqbool
Religion editor, BBC News

The Russian Orthodox Church has echoed the rhetoric of the Kremlin in justifying the war in Ukraine. It is a stance that appears to be driving large numbers of Ukrainian priests and parishioners to turn their backs on Moscow.

"I will never forget the moment when I woke up early to go to mass, only to suddenly hear the shocking sounds of bombing," says Father Nicolay Pluzhnik.

"The wonderful woman who cooked at our church and her son, who was in a wheelchair, were both killed when an artillery shell hit their apartment. I now know of several other of our parishioners who have died."

Like most clergy in the region of north-eastern Ukraine where he is from, Father Pluzhnik belonged to the branch of the Russian Orthodox Church which takes its direction from its religious leadership in Moscow.

But now, he says, he has applied to join the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - which was finally granted independence from the Russian Orthodox Church in 2019, in a move never recognised by Russia.

Read more here.

If you're just joining us, here are the latest developments in Ukraine:

• Russia has warned Ukraine's allies to stop arming the country, saying that failing to do so could have "unpredictable consequences"
• Ukraine's president has warned that the world should prepare for the possibility that Russia will commit a nuclear strike
• The police chief of the Kyiv region says Ukrainian police have found the bodies of 900 civilians around the capital, more than a week after Russian troops pulled out of the area. The largest cluster of bodies, some 350, were reportedly found in the town of Bucha
• Russia says it struck a Ukrainian plant making anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles outside Kyiv, hours after admitting that the Russian warship Moskva had sunk following an explosion on Thursday
• US officials, speaking anonymously, say the US believes the Moskva was hit by two Ukrainian Neptune missiles and there were Russian casualties when the ship sank
• In the destroyed city of Mariupol, much of which is occupied by Russian forces, Ukrainian officials have accused the occupiers of exhuming bodies to hide evidence of crimes

• The UN says more than five million Ukrainians have been forced out of their homes during the conflict

Image source, Handout

In President Zelensky's latest nightly address to the nation, he says it is difficult to predict how long the war will last.

"Of course, I also hear different predictions. I have much more information than some media outlets about the intentions and capabilities of the Russian army," he says.

"About the potential of the Russian economy. About the emotional state of society in Russia."

He says two factors will determine the conflict's duration.

"The success of our military on the battlefield is really significant," he says. "Historically significant. But not enough to clean our land from the occupiers yet. We’ll beat them more," he says.

"Sanctions against Russia are very significant. Economically painful. But still not enough for the Russian military machine to be left without means of subsistence. We promote stronger, more destructive ones."

Zelensky adds: "If someone says: year or years, I answer: you can make the war much shorter. The more and the sooner we get all the weapons we have requested, the stronger our position will be and the sooner peace will come."

A Jack Russell has been been hard at work helping to remove explosive devices left behind by Russian troops.

Patron is currently working in the Chernihiv region, north of Kyiv, and has so far helped to remove hundreds of devices.

Image source, CNN

The world should be prepared for the possibility that Russia will target Ukraine with a nuclear strike, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday.

Zelensky was asked in a CNN interview about whether he was worried about recent comments by the CIA's director, who said on Thursday that Russia could use tactical nuclear weapons in its invasion.

"Not only me - all of the world, all of the countries have to be worried because it can be not real information, but it can be the truth," Zelensky said, briefly switching to English for emphasis.

"We should think not be afraid, not be afraid but be ready," he continued. "But that is not a question for Ukraine - not only for Ukraine - but for all the world, I think."

Last month, a Kremlin spokesman said Russia would only resort to nuclear weapons if it faced an existential threat.

Zelensky was also asked about the sinking of Russia's prized warship, the Moskva, but was cagey about reports that it was hit by two Ukrainian missiles.

"We know that it does not exist anymore. For us, it is a strong weapon against our country, so its sinking is not a tragedy for us.

"The less weapons the Russian Federation that has attacked our country has, the better for us."

Image source, Reuters

The United Nations is appealing for access to Ukrainians trapped in war zones after it said people in besieged areas were starving to death.

The World Food Programme (WFP) based in Rome says it has delivered aid to 1.4 million people in Ukraine since the war began, but it needs safe access to deliver food to 2.3 million people this month.

It said it had not been allowed access to the southern port city of Mariupol, where Russia has been accused of trying to starve its population of 300,000 into surrendering, and the heavily shelled city of Mykolaiv, east of Odessa.

"It's one thing when people are suffering from the devastation of war. It's another thing when they're being starved to death," WFP executive director David Beasley said in a statement.

More than seven million people are displaced inside Ukraine with the normal supply chains to deliver food to the population "broken down in many areas", WFP said.

Almost 1.5 million people have no access to running water and more than 4.5 million could lose it due to damage to water pipes or electricity lines, Ukraine's ombudsman for human rights, Lyudmyla Denisova, added.

David Willis
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Russia has formally warned the US - and other allied nations - against supplying weapons to Ukraine.

The warning came in a formal diplomatic note from Moscow, a copy of which has been reviewed by media outlets in the US.

The two-page diplomatic note – forwarded to the US State Department by the Russian embassy in Washington - warns that US and Nato weapons shipments are "adding fuel" to the conflict in Ukraine, and could lead to what Russian diplomats refer to as "unpredictable consequences".

It was sent on Tuesday, just as word of a new US military aid package for Ukraine had started to leak out. Only hours later President Biden approved the shipment of $800m of military assistance - including, for the first time, long range artillery weapons such as howitzers – with the aim of matching Russia’s military capability in Ukraine.

A senior US administration official was quoted as saying the warning could be seen as a concession by Russia that US and Nato military assistance to Ukraine was proving effective.

The first part of this latest shipment is expected to arrive in Ukraine in the next few days, as Russian forces continue to mobilise in the east of the country, ahead of what is expected to be a major assault on the disputed Donbas region of Ukraine in the next few weeks.

Since the war began the US has supplied more than $3bn in military assistance to Ukraine.

Image source, Getty Images

The SAS, Britain's famed special forces corps, has been training Ukrainian soldiers on the ground in the Kyiv region, Ukrainian military sources have told The Times of London, external.

Officers from two battalions told the newspaper on Friday that SAS troops led training sessions last week and the week before.

One commander said the trainers showed how to use NLAWs, a type of British anti-tank missile.

The report of serving British soldiers on the ground in Ukraine for the first time has not been confirmed by the UK Ministry of Defence.

Image source, Reuters

If you're just joining us or need a catch-up, here are the latest developments in Ukraine:

• The police chief of the Kyiv region says Ukrainian police have found the bodies of 900 civilians around the capital, more than a week after Russian troops pulled out of the area. The largest number of bodies, some 350, were reportedly found in the town of Bucha
• Russia says it struck a Ukrainian plant making anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles outside Kyiv, hours after admitting that the Russian warship Moskva had sunk following an explosion on Thursday
• US officials, speaking anonymously, say the US believes the Moskva was hit by two Ukrainian Neptune missiles and there were Russian casualties when the ship sank
• Ukrainian officials claim several civilians were killed and injured on Thursday while trying to flee the country's east after Russian forces opened fire on evacuation buses
• In the destroyed city of Mariupol, much of which is occupied by Russian forces, Ukrainian officials have accused the occupiers of exhuming bodies to hide evidence of crimes
• The UN says more than five million Ukrainians have been forced out of their homes during the conflict