Anna Foster
Reporting from Kyiv

The mayor of Kyiv, Vitaly Klitschko, says a huge bronze statue that celebrates the friendship between Ukraine and Russia is going to be dismantled.

The sculpture of two workers has stood near the Dnieper river since 1982. On Tuesday, it will be taken apart and removed.

A second sculpture will be covered up, and the famous Friendship Arch will be renamed and re-lit in the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

I met Mariah and her friends taking a walk past it in the sunshine: “This monument isn’t important for us or our history,” she tells me.

“We haven’t been brother nations with Russia for the last eight years. Tomorrow should be a great day for our nation. Since 24 February, Russia has ruined us.”

Sergei feels strongly too, and he won’t miss the statue: “I agree with the decision, no regrets from my side. Our friendship with Russia was destroyed in 2014. We don’t need this sculpture anymore.”

Image source, Reuters

Ukraine's military command has accused Russia of attacking the nation's railway infrastructure in order to disrupt supply lines for military equipment from foreign countries.

"They are trying to destroy the supply routes of military-technical assistance from partner states. To do this, they focus strikes on railway junctions," the Armed Forces of Ukraine wrote, in a post on Facebook, external.

It follows Russian attacks on railway infrastructure in five locations in central and western Ukraine on Monday - with at least five people killed and 18 wounded in strikes on two towns in the Vinnytsia region.

Last month some 50 civilians - many of them trying to evacuate to safer locations - were killed by a Russian rocket attack on the railway station in Kramatorsk in the east of the country.

Image source, Reuters

If you're just joining us - or are in need of a recap, here is a round-up of the latest events in Ukraine.

• At least five people were killed - and 18 wounded - after Russian rockets struck transport infrastructure in two towns in Ukraine's central Vinnytsia region, local officials said
• Five railways were targeted in strikes, according to Ukrainian officials - including one near Lviv, and two in the Rivne region
• Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has confirmed the UK is giving Ukraine “a small number” of Stormer armoured vehicles, fitted with launchers for Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles
• The UK also said it had assessed that approximately 15,000 Russian military personnel had been killed since the invasion began
• A proposed humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians caught in the siege at the steelworks in Mariupol has failed to materialise
• Moscow said there would be a ceasefire around the plant from 1400 local time, but Ukraine's deputy prime minister said no agreement had been reached and called for written security guarantees
• More than 45,000 Ukrainians have fled their homeland in the past 24 hours, the United Nations' refugee agency has said - bringing the total number of refugees to 5.2 million
• Russia has "demanded an end" to US proposals to send more weapons to Ukraine. Moscow's ambassador to Washington said an official diplomatic note had been sent to the White House. It comes after the US pledged a further $713m in military aid to Ukraine

Image source, Getty

We heard earlier from UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace as he outlined details of more weaponry being sent to Ukraine, but he also gave a new assessment of Russian losses on the battlefield.

He said the Ministry of Defence assessed that about 15,000 Russian military personnel had been killed, while an estimated 2,000 armoured vehicles had been destroyed or captured.

That includes at least 530 tanks, 530 armoured personnel carriers and 560 infantry fighting vehicles, he said.

Wallace said Russia had also lost more than 60 helicopters and fighter jets.

So far, Russia had "failed in nearly every one of its objectives", he said, but Ukrainians were still "fighting for their lives".

Alistair Coleman
BBC Monitoring

Image source, Rossiya 1 TV

Downing Street says claims aired on Russian state TV that Prime Minister Boris Johnson threatened to carry out a unilateral nuclear strike against Russia are untrue.

The baseless claim was made on 60 Minutes, a chat show on the state-run Rossiya 1 TV channel last Friday.

Presenter Olga Skabeyeva said over video of the UK prime minister's visit to India: “Yesterday, this clown [Boris Johnson] threatened to carry out a nuclear strike against Russia, if needed, without consulting Nato.”

A statement from the No 10 press office said that “these claims are completely untrue and yet another example of disinformation peddled by the Kremlin”.

“The UK government is entirely united with its Nato allies in supporting Ukraine against Russia’s illegal invasion,” the statement concluded.

Apart from Skabeyeva, the quote has been circulated by Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, who tweeted a similar statement to his 800,000 followers the previous day; as well as TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov, who also posted it on Telegram to his more than one million followers.

The accusation has also gathered pace on pro-Kremlin social media channels and news websites, with one version featuring an apocalyptic view of London in flames, being viewed nearly half a million times.

In some cases, the claim comes with a counter-claim from several popular Russian Telegram channels that it was “fake news” planted by Ukraine to discredit Russia.

However, the earliest mentions of the so-called British nuclear threat that the BBC was able to find were carried on pro-Russian social media channels.

The US wants to see Russia defeatedpublished at 16:45 British Summer Time 25 April 2022

16:45 BST 25 April 2022

Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent, reporting from Donbas

President Biden’s always made clear that the US won’t directly intervene in the war in Ukraine.

He won’t be sending American troops to join the battle. But the truth is that the US is getting more deeply involved -and that’s been highlighted by the words of the US defence secretary.

America has dramatically increased the supply of weapons to Ukraine in recent weeks and despite Russian warnings, it’s made clear it’ll be sending more.

Lloyd Austin’s words underline that America is not a bystander in this war. America wants to see Russia defeated. More than that, it wants to see Russia’s military machine reduced to such an extent that it will not be able to threaten any another European ally in the future.

The fear, shared by Nato allies, is that any kind of defeat for Ukraine will only embolden President Putin’s ambitions.

Austin has now set out clearly that the US has its own strategic goals for this war - even if it’s theoretically not participating. The goal is to stop President Putin and to weaken Russia’s military to such an extent that it will no longer be able to threaten other nations.

To some extent that’s already happened. Military experts already believe it will take years for Russia to recover from its military losses.

That might also send a signal to another nation which the US is increasingly concerned about - namely China.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, European Pressphoto Agency

More than 5.2 million Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia launched its invasion two months ago - with over 45,000 joining their ranks in the past 24 hours, the United Nations' refugee agency has said.

In total, 5,232,014 people have left Ukraine as refugees since 24 February, according to the UNHCR. That marks an increase of 45,270 compared with Sunday's figure.

The outflow has slowed since the start of the war. Since the beginning of April, just under 1.2 million Ukrainians have fled the country, after some 3.4 million left in March.

Women and children account for 90% of those who have fled abroad, with men aged 18 to 60 eligible for military call-up and unable to leave.

In addition, the International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 7.7 million people have been displaced within Ukraine.

Almost two-thirds of Ukrainian children have fled their homes, including those who remain in the country.

Image source, Mike Weston/MOD

The UK is giving Ukraine a "small number" of Stormer armoured vehicles equipped with launchers for Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles to bolster the country's air defences.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told the House of Commons the vehicles would offer improved "short-range anti-air capabilities both day and night".

He said the Starstreak missiles had already been deployed and used in Ukraine for the last three weeks.

Wallace said the UK assessed that a quarter of Russian forces committed to Ukraine were now "rendered not combat effective" as he praised Ukraine's resistance as "an inspiration to us all".

Image source, reuters

Moscow says it's expelling 40 German diplomats in response to the "unfriendly decision" by Berlin to kick out Russian diplomatic staff over the conflict in Ukraine.

Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement it had summoned Germany's ambassador in Moscow and handed him "a note about 40 employees of the German diplomatic establishments in Russia being declared personae non gratae".

Responding, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said: "We expected today's step, but it is in no way justified."

She added the 40 Russian diplomats expelled by Berlin in early April "did not serve diplomacy for a single day" while those expelled by Russia had "not done anything wrong".

Western nations have expelled dozens of Russian diplomats amid increasing outrage over Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine, and Russia has said it will respond to all such expulsions.

Those declared persona non grata are generally given days or weeks to leave the country.

Joe Inwood
Reporting from Kyiv

A proposed humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians caught in the siege at the steelworks in Mariupol has failed, after Ukrainians said they had not been involved in discussions to set it up.

Russia had announced plans for a ceasefire at 1400 local time - but it failed to materialise.

Trust has been in short supply in this conflict. Time and again, humanitarian corridors have been proposed. Time and again they have failed.

It is thought as many as a thousand civilians are stuck in the sprawling tunnels of the Azovstal steel plant, along with the last of the city’s Ukrainian defenders.

The ceasefire was announced by Russia unilaterally.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshschuk said she would do everything she could to open a corridor, but that Ukraine needed security guarantees for civilians - and there was no trust in Russian promises.

Image source, .

The International Criminal Court (ICC) will join the EU team established last month to investigate allegations of war crimes in Ukraine.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan and the prosecutors general from Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine signed an agreement on Monday for the international war crimes tribunal's first-ever participation in an investigative team, Eurojust said.

A statement by Eurojust - the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation - said the collaborative effort would send "a clear message that all efforts will be undertaken" to gather evidence and bring those responsible to justice.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and prosecutes suspected individual war criminals who are not before the courts of individual states.

In early March, the ICC's chief prosecutor Karim Khan said he planned to open an investigation into events in Ukraine "as rapidly as possible", after 39 nations called for an inquiry to be opened.

Want to know more? Here's a brief overview of what constitutes a war crime, and how perpetrators might be prosecuted.

At least five people have been killed after Russian rockets struck two towns in Ukraine's central Vinnytsia region, the regional prosecutor's office has said.

Another 18 were wounded by the strikes on transport infrastructure in Zhmerynka and Kozyatyn, officials said.

"The enemy is attempting to hit critical infrastructure," the regional governor is quoted by Reuters news agency as saying in a video released on Telegram.

As we have reporting, Ukrainian officials say five railway stations have come under attack in central and western Ukraine.

Image source, .

The International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) has said it is launching a mission to Ukraine to examine the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which was the scene of fierce fighting earlier in the war and raised fears of a major radiation leak.

The team of safety experts are due to arrive on Tuesday at Chernobyl to deliver equipment, make assessments of radiation levels and help to restore safeguards and monitoring systems, external.

As the site of history's worst nuclear disaster in 1986, Chernobyl is no longer a functioning power plant, but work continues there to store radioactive waste

Two weeks ago, the BBC's Yogita Limaye was one of the first journalists to visit the plant after Russian forces left.

Workers said they scrambled to find fuel to keep generators going after power was cut off during the fighting, even resorting to stealing from the Russians to maintain critical safety systems.

As we've been reporting, five railway stations have come under attack in central and western Ukraine, Ukrainian officials have said.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Ukraine has not reached any agreement with Russia on establishing a humanitarian corridor for civilians from the southern city of Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshschuk has said.

Russia announced a ceasefire for the Azovstal steel plant would take place from 14:00 local time (11:00 GMT), to allow the evacuation of civilians sheltering inside.

Vereshchuk told BBC Ukraine she had heard many times that Russia's Ministry of Defence would be calling a ceasefire and opening up a humanitarian corridor.

But, she added, Russia "never kept its commitments and did not open the corridor".

She demanded guarantees for the security for civilians.

Vereshchuk said that Ukraine wants Moscow to provide written security guarantees to UN Secretary General António Guterres.

There have been several failed evacuation attempts from Mariupol since Russia intensified its pressure on Ukrainian soldiers and civilians sheltering in the Azovstal plant.

As we reported earlier, there has been a huge blaze at an oil depot in the Russian city of Bryansk, not far from the Ukrainian border.

At this stage, neither side is linking the incident to the conflict. Russia says it is investigating the cause of the fires, while Ukraine is yet to comment.

Despite this, there is much speculation about what caused them. Last week Russia accused Ukraine of using helicopters to strike residential buildings in the region. Ukraine denied attacking another depot earlier this month.

A video of Bryansk circulating on social media, which the BBC believes is authentic, shows an oil tank exploding into flames.

The location is significant as it is along the Druzbha pipeline, a key artery bringing Russian oil to Europe. There are no reports yet of disruption to the supply. We will bring you more on this story as we get it.

Stations and the railway infrastructure have become a key target for Russian forces in Ukraine.

Rail lines are crucial for both bringing in supplies and evacuating civilians to bordering countries, such as Poland.

Monday morning saw five stations in central and western Ukraine under fire, including one around the town of Krasne, near Lviv, and two in the Rivne region, according to a post on Telegram from the head of Rivne Regional Military Administration, Vitalii Koval.

"The enemy launched two missile strikes on the railway infrastructure," wrote Koval.

"The damage is being established, there are no casualties. We strongly recommend that you be in shelters during air alerts," he said.

Head of the Lviv regional military administration Maxim Kozitsky said Russian troops fired missles from the air causing an explosion at the traction substation of the Krasnoye railway station.

The Lviv governor said there were no casualties from the strike there, but elsewhere people are reported to be dead or injured in attacks in the Vinnytsia region.

Last month, more than 50 people - many evacuating civilians - were killed in a rocket attack on a railway station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.

The station was hit at about 10:30 local time on 8 April as crowds were "waiting for the first train" to be evacuated to safer regions in central and western Ukraine.

Both sides said Tochka-U rockets were used in the Kramatorsk strike, with Russia blaming Ukraine's armed forces for the attack and vice versa.

The US, EU and UK have condemned the incident.

Image source, Reuters

Russian forces have destroyed fuel and oil refinery facilities in Kremenchuk, a city in central Ukraine to the north-west of Dnipro, its defence ministry claimed on Monday.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in the latest briefing on Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine that it had also carried out strikes on a number of military targets.

Appearing on state news channel Rossiya 24, Konashenkov said: "The Russian armed forces are continuing the special military operation in Ukraine. Precision-guided long-range weapons have destroyed facilities at an oil refinery on the northern outskirts of the city of Kremenchuk for the production of fuel, as well as storage facilities with petroleum products providing military equipment for the grouping of Ukrainian troops."

He added Russian forces had "struck 56 Ukrainian military facilities".

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

Mark Lowen
BBC News, Kyiv

Russia’s timing is invariably aimed for maximum effect.

So its decision to strike railways in the centre and west of Ukraine hours after the US secretary of state and defence secretary left Kyiv by train back to Poland is almost certainly designed to be another warning shot from Moscow.

Five stations were hit by missiles, including one in Krasne, near Lviv, where a facility handling the power supply to overhead lines was struck. There are reports of injuries. The railway lines are integral to Ukraine’s war effort, moving troops and military hardware in and out of Poland, which is Nato’s logistics hub.

Targeting the stations appears to be an attempt to degrade Kyiv’s military supply route.

But it’s also chilling for the refugees who continue to use train lines to escape the renewed Russian offensive in the Donbas. The station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk was hit earlier this month, killing dozens fleeing.

And now the railway infrastructure in the centre and west of the country has been hit, leaving this terrorised nation with few safe routes out.

Russia has warned the US against sending more weapons to Ukraine, Moscow's ambassador to Washington told Russian state television.

"We stressed the unacceptability of this situation when the United States of America pours weapons into Ukraine, and we demanded an end to this practice," Anatoly Antonov is quoted by Reuters as saying in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

Antonov said an official diplomatic note had been sent to Washington expressing Russia's concerns, it added.As we've been reporting this morning, Washington's top diplomat and its defence secretary met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv late on Sunday, pledging new assistance worth more than $700m in support.