Image source, Getty Images

Alina Kabaeva, a former Russian gymnast who has long been closely linked to Vladimir Putin, has been added to a sixth package sanctions being considered by the European Union.

The Russian leader's private life is closely guarded but she is rumoured to be his girlfriend. Putin denied that initially but reports say she has since given birth to his children.

Two sources have told the BBC in Brussels that she's on the European Commission's sanctions list. That's because of her role as chair of Russia's National Media Group, a TV and media empire with holdings in various channels and websites.

The US has already targeted the assets of two of Putin's daughters by his first marriage, but has not acted against Kabaeva.

While the EU's 27 states are involved in difficult negotiations on other parts of the sanctions package, chiefly on the timing of a ban on Russian oil imports, the proposals targeting dozens of Russian individuals are less controversial. If they go through, those involved would face a ban on entering the EU as well as an assets freeze.

What sanctions are being imposed on Russia?

Image source, EPA/YURI KOCHETKOV

Russia has said there will be no Victory Day celebrations in Ukraine's besieged south-eastern city Mariupol - a strategic port Russian troops claimed control of last month, AFP reports.

Victory Day is celebrated annually on 9 May in Russia to mark the Soviet Union's victory in the Second World War.

"A time will come and there will be a big celebration there," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding there were no plans for official visits on the day.

Some Ukrainian soldiers and civilians remain in the city's huge Azovstal steel plant.

Read more about the importance of Victory Day here.

Joe Inwood
Reporting from Lviv

Joe Inwood gave this update, speaking on BBC World Service radio:

Even the people taking part in this conflict do not have full information, and it is worth emphasising that one of the things that characterises this conflict and this section of the conflict is how hard it is to know exactly what is going on.

You get both sides giving completely, often contradictory, accounts of what's happening - the Russians have denied they're even launching an attack in Mariupol. I think they quite clearly are, we're seeing the pictures coming in of heavy fighting, tanks firing on to the steelworks.

Obviously there is still a defence ongoing, and this morning the Ukrainians have said that they have repelled the initial ground assault by the Russians. If true, that really is quite extraordinary, given that this is obviously a full-blooded attack with the full might of the local Russian forces. But it is really quite difficult to get accurate information out.

As for evacuating civilians, the only way you would get the humanitarian corridor out - and the only way we've seen one happen successfully so far - is with a UN-brokered ceasefire. That happened for a brief period over the last weekend. Fighting then swiftly resumed once the UN and Red Cross were out of the way.

Image source, Reuters

Mykhailo Vershynin is one of the Ukrainian fighters defending the Azovstal steelworks factory in Mariupol, and he spoke to the BBC about the conditions there:

"The situation at the steelworks is now critical; it has been critical for a long time, and now it is getting worse.

"For two days, the Russian troops have been actively storming the plant, they've been pushing the defenders back with the support of aviation, artillery and heavy weapons. There have been losses and more people wounded. We have not been able to get the wounded out.

"The main thing is that we still have civilians in the bomb shelters at the plant.

"Recently, after a very heavy bombardment of the Azovstal, there were two civilians killed and I think 10 wounded. Now we don't have the information [about] how many civilians are killed because we cannot leave and go to the bunkers where they are."

The BBC is unable to independently verify his account. It is very hard to know exactly what is going on in Mariupol, with both sides putting out conflicting information.

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Image source, REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

Russian forces must face justice for a series of war crimes committed near Ukraine's capital Kyiv, Amnesty International has said in a report following an on-the-ground investigation.

Civilians were subjected to "reckless shootings and torture" the rights group has said.

"These are not isolated incidents. These are very much part of a pattern wherever Russian forces were in control of a town or a village," Donatella Rovera, Amnesty's senior crisis response adviser, told a news conference in Kyiv.

The report is based on dozens of interviews and an extensive review of evidence left behind by Russian Troops, Amnesty says.

Russia denies any involvement, but Ukraine says hundreds of civilians were killed by the Russians in Bucha - a town near Kyiv.

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We've just heard that the leaders of the G7 - the world's top industrialised nations - are to take part in a video conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, according to the German government.

"8 May is a historic date which marks the end of World War Two in Europe which caused terror, destruction and death in Europe," a spokeswoman said at a regular press conference.

With the current war in Ukraine, "the cohesion of the G7 is more important than ever," she added.

Germany holds the presidency of the G7 this year.

Paul Kirby
Digital Europe editor

Image source, Getty Images

Victory Day has become a big national event in Russia marking the end of war with Nazi Germany in 1945. But it's only under Vladimir Putin that the day has featured an annual parade complete with military hardware and flypasts.

This year, it's taken on a significance of its own because, far from liberating Europe, Russia has waged the biggest war the continent has seen since World War Two.

Putin used Victory Day in 2014 to celebrate Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, attending the parade in Red Square and then travelling to the Black Sea port of Sevastopol to deliver address to thousands of onlookers.

This year there's no obvious victory to celebrate, so the Kremlin may have to settle for capturing most of Mariupol and claiming defeat of the Azov battalion, which Russia has falsely portrayed as Nazi. That would resonate on Victory Day and warplanes have been rehearsing over Red Square in Z-formation - the symbol of Russia's war.

The Soviet Union lost 27 million lives in World War Two, so Victory Day is also a solemn occasion. But Ukraine saw some of the biggest losses and one opinion poll this week suggested most Ukrainians now see 9 May as a day of remembrance not victory.

Read more about the importance of Victory Day here.

If you are just joining us, these are the latest developments in the Ukraine conflict:

• A new attempt to evacuate civilians trapped with Ukrainian fighters in the Mariupol steelworks is under way
• Capturing the whole of the southern city would be symbolic for Moscow ahead of its annual 9 May Victory Day celebration
• Intense negotiations are under way in Brussels to try to reach agreement on a sixth package of EU sanctions against Russia
• European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the EU must reduce its reliance on Russian gas and that Russia is no longer a reliable partner
• Germany says it is sending heavy artillery to Ukraine, including howitzers

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Image source, Getty Images

Russia will not use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, foreign ministry spokesman Alexei Zaitsev has said.

Western officials have recently publicly discussed concerns about the risks of Russia using nuclear weapons.

CIA intelligence director William Burns said on 14 April, "none of us can take lightly" the threat posed by tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons by Russia in the Ukraine war.

Mariupol is a strategically important port on the Sea of Azov, part of the Black Sea.

Gaining full control of the city leaves Russia in charge of a vast swathe of southern and eastern Ukraine.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has already declared victory in Mariupol but Ukrainian resistance remains in the sprawling Azovstal steelworks.

If Russia takes full control of Mariupol it will secure a land corridor between Crimea and Donbas, allowing resources to be redirected to other Russian fronts in Ukraine.

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A senior Ukrainian official says a new attempt to evacuate civilians trapped with Ukrainian fighters in the Azovstal steelworks is under way in the devastated city of Mariupol.

There are thought to be about 200 civilians - including at least 20 children - still in bunkers under the steel plant - the final part of the southern city that is still in the hands of Ukrainian troops.

Russian forces had "not stopped" shelling the Azovstal steel plant, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Thursday.

So far, some 500 people have been evacuated from the besieged city of Mariupol and its surrounding areas since the UN-led rescue began, according to the organisation.

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Could Putin declare all-out war on 9 May?published at 10:31 British Summer Time 6 May 2022

10:31 BST 6 May 2022

Frank Gardner
BBC News, Security Correspondent

Russia says it's nonsense that it will declare all-out war in Ukraine in the coming days.

Up until now Moscow has denied it is at war, instead referring to its invasion of Ukraine as a "special military operation".

But Western officials have speculated that President Vladimir Putin could use Russia's annual Victory Parade on 9 May to announce an escalation of military action. He of course is keeping his cards close to his chest and until then we should take Moscow’s denials with a hefty pinch of salt.

In the days leading up to the invasion on 24 February, Russian officials queued up to ridicule suggestions of an imminent invasion as "Western hysteria and propaganda".

Yet invade they did, catching even many Ukrainians by surprise.

So the very least we can expect is some triumphant announcements of objectives achieved and enemies (real or imagined) vanquished.

Blame for the slow pace of Russian advance in the Donbas will likely be placed on Nato and there will probably be further warnings to the West to stop helping Ukraine defend itself.

Whatever happens on 9 May, it is hard to see this war ending any time soon.

Image source, EPA

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said the oil embargo on Russia announced earlier this week would not be easy, but that the EU could not "over the long term transfer money to Russia, given its values".

She also said the EU must reduce its reliance on Russian gas and that Russia was no longer a reliable partner.

EU representatives are meeting again on Friday - in talks also expected to go into the weekend - to negotiate a proposed EU sanctions package against Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine and the necessary sanctions taken by the EU were more than a stress test for our economy, von der Leyen added.

She said the EU's place was "at Ukraine's side": "We want Ukraine to win this war," she is quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

Asked what the criteria would be to decide whether Ukraine had won the war, she said it was up to Ukraine to decide how to negotiate with Russia to achieve a ceasefire.

Germany will send Ukraine seven self-propelled howitzers, on top of five artillery systems the Dutch government has already pledged, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht has said.

The German government has come under pressure from European allies for being slow off the mark in providing Ukraine with weapons and it was only at the end of last month that it announced its first delivery, comprising Gepard tanks.

Most of the heavy weapons Nato countries have sent to Ukraine so far are Soviet-built arms, but the US and some other allies have started to supply Kyiv with Western howitzers.

The heavy artillery systems being sent to Ukraine are called Panzerhaubitze 2000, and the German military describes them as among the most modern in the world, so 20 Ukrainian soldiers will need to have training before they're sent.

Germany only has a few dozen howitzers in a combat-ready state and the seven being sent to Ukraine will come from maintenance stock.

Russia's Defence Ministry says its missiles have destroyed a large ammunition depot in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.

It also said its air defences shot down two Ukrainian warplanes - an Su-25 and a MiG-29 - in the eastern Luhansk region.

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

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Image source, REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

The UN secretary general's spokesman Stephane Dujarric has been telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme about the psychological state of people who have been evacuated from Ukraine's besieged city of Mariupol.

He says a lot of civilians who are trapped have been living in "horrific conditions" - often surviving in tunnels with little food and water, and no sunlight.

Dujarric says it is clear from the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' visit to Moscow, in which Guterres spoke directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin, that there is "no immediate chance for a complete cessation of hostilities".

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said evacuations out of Mariupol on Friday would focus on those still stuck inside the Azovstal steel works.

"Today we will concentrate precisely on Azovstal," she told the AFP news agency by phone.

"The operation is starting. We are praying for its success."

On Thursday, Vereshchuk said the evacuation would take place from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, and that residents should gather on Friday at 12:00 local (09:00 GMT) near the city's Port City shopping centre, without giving further details.

We'll bring you further news of the operation throughout the day.

Ukraine has said almost 500 civilians have been evacuated from the south-eastern city of Mariupol since a UN-led rescue operation began, including some people from the besieged Azovstal steel plant.

Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president's office, called the evacuation "a complex operation" and said Ukraine will continue to do everything to "save all civilians and the military".

He thanked the UN for its help on Telegram.

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Image source, Reuters

A senior Ukrainian official says a new attempt is under way "at the moment" to evacuate civilians trapped with Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol's Azovstal steelworks.

Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential staff, gave no details about the progress of the rescue effort but said an update would be given later.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN's Security Council yesterday "the next stage of rescuing our people from Azovstal is under way".

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Russian forces are not making "the sort of strategic breakthrough" they have been looking for in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, Justin Bronk - a research fellow from UK security think tank Rusi - tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He says Russia continues to gain a few kilometres in some areas but their forces are taking "very heavy losses" and "may be out of momentum".

Bronk says fighting is most intense in the eastern city Izyum, where Russians are making advances, east of Kharkiv, with Ukrainian counter-attacks, and areas in the Donbas where Russians are continuing attacks.