Image source, Getty Images

We're pausing our live coverage for now. Here is a round-up of the latest developments in the war:

• Seven people were killed in Russian missile attacks on an apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia
• Rescuers were working for hours afterwards to recover people trapped under the rubble
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed leaders at the summit of the new European Political Community (EPC) and called the strikes "absolute meanness, absolute evil"
• UK PM Liz Truss says leaders of the EPC had been united in their support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. Truss and French President Emmanuel Macron said they would give "all necessary support" to Ukraine for "as long as it takes"
• The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has stressed that the it regards the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as Ukrainian, despite President Putin having signed a decree to expropriate it

Image source, Getty Images

The death toll after the Russian missile strikes on Ukraine's southern city of Zaporizhzhia this morning has risen to seven, says the regional governor, Oleksandr Starukh.

At least five people are still considered missing and efforts to determine the exact number of dead and injured are continuing, he adds.

"Thanks to the prompt work of special services, rescuers and doctors, it was possible to save 21 people," he says.

He adds that the firing of S-300 air defence missiles - which Russia has used increasingly to attack civilian and other targets in Ukraine - was “a real act of terrorism".

Image source, Getty Images

The US has confirmed two Russian men arrived in Alaska to try to avoid being forced into military service.

The state's Republican senators say the pair fled Russia country by boat, landing on St Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea and have now requested asylum. Both are currently being detained. The two men arrived at a beach near an isolated community of about 600 people on St Lawrence Island.

The island is about 37 miles from the Russian mainland and is closer to the foreign country than it is to the rest of Alaska.

Alaska's senators, Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, have referred the matter to the Department of Homeland Security.

It will determine whether or not the men will be allowed admission given the current heightened tensions with Russia.

The senators have also called for stronger security in America's Arctic circle given Alaska's proximity to Russia.

Last month President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilisation, caling up 300,000 Russians to take part in the country's war against Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces continue to claim gains in four regions that were recently illegally annexed by Russia following so-called "referendum" votes.

Earlier, a military spokeswoman said Kyiv's troops had retaken more than 400 sq km (154 sq miles) in the southern Kherson region since the start of the month.

This southern breakthrough follows another fightback in the east. In Donetsk, Ukrainian forces took back the town of Lyman at the weekend.

Read more about Ukraine's latest breakthroughs against Russia.

Image source, .

Image source, Getty Images

Here's a round up of today's developments:

• Seven Russian missiles hit residential areas in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia before dawn, killing five people and injuring 12, according to officials and emergency services. Rescuers were working for hours afterwards to recover people trapped under the rubble.
• A second attack followed some time later - the BBC's Paul Adams reported at least three more loud explosions in the city centre.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed leaders at the summit of the new European Political Community (EPC) and called the strikes "absolute meanness, absolute evil"
• Leaders of the 27 European Union states and 17 other European countries are attending the summit. British PM Liz Truss and French President Emmanuel Macron said they would give "all necessary support" to Ukraine for "as long as it takes"

• The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said the agency considered the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine to be a “Ukrainian facility” after Putin signed a decree to formalise Russia’s seizure of the nuclear complex

You can read more here:

• Europe's leaders hold big summit on Russian war
• 'Mother. I'm scared' - inside Ukraine city under fire

Photographers are continuing to capture the impact of the war on people living in Ukraine.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

Prime Minister Liz Truss and French President Emmanuel Macron have underlined their determination to provide "all necessary support" to Ukraine "for as long as it takes" to "restore Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, to resist Russian aggression, and to hold Russia to account for its actions".

The two leaders "reaffirmed the strong and historic ties between their two countries", according to a joint statement following their meeting in the margins of the first summit of the European Political Community in Prague.

They also agreed to hold the next UK-France Summit in 2023 in France to take forward a renewed bilateral agenda, the statement said.

"Energy transition and decoupling from Russian hydro-carbons are common challenges," the statement reads, adding that they discussed advancing bilateral co-operation in particular on energy.

You can read more about the summit here

Paul Adams
Reporting from Zaporizhzhia

At the devastated apartment building on Sobornyi Ave in Zaporizhzhia, rescue workers are working late into the evening, combing through the wreckage in an effort to recover bodies.

They have found five so far and they clearly assume there are more buried under a mountain of rubble. They do not expect to find any survivors. Work also continues on another shattered building nearby.Sirens wailed over the city as the work continued. Zaporizhzhia is bracing for more attacks.

Yesterday, we reported that Ukrainian officials had shared pictures, external of what they said was evidence of torture in a village in Kharkiv region by Russian soldiers.

One of the images showed a box of metal teeth, allegedly torn from the mouths of captives.

We reported that Ukraine was investigating and the BBC had not confirmed the allegations.

Now, German newspaper Bild reports that its journalists have visited the village in question. They spoke to the local dentist, named only as Sergey, who said: "These teeth look like the ones from my collection that were looted here. I'm the only dentist [in the village]. So if they were found here, they must be mine.”

Bild says that Sergey suspected that Russians stole the teeth because they thought they were made of gold and to intimidate locals. He denied that the crowns could have come from dead people, saying he had taken them out from his patients himself.

However the Bild report does cite residents who testify that other types of torture did occur in the village, and that they heard cries for help from within buildings during the Russian occupation.

Russia has previously been accused of widespread human rights abuses in Ukraine - last month the BBC heard from a man who said he was tortured with electric shocks.

Liz Truss has called French President Emmanuel Macron a “friend” at a European summit in Prague, weeks after she said the "jury is out" on whether Macron was a “friend or foe” during the Tory leadership race.

Truss met Macron at the summit of the European Political Community - and told media that she worked "very, very closely" with Macron and the French government.

“We’re both very clear the foe is Vladimir Putin, who has through his appalling war in Ukraine threatened freedom and democracy in Europe and pushed up energy prices which we’re now all having to deal with," she said.

Asked directly if she considered him a friend, Truss replied: "He is a friend."

Image source, Pool

We've just been hearing from prime minister Liz Truss, who is currently attending the summit in Prague of the new group of European countries called the European Political Community(EPC).

She says the meeting is about the UK working with its European partners to "challenge Putin's appalling war in Ukraine".

"It's very important that we work with our neighbours and allies to face down Putin, but also deal with the issues we face," Truss says.

Among those issues are inflation, migration and rising energy costs, she says.

She stresses her attendance at the summit is not about moving closer to Europe in an attempt to ease UK-EU trade to boost growth.

"This is not about moving closer to Europe," she says.

"This is about working with Europe on issues that we both face and we both face rising energy costs," she says.

"That is why we're working with our European neighbours on doing more on the North Sea, on off-shore wind.

"We're working with our partners on more nuclear energy, so that we're never in the same position again of being dependent on Russia, and Russia using energy as leverage against free democracies," she adds.

Ukraine has made multiple claims of recapturing territory from Russian forces in recent weeks.

But what's the situation in those towns that have been taken back?

Earlier this week, the BBC's Orla Guerin visited the eastern town of Lyman - which was snatched back at the weekend.

She discovered deserted, debris-strewn streets filled with burnt-out buildings.

Ukrainian civilians appeared "shell-shocked" following months of bombardment - and not sure whether to believe their ordeal was over.

The bodies of five dead Russian soldiers in their uniform were among our correspondent's other grim finds.

Read Orla's full report from Lyman.

Hugo Bachega
Ukraine correspondent in Kyiv

Image source, EPA

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, has said the agency considered the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in southern Ukraine to be a “Ukrainian facility”.

Speaking in Kyiv after meeting the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Grossi said they had talked about the “administrative consequences of the Russian annexation” of the Zaporizhzhia region by Russia, a move widely dismissed as illegal.

On Wednesday, President Putin signed a decree to formalise Russia’s seizure of the nuclear complex, which is still being operated by its Ukrainian staff.

Grossi said the IAEA mission based at the plant would be expanded from two to four members.

Fighting in the area has raised fears over the safety of the plant, and Grossi has called for the creation of a security zone.

Grossi said his goal was to prevent a nuclear accident, and that he would discuss the proposal during a visit to Moscow.

The first meeting of the European Political Community is now underway in the Czech Republic.

The meeting in Prague Castle brings together leaders of the 27 European Union states and 17 other European countries.

It is a tradition for world leaders to pose together for, what has become known as, a family photo.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Reuters

Image source, EPA

Image source, EPA

Paul Adams
Reporting from Zaporizhzhia

At the scenes of this morning’s explosions, volunteers from all over the city have formed human chains to help remove debris. They’re answering calls made this morning on social media, as Zaporizhzhia deals with the aftermath of a difficult day.

As night falls, it’s still not known how many people died at the collapsed apartment on Sobornyi Ave.

Sniffer dogs have been used to try and locate survivors.

At least one person has been taken out alive. The city council says more than 40 apartment blocks and 11 private houses were damaged in this morning’s missile strikes.

Officials said the missiles were modified S-300 air defence missiles, which Russia has increasingly been using to attack civilian and other targets across the country.

Zaporizhzhia is in shock, its people worried that this may be a taste of dangers to come.

Image source, Reuters

Here's a recap of the current situation in Ukraine's southern city of Zaporizhzhia after it was struck by Russian missiles early this morning:

• Ukrainian emergency services say three people died after missile strikes on a residential area
• Twelve others were injured and rescuers were still working hours afterwards to free those trapped under the rubble, the regional governor said
• A BBC correspondent in the city heard three later blasts some time after the initial attack
• In a video address to European leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky labelled the strikes "absolute meanness, absolute evil"
• Russia' latest defence update did not make reference to strikes on the city, though it mentioned destruction of weapons depots near Zaporizhzhia

Image source, Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken at the first summit of the new European Political Community (EPC).

Speaking by videolink, Zelensky made specific reference to alleged Russian strikes on residential buildings in the southern city Zaporizhzhia earlier today.

"After the first missile strike today, when people came to clear the debris, Russia launched a second missile strike," Zelensky said. "Absolute meanness, absolute evil."

He told the summit that Ukraine never wanted the war - but that Europe was now in a "strong position" to direct its energies to ending the conflict.

He presented this as a way to guarantee wider peace in Europe, "so that Russian tanks do not advance on Warsaw or again on Prague."

Zelensky said: "We must admit the obvious: we are forced to deal with a state that does not want peace. Which responds to all proposals for real peace with missile strikes, provocation of artificial crises and ridicule."

In a tweet, European council president Charles Michel thanked Zelensky for joining.

"Europe is with you and the brave people of #Ukraine, external," he added.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces say they've retaken more than 400 sq km (154 sq miles) in the southern Kherson region since the start of the month.

"We have quite convincing successes, we do not name the directions," a spokeswoman said in a media briefing.

The land has been "freed from the occupiers [...] and we are moving forward," she added.

The BBC cannot independently verify the claims.

Kherson is one of four Ukrainian regions that Russia recently annexed in an illegal move.

But Kyiv's counter-offensive has been acknowledged by pro-Russian figures, with a Kremlin-installed official in Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, telling residents earlier this week: "There is no reason to panic."

Read more about Ukraine's fightback here.

Image source, Reuters

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Europe's energy infrastructure needs to be improved.

Speaking on arrival at the first European Political Community meeting in Prague, Scholz says: "We need to improve infrastructures everywhere. That applies to Central and Eastern Europe, that applies to Southern and Central Europe, that applies to Western and Central Europe, that applies to Northern and Central Europe.

"That's part of it, that we build a European grid. This is important for the electricity grid, the gas grid and the future hydrogen grid."

Image source, EPA

The deputy head of the National Police in the region of Kharkiv has said that since 7 September the force has exhumed 534 bodies of civilians, including 19 children's bodies, in territories liberated from Russian forces in the region, according to comments quoted by Interfax Ukraine.

This also includes bodies of 226 women and 260 men and remains of 29 individuals whose gender has not yet been established, he said.

Among them are bodies recovered from the mass burial site near Izyum, he added.

The site contains hundreds of makeshift graves in a forest. When the BBC's Orla Guerin visited the site in mid September, the Kharkiv regional prosecutor told her some of the people buried there had been tortured, while others were killed in Russian air and artillery strikes.