Guterres acknowledged the failure of U.N. institutions, primarily the Security Council, to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the port – earlier this week he said he had secured a commitment from Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to allow the U.N. to oversee an evacuation.

Germany embarks on a dramatic reversal of its previous reluctance to supply weapons, agreeing to dispatch dozens of armoured anti-aircraft vehicles to the ex-Soviet state.

Ukrainian officials proposed new talks with Russia – specifically on tackling the long-running humanitarian crisis in Mariupol. But Moscow said nothing about the appeal.

Two straight days of attacks on the Ukrainian capital have given pause to tentative signs of pre-war life re-emerging in the city following Russia’s announced pivot towards a new offensive in the eastern Donbas region.

Kadyrov has been among the most vocal supporters of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. Thousands of "Kadyrovtsy", an armed militia formally integrated in Russia’s law enforcement, but de-facto loyal to Kadyrov, have been fighting in Ukraine

Ukrainian officials urged residents of Donetsk and Luhansk regions still under their control to leave while they could as the Pentagon said its intelligence showed Russian forces had now abandoned all their positions around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv.

U.S. President Joe Biden said the discovery of the dead civilians was “outrageous” and said Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin should face a war trial.

Ukraine was bracing for an intensification of Russian activity in the eastern Donbas region after Russian suggestions that it intended to concentrate its efforts on “liberating” those Russian-speaking areas in the east of the country.

Ukrainian forces made progress in pushing back the Russian invaders, recapturing towns north and west of the capital and in central Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, addressing Western leaders at a rare “triple summit” in Brussels, said he needed more weaponry and more fighter aircraft