World

We’d only been out with the police for a few minutes. The thud was distant. But close enough to abort the patrol. “Turn around, turn around…” Lieutenant Colonel Sasha Malysh said. “It’s shelling.” Then the police radio crackled. “Attention to all patrols… go to the shelter.” Pope condemns ‘Easter of war’ as Kharkiv hit by

Russia has demanded the surrender of the last remaining Ukrainian troops in Mariupol, with the city on the brink of falling. Moscow claimed it would spare the lives of the troops holding out in a blockaded steelworks plant – but only if they surrendered by 11am GMT. Earlier, Russia said it had cleared the urban

The Kremlin has banned Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Ben Wallace and 10 other UK politicians from entering Russia. The Russian foreign ministry said the action was taken “in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the British government, in particular the imposition of sanctions against senior Russian officials”. The list will be expanded soon, according

The sinking of the Moskva missile cruiser means that the crucial city of Odesa is now a bit safer, and any Russian attack on the port would be harder. The loss of the Russian ship has dominated news stories about the war in the last day or so, and has raised questions about what it

A Russian warship which was allegedly attacked by Ukraine has sunk, according to state-owned media. The missile cruiser Moskva is the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet and sank as it was towed back to a port during bad weather after an explosion and fire, according to reports. Earlier, Russia’s defence ministry said the Soviet-era

Russia has said there will be “no more talk of a nuclear–free Baltic” if Sweden and Finland join NATO. Such a development would more than double the length of the military alliance’s land borders with Russia, Moscow added. Sweden and Finland are reviewing their security arrangements following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Polls in both

Russia has admitted that the flagship of its Black Sea Fleet – the Moskva – was in flames on Thursday, with Ukraine claiming to have hit it with missiles. Russia’s defence ministry said the Moskva missile cruiser had been badly damaged after ammunition on board was blown up by the fire. In comments reported by

“We call on everyone who supports the actions of our president and the Russian army to join in creating and distributing truthful content!” This call to arms by a Russian website appears to be successfully recruiting ordinary Russians – 28,000 of them according to research by Sky News – to take part in the information

One image dominates Ukrainian news sites this morning. The photograph of a dishevelled, handcuffed man in his 60s wearing army camouflage was posted on Instagram by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last night. His name is Viktor Medvedchuk, he’s a central character in the story of Ukraine’s recent political history and he’s never been seen like

Russia is concentrating its firepower on the southeast of Ukraine in a new phase of the war that could see up to three times as many Russian troops in the Donbas region. Ukraine’s military, after defeating a Russian attempt to storm the capital Kyiv and forcing Russian soldiers to withdraw from across the north of

The UK is “working urgently” to verify details following unconfirmed reports of a Russian chemical attack in a besieged city in Ukraine, the foreign secretary has said. Liz Truss said any confirmed use of chemical weapons in Mariupol would be a “callous escalation” of the war. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, used his nightly video address

Those willing to squeeze into Yuri’s yellow school bus have made a choice not just to leave Russian-occupied Kherson, but also to leave nearly everything they have. Many stand for the 135km journey in the vehicle that is as crammed full as a lifeboat on the Titanic: There are few drivers, like Yuri, who are

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s wife has revealed what she considers to be Vladimir Putin’s “fatal mistake” – as she discussed what life has been like for the Ukrainian president’s family during the Russian invasion. Olena Zelenska said she realised the war had begun when she heard a “clunk” and “didn’t immediately realise it was an explosion”. It

Russia could launch a full-scale military offensive in the east of Ukraine within days, despite questions about the ability of its demoralised soldiers. Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukraine in the eastern Donbas region since 2014 and parts of the industrial region are under Russian control. Ukraine is believed to have tens of thousands of

Ukraine is bracing itself for a “hard battle” to come as Russian forces continue amassing in the east of the country, with officials urging civilians to flee. While the threat to the capital Kyiv has receded, it is rising in the east, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned. “This will be a hard battle, we believe in

A missile that exploded near a Ukrainian railway station, which officials claim killed at least 39 people, had the words ‘for’ and ‘children’ painted on it in Russian. Up to 4,000 people – believed to be largely women and children – were at Kramatorsk station on Friday morning when the blast hit. The grammar of

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy has demanded a “firm global response” as he blamed Russian forces for a missile strike near a railway station which killed at least 50 people, with the UK set to provide fresh military aid to his country. The UK will send armoured vehicles to Ukraine for the first time as part of

We turned up in Barvinkove looking for the hard-pressed town mayor. He had promised to tell us about plans to evacuate residents from this war-threatened area. The Russian military has made a series of gains in the east as they try to encircle Ukrainian troops in cities such as Kramatorsk and Slavyansk. After a series

More than 30 people have been killed and over 100 wounded in a Russian rocket attack on a railway station in eastern Ukraine, according to local officials. Thousands of civilians were at Kramatorsk railway station trying to evacuate to safer regions in the war-ravaged country, the governor of the Donetsk region said. The Kremlin has

Vladimir Putin’s spokesman has denied Russia has carried out war crimes in Ukraine as he told Sky News we are “living during days of fakes and lies” – but admitted the “significant” loss of Russian troops is a “tragedy”. Dmitry Peskov, in his first broadcast interview with Western media, said verified photos and satellite images