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

Ukraine’s president says his military is “tormenting” Russian forces and their success in holding off invading troops has been “historically significant”. Ukraine landed a symbolic blow on Russia by sinking its Moskva missile cruiser on Thursday – a victory which has led to retaliatory strikes on Kyiv. And while Kharkiv and eastern parts of the

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 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

Russia says it will tow the flagship of its Black Sea fleet back to port after extinguishing a fire on board – which Ukraine claims to have ignited with anti-ship missiles. Moscow’s defence ministry said the Moskva missile cruiser was still afloat and its main weaponry had not been damaged. Ukrainian officials, however, said the

“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

US President Joe Biden has described Russia’s actions in Ukraine as “genocide” and says Vladimir Putin is trying to “wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian”. In a speech to voters in Iowa about rising fuel prices, Mr Biden said: “Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of

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

For the second time in her life Kristina Dubyna is a refugee in her own country. Only this time her fears and anxiety over the future for herself and four-year-old son Lev are being compounded by British bureaucracy. The 40-year-old English teacher and college administrator fled her home in Kyiv, along with her husband and

Ukrainian troops cheered and celebrated after reportedly shooting down a Russian drone with a British-made missile, new video shows. In footage shared online, a Ukrainian soldier is seen firing a laser-guided missile into the sky. After it seemingly hits the target – although this is not shown in the video – loud cheers are heard,

Pulling up outside a small house in a rural village near Kyiv, the police team stepped out of their van with another body bag. A young man was waiting at the front gate to usher them into the garden where, next to a shallow grave in a patch of mud, lay the body of his

French President Emmanuel Macron will face far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the presidential elections after making it through the first round. According to the official Ipsos exit poll, the president secured 28.1% of the vote and his rival won 23.3%. French voters will go to the polls again on 24 April to decide whether

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

Poland has summoned the French ambassador after the country’s prime minister was called a “far-right anti-Semite” by Emmanuel Macron. The comments came after Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki compared the French president’s phone calls with Vladimir Putin to negotiating with Hitler. Mr Macron is a day away from France’s presidential election – where his main rival

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