‘Risk of dying is high’, says Kyiv mayor to those who wish to return

‘So many people are very tense’: customers in a bar in central Kyiv take advantage of the relaxation of rules on buying alcohol. Photograph: Oleg Petrasiuk/The Guardian

Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, has warned those who fled Ukraine’s capital at the start of the war with Russia not to return as “the risk of dying is pretty high”, even as he offered a glint of normality by partially lifting an alcohol ban.

The former world heavyweight boxing champion said he expected “huge battles” in the coming days in satellite towns and the outskirts of the city, which Russian forces have repeatedly tried but failed to encircle.