NEW DELHI: Russia has yet to capture any of Ukraine's biggest cities even as the war enters its fourth week. More than 3 million Ukrainians have fled and thousands have died in the largest assault on a European state since World War Two.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was ready to discuss neutral status for its neighbour but would still achieve the goals of its operation.
But Putin acknowledged that Western sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its actions were hurting.
Here is a look at other top developments in the story so far:
1 killed as downed missile hits residential building in Kyiv
One person was killed and three injured when debris from a downed rocket hit a Kyiv apartment block on Thursday, emergency services said.
Rescuers said they were able to evacuate 30 people from the 16-storey building in eastern Darnitsky district.
The upper edge of the Soviet-style block was partially wrecked and an apartment on the top floor was destroyed, reported AFP.
The incident happened just under two hours before the city emerged from a curfew imposed late Tuesday.
US to provide Kamikaze drones to Ukraine
The United States said Wednesday that Ukraine would be given 'kamikaze drones', enabling Kyiv's forces to better defend against Russian armor from a distance.
They are long-range missile defense and Switchblade armed drones that can strike attacking aircraft much further away.
According to a military source, the systems are the Soviet/Russian-made S-300, which like the US-made patriot system, is a fully automated, ground-based radar-and-missile launcher.
The unit can detect, track and fire at multiple incoming aerial threats at long distances.
'Over a thousand were sheltering in bombed Ukraine theatre'
Russian forces on Wednesday destroyed a theatre in Mariupol where hundreds of people were sheltering, the Ukrainian authorities have said. This even as the two sides projected optimism over efforts to negotiate an end to the fighting.
The airstrike ripped apart the center of the once-elegant building, Ukraine's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Many people were buried in the rubble, the statement added, though there was no immediate word on how many had been killed or injured.
Top UN court tells Moscow to halt Ukraine invasion
The International Court of Justice has ordered Russia to suspend its invasion of Ukraine, saying it is "profoundly concerned" by Moscow's use of force.
Kyiv hailed the verdict as a "complete victory" saying it will continue to pursue the case "until Ukrainian people can go back to normal life.
"The Russian Federation shall immediately suspend military operations in war-hit Ukraine that it commenced on February 24 ,", presiding judge Joan Donoghue said at the hearing.
Indian judge votes against Russia at top UN court
The United States on Wednesday welcomed an order by the International Court of Justice asking Russia to immediately suspend its military operations in Ukraine.
Describing it as a significant ruling, state department spokesperson Ned Price said that the ICJ "clearly and unequivocally" ordered Russia to immediately suspend its military operations.
Indian judge Dalveer Bhandari voted against Russia at the International Court of Justice. India so far has abstained from voting against Russia at any international platform.
UNSC calls meeting over Ukraine situation
Six nations have called for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Ukraine on Thursday afternoon, ahead of an expected vote on a Russian resolution demanding protection for Ukrainian civilians.
"Russia is committing war crimes and targeting civilians. Russia's illegal war on Ukraine is a threat to us all," tweeted the UN mission of the United Kingdom.
Russian authorities maintain they did not start the war and have repeatedly decried reports of civilian deaths in Ukraine as fake news. They have also denounced reports calling its military operations a war or an invasion.
Here are some key things to know about the Ukraine-Russia conflict:
Russian forces destroyed a theater in Mariupol where hundreds of people were sheltering Wednesday and rained fire on other cities, Ukrainian authorities said, even as the two sides projected optimism over efforts to negotiate an end to the fighting.
What is happening on the ground?
Ten people were killed while standing in line for bread in the northern city of Chernihiv, the Ukrainian General Prosecutor's Office said.
Satellite images from the Maxar space technology company showed Russian self-propelled artillery and multiple-rocket launchers deployed on the outskirts of Chernihiv, their barrels and tubes aimed at the city.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter that the attack on the theater in Mariupol is a "horrendous war crime." Maxar's satellite imagery from Monday showed the word "children" written in large white letters in Russian in front of and behind the building.
The Russian defense ministry denied bombing the theatre or anywhere else in Mariupol on Wednesday.
In central Kyiv, shrapnel from an artillery shell smashed into a 12-story apartment building early Wednesday, wiping out the building's top floor and starting a fire. Emergency services reported two victims from the blaze, without specifying if they were killed or injured.
Fighting continued in Kyiv's suburbs, depriving thousands of heat and clean water.
A Russian airstrike destroyed multiple residential apartments in the town of Markhalivka southwest of the capital, authorities said.
Russia now occupies the city of Ivankiv, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Kyiv, and controls the surrounding region on the border with Belarus, local officials said.
Relentless strikes pounded the northeastern city of Kharkiv close to the Russian border, but Ukrainian forces continued to thwart Russia's incursion into the heart of the city, city officials said.
Powerful explosions also thundered in the region around Kherson, a strategic port near the Black Sea. Ukrainian military forces have dealt a punishing blow to Russian air assets stationed at the airport in Kherson, which Russian troops seized early in the war, the Ukraine military's General Staff said late Wednesday.
There were also explosions near a train station in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, home to several power stations.
Zelenskyy invokes Pearl Harbor and 9/11
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, went before the US Congress via video and, invoking Pearl Harbor and 9/11, pleaded with America for more weapons and tougher sanctions against Russia, saying: " We need you right now."
"My priorities during the negotiations are absolutely clear: the end of the war, guarantees of security, sovereignty, restoration of territorial integrity, real guarantees for our country, real protection for our country," Zelenskyy said in a video address released early on Thursday.
Zelenskyy repeated a request for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, something the West won't introduce.
"In the darkest time for our country, for the whole of Europe, I call on you to do more," he said.
Biden calls Putin a war criminal
US President Joe Biden announced the US is sending an additional $800 million in military aid to Ukraine, including more anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons and drones. He also called Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" in his sharpest condemnation of the Russian leader since the invasion began.
Biden's spokesperson added that he had spoken "from his heart" -- but the Kremlin quickly punched back, calling the comment "unacceptable and unforgivable on the part of the head of a state, whose bombs have killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world."
How the world is responding to the war?
With the Ukrainian resistance frustrating Kremlin hopes for a lightning victory, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that a "business-like spirit" has emerged in talks with Ukrainian officials, which he described as focused on a "neutral status" for Ukraine's military.
The leaders of three European countries, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, returned on Wednesday from a risky trip to the besieged Ukrainian capital to show their support and meet with Zelenskyy.
Biden also plans to travel to Europe next week for talks with European leaders about the Russian invasion, and will attend an extraordinary NATO summit in Brussels. NATO has been bolstering its eastern flank with troops and equipment to deter Russia from invading any of its members.
Meanwhile, Japan announced it will revoke its "most favored nation" trade status for Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
(With inputs from agencies)
