Civilians flee eastern Ukraine in advance of a widely forecast attack – as it happened

A Russian soldier patrols at the Mariupol drama theatre hit by an airstrike in March. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images

6.25am BST

We are closing this liveblog but please follow all the latest developments in Ukraine on our new blog below.

Updated at 6.26am BST

5.48am BST

Summary

Here is a comprehensive re-cap of where things stand:

• US president Joe Biden has labelled Russia’s actions in Ukraine as “genocide”, saying Russian president Vladimir Putin “is trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian”. “We’ll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me,” he added. Zelenskiy promptly responded: “True words of a true leader. Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil.”

• Putin’s closest ally in Ukraine, Viktor Medvedchuk, has been captured by Ukrainian law enforcement. Medvedchuk is the leader of the Opposition Platform for Life, Ukraine’s biggest opposition party. Zelenskiy proposed releasing him to Russia in exchange for Ukrainians captured by Russian forces. Zelenskiy also warned Russia: “Let Medvedchuk be an example for you. Even the former oligarch did not escape, not to mention much more ordinary criminals from the Russian boondocks. We will get everyone.”

• Zelenskiy said it is “not yet possible” to draw 100% conclusions about what kind of substance was used in Mariupol during his national address late on Tuesday. Earlier, he voiced concerns that Russian forces were preparing “a new stage of terror” that could involve the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine. Andriy Biletsky, the leader of the Azov volunteer regiment, claimed on Monday that three people in the southern port city had experienced “poisoning by warfare chemicals, but without catastrophic consequences”.

• The world’s chemical weapons watchdog, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said it is “concerned” over reports of the use of chemical weapons in Mariupol.

• Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said it has received $4m worth of equipment to digitise Russia’s war crimes. “Two private companies, AXON and Benish GPS, have donated $4 million worth of special equipment (chest video recorders) to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine,” the agency said in an update over the Telegram messaging app.

• Civilians have fled eastern Ukraine in advance of a widely forecast attack and Russian forces closed in on the ruins of the southern city of Mariupol. Ukrainian forces were preparing for a new Russian offensive in the east of the country, with the governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Gaidai, urging residents to evacuate as soon as possible using agreed humanitarian corridors.

• The mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boichenko, said the latest estimate was that around 21,000 civilian residents had been killed in the city since the start of the Russian invasion. The number of deaths in Mariupol could be as high as 22,000, Pavlo Kyrylenko, the head of the Donetsk regional military administration, told CNN.

• The mayor of the Ukrainian town of Bucha, near Kyiv, said authorities had so far found 403 bodies of people they believed were killed by Russian forces during their occupation of the area. That number was still growing, Anatoliy Fedoruk said, adding that it was too early for residents to return to the town.

• Putin said Ukraine had deviated from the agreements made at a peace conference in Istanbul, and that talks were in a “dead end”. When asked about the Russian president’s comments, a member of the Ukrainian delegation, Mykhailo Podolyak, said negotiations with Russians were very hard but were continuing.

• Putin also claimed Russia’s military operation was going as planned, and that Russia’s aim in Ukraine was to meet all its goals and minimise losses. “We will achieve our objectives, there are no doubts,” Putin told workers at the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia’s far east. “Its goals are absolutely clear and noble,” he said of Russia’s military campaign. He said Russia “had no other choice” but to launch what he calls a “special military operation”, and vowed it would “continue until its full completion and the fulfilment of the tasks that have been set”.

• The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, defended Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, claiming it was a pre-emptive strike against the west.
  

• The World Bank is planning financial support to Ukraine worth $1.5bn (£1.2bn) to help keep critical services running as the country fights a fresh assault by Russia. The bank said the funds would be used to support the continuation of key government services, including wages for hospital workers, pensions for elderly people and social programmes for vulnerable people.

• Without Europe’s abandonment of Russia’s energy resources and the complete restriction of Russia’s banking system, Russia’s leadership will not attempt to seek peace, Zelenskiy argued.

• Ukraine’s border force said more than 870,000 people who fled abroad since Russia’s invasion have returned to the country, including a growing number of women and children, AFP reports.
  

• US President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to announce another $750 million in military assistance for Ukraine as soon as Wednesday, two US officials familiar with the matter told Reuters.

• The Pentagon will host leaders from the top eight US weapons manufacturers on Wednesday to discuss the industry’s capacity to meet Ukraine’s weapons needs if the war with Russia lasts years, two people familiar with the meeting said on Tuesday.

• The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, spoke with Biden on Tuesday to discuss boosting military and economic support to Ukraine as well as the need to end western reliance on Russian oil and gas.