Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has demanded Western nations provide more of the military hardware in their stockpiles, asking if they are afraid of Russia.
Look back at all of Sunday's updates as they happened on our live blog.
Key events
- Residents reeling from Russian attack on Lviv oil depot
- Reports Russian forces have seized a hospital north of Kyiv
- Zelenskyy demands Western nations give Ukraine arms, asks if they're afraid of Moscow
- Biden's comments about Putin not about regime change: White House
- Joe Biden warns of long fight against Russian aggression
- Lviv and Kyiv's outskirts rocked by explosions
Live updates
By Nicholas McElroy
That's all from the blog today
As always, thanks for following along.
You can stay up to date with the latest news online or on the ABC News app.
By Nicholas McElroy
'Multi-cultural jewel': Ukrainians brace for attack on Odesa
The Black Sea port of Odesa is mining its beaches and rushing to defend its cultural heritage from a feared Mariupol-style fate in the face of growing alarm that the strategic city might be next as Russia attempts to strip Ukraine of its coastline.
The multi-cultural jewel, dear to Ukrainian hearts and even Russian ones, would be a hugely strategic win for Russia. It is the country's largest port, crucial to grain and other exports, and headquarters for the Ukrainian navy.
Bombardment from the sea last weekend further raised worries that the city is in Russia's sights.
Residents say Russian President Vladimir Putin would be insane to take Odesa with the brutal approach that has left other Ukrainian cities in ruins.
Once a gilded powerhouse of the Russian empire, Odesa includes one of the finest opera houses in Europe and the famed Potemkin Steps between the city and the sea, featured in Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 silent film masterpiece "Battleship Potemkin."
But after a month of grueling war, people say they can't predict anything anymore.
"The only thing we're really afraid of is that the other side has no principles whatsoever," said Valerii Novak, a local businessman.
He never considered himself a Ukrainian patriot, but when Russia invaded, something "just clicked" in him. He has refused to leave Odesa and joined thousands of people in basic training in how to use a gun.
Now he and other Odesa residents watch Russian warships move closer, in provocation. Western officials call the Russian ships a mix of surface combatants and the kinds used to put naval infantry ashore.
The seizure of Odesa and the strip of land farther west also would allow Moscow to build a land corridor to the separatist Trans-Dniester region of neighboring Moldova that hosts a Russian military base.
A senior U.S. defense official said this past week the U.S. didn't see indications that ships in the Black Sea were firing on Odesa as they had last weekend. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive subject.
"It's difficult to know what this indicates," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said of last weekend's bombardment. "Is it the prelude to an assault on Odesa? Is it a diversionary tactic to sort of hold and fix Ukrainian troops in the south so that they can't come to the relief of their comrades in Mariupol or in Kyiv?"
The Associated Press
By Nicholas McElroy
Residents reeling from Russian attack on Lviv oil depot
In Lviv, Ukrainians are still reeling from the Russian strike on an oil depot and defence facility in the city.
Emergency workers remain at the site, even though the major blaze is extinguished.
Lyubov Shalimova, is living in the residential area close to where the attack happened.
She fled with her grandson and dog from the besieged city of Kharkiv in the country's east and is now worried about her future here in this city.
"I heard the explosions it was very scary, very loud … we didn't know what was happening," she said.
"I am afraid that Lviv is in not safe anymore."
For the thousands who are seeking refuge here, this attack is making them feel nowhere is safe.
By Nicholas McElroy
Ukraine says two evacuation corridors have been agreed for Sunday, including from Mariupol
Ukraine and Russia have agreed on two "humanitarian corridors" to evacuate civilians from frontline areas on Sunday, including allowing people to leave by private car from the southern city of Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
By Nicholas McElroy
Ukrainian nuclear inspector says research facility has faced more shelling
Ukraine’s nuclear watchdog says that a nuclear research facility in Kharkiv again has come under shelling by Russia and the fighting makes it impossible to assess the damage.
The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate said that the neutron source experimental facility in the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology came under fire Saturday.
Ukrainian authorities have previously reported that Russian shelling damaged buildings at the Kharkiv facility, but there has been no release of radiation.
The newly built neutron source facility is intended for the research and production of radioisotopes for medical and industrial needs. The International Atomic Energy Agency has said that the nuclear material in the facility is always subcritical and the inventory of radioactive material is very low, reducing the risks of radiation release.
Kharkiv has been besieged by Russian forces since the start of the invasion and has come under repeated shelling of its residential buildings and critical infrastructure.
The Associated Press
By Nicholas McElroy
Putin's generals signal a scaling back of the offensive in Ukraine
Ukraine's president says his country has inflicted "powerful blows" against the Russian army, with Mr Putin's generals signaling a scaling back of the offensive.
By Nicholas McElroy
Reports Russian forces have seized a hospital north of Kyiv
The governor of the Kyiv region says that Russian forces have entered the city of Slavutych and seized a hospital there.
Slavutych is located north of Kyiv and west of Chernihiv, outside the exclusion zone that was established around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the 1986 disaster. It is home to workers at the Chernobyl site.
Governor Oleksandr Pavlyuk said Saturday that the Russians also kidnapped the city's mayor, but some media reported later in the day that the mayor was released swiftly. Neither claim could be verified independently.
The governor said that residents of Slavutych took to the streets with Ukrainian flags to protest the Russian invasion.
"The Russians opened fire into the air. They threw flash-bang grenades into the crowd. But the residents did not disperse, on the contrary, more of them showed up," Mr Pavlyuk said.
The Associated Press
By Nicholas McElroy
Russian billionaire Eugene Shvidler has his jets seized by Britain
Britain has seized two jet aircraft belonging to Russian billionaire Eugene Shvidler as Western governments seeking to end the war in Ukraine put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin by targeting the luxury lifestyles of his closest supporters.
Treasury Secretary Grant Shapps said Saturday that the two aircraft would be detained "indefinitely" after three-week investigation that had already grounded the planes.
The Times of London described the aircraft as a $45 million Bombardier Global 6500 and a $13 million Cessna Citation Latitude.
"Putin's friends who made millions out of his regime will not enjoy luxuries whilst innocent people die," Mr Shapps said.
The UK froze Mr Shvidler's UK assets last week as it announced a new round of sanctions on Russian companies and wealthy individuals.
Mr Shvidler was sanctioned because of his links to those who have backed the war in Ukraine and because he has profited from his support for the Putin regime, the UK said.
The Associated Press
By Nicholas McElroy
By Nicholas McElroy
Man detained at the site of Lviv rocket attacks
The governor of the Lviv region says a man has been detained on suspicion of espionage at the site of one of the two rocket attacks that rattled the city on Saturday.
Governor Maksym Kozytskyy said police found the man had recorded a rocket flying toward the target and striking it.
Police also found on his telephone photos of checkpoints in the region, which Mr Kozytskyy said had been sent to two Russian telephone numbers.
Rockets hit an oil storage facility and an unspecified industrial facility, wounding at least five people.
A thick plume of smoke and towering flames could be seen on Lviv’s outskirts hours after the attacks.
The Associated Press
By Jon Healy
Pro-Ukraine demonstration in Melbourne
Hundreds of people have gathered in central Melbourne to show support for Ukrainians fighting against Russia.
Stefan Romaniw, the co-chair of the Federation of Australian Ukranian Organisations, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had asked the world for a demonstration of support — and they were responding.
Mr Romaniw said the Russians had inflicted "collateral damage" on Ukraine, but had not killed the people's spirit.
Similar rallies are being held around the world.
Reporting by Helen Vines
By Jon Healy
Lviv Mayor wants air defences after missile strikes
The Mayor of of Lviv is appealing for more outside help after western Ukrainian city was hit by a series of Russian strikes.
Officials say five civilians were hurt when a military factory and a fuel depot were hit in the city, which until now has been relatively spared from Russian attacks.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi says a school was also damaged, and asked the West for more aid.
"I underline once more we don't know what the next target of the Russian rockets will be. … The faster we receive quality weapons and air defence weapons, the safer our cities and citizens will be."
By Jon Healy
SWIFT sanctions on Russia take effect
Sanctions jointly imposed by the United States and other Western countries to remove some Russian banks from SWIFT — the payment system used for most international financial transactions — has taken effect.
On February 26, the White House announced the United States, joined by European nations and Canada, would remove some Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).
Now Russia's largest financial institutions, including its two largest banks — VTB Bank and Sberbank — will no longer be permitted to process payments through the SWIFT system.
The move has been followed by other countries and regions.
On March 2, the European Union announced a list of Russian banks to be excluded from SWIFT, and the relevant measures took effect on March 12.
On March 24, Washington said it would expand sanctions on Russian business entities and individuals.
The Swiss government said it had frozen over US$6 billion worth of Russian assets in Switzerland.
On March 25, Japan announced extra sanctions against Russia, including freezing more Russian assets and prohibiting exports to Russian organizations.
As part of countermeasures against these Western sanctions, Russia has said it will require Europe to pay in roubles for fuel.
By Jon Healy
War 'getting closer' for those in Lviv
Olana Ukrainets, a 34-year-old IT worker from the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, was one of many Ukrainians who sought refuge in Lviv.
"When I came to Lviv, I was sure that all these alarms wouldn't have any results," Ms Ukrainets told The Associated Press from a bomb shelter after the blasts.
"Sometimes when I heard them at night, I just stayed in bed. Today, I changed my mind and I should hide every time … none of the Ukrainian cities are safe now."
The city was home to about 700,000 people before the invasion. Some who no longer feel safe here will head for nearby Poland.
In the dim, crowded bomb shelter under an apartment block a short distance from the first blast site, Ms Ukrainets said she couldn't believe she had to hide again after fleeing from Kharkiv, one of the most bombarded cities of the war.
"We were on one side of the street and saw it on the other side," she said.
"We saw fire. I said to my friend, 'What's this?' Then we heard the sound of an explosion and glass breaking. We tried to hide between buildings. I don't know what the target was."
The day's events were enough to make some people in Lviv prepare to move again, said Michael Bociurkiw, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council who was in the city.
It was a significant turn in a week where the city had begun "roaring back" to life after weeks of war, he said.
He believes the city could remain a target, noting that Lviv was the birthplace of Ukrainian nationalism.
"It's getting closer," he said of the war.
- AP
By Jon Healy
Massive anti-war protest in London
Thousands of protesters gathered in London to protest Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Demonstrators held signs and Ukrainian flags in solidarity with the country and its fight in the war, during the London Stands With Ukraine demonstration in Trafalgar Square.
Speaking with British broadcaster Sky News, Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, thanked Britain for its financial, political, military and humanitarian assistance for his country in the conflict.
But some protesters criticised the British government's approach to accepting refugees from Ukraine.
By Jon Healy
One of Ukraine's 'safe' cities comes under attack
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, many people have dubbed Lviv in the country's west "the safe city", so the first Russian air strikes within the city's limits have left many reeling.
Air sirens disrupted the relative peace in the city at about 4:30pm local time after several quiet days in the region.
Initially few people at the town's busy railway station took the alarm seriously, with most choosing to wait for their train rather than seek shelter.
But within minutes, officials started running to the platform and frantically telling crowds to move to a safer place.
There have been many warning air raid alarms in this city across the past month. But it was not long before people sensed this was different.
Our Europe correspondent, Isabella Higgins, describes the scenes in Lviv.
By Jon Healy
Ukraine says Russian lieutenant general Yakov Rezantsev killed
Ukraine's defence ministry says Russian Lieutenant General Yakov Rezantsev has been killed by Ukrainian forces near the southern city of Kherson, the seventh Russian general to die since the invasion began.
His death has not been confirmed by Russia. It has only confirmed the death of one general, Deputy Commander Andrei Sukhovetsky
NATO officials estimated earlier this week that as many as 15,000 Russian troops had been killed during the four weeks of the war, a figure disputed by Russia, which reported on Friday that 1,351 of its fighters had died.
By Jon Healy
By Jon Healy
Retired US colonel explains how Ukraine's military 'hit the refresh button' after Crimea's annexation
Retired US colonel Liam Collins, who helped train and reform Ukraine's military following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, says Ukraine's military has gone from "decrepit" to effective at fending off Russian advances in major Ukrainian cities.
Colonel Collins served as John Abizaid's executive officer for his secretary of defence appointment as the senior defence adviser to Ukraine in 2016 at the end of the Obama administration, helping Ukraine reform its defence establishment, according to The Conversation.
Colonel Collins recently wrote a column about how the Ukrainian army "hit the refresh button" in 2014, when it was described as "decrepit" by Ukrainian General Victor Muzhenko.
"Ukraine's military … really didn't have a lot of training capability, they weren't effective at the tactical level," the retired colonel said.
Colonel Collins said one success of the reset was reassessing the Ukrainian command structure, noting that played an "effective" role in Ukrainian forces fending off Russian advances during the present conflict.
He said that was due to new culture of giving junior Ukrainian leaders more battlefield decision-making capabilities, rather than a top-down command approach.
"It allows them to take initiative on the battlefield. You might be given some orders, 'Go take this hill,' for example, and if you can't adjust on that, you're just going to keep running up the hill into the hornet's nest," he said.
"It also requires a trained, professional military to do that."
He said the Russian military appeared to have taken a less flexible, "more regimented" approach at allowing junior leaders to inherit decision-making at the tactical level.
