Britain's Ministry of Defence says Ukraine has launched strikes on "high-value" Russian logistical targets, after Kyiv said it had sunk a Russian ship unloading armoured vehicles in an occupied port city.
Look back at all of Friday's updates as they happened on our live blog.
Key events
- UN says there's growing evidence of mass graves in Mariupol
- 300 people killed after Mariupol theatre attack last week: Ukrainian authorities
- 3.7 million Ukrainians have now fled since Russian invasion began
- Missile strike hits Ukraine military unit in Dnipro
- Russian invasion of Ukraine making it more of a strategic burden on China, Pentagon says
- Zelenskyy grateful for EU's help but says it's a little late
- UN General Assembly passes another resolution on Russian invasion
- Australia announces more Russian sanctions
- Biden: Chemical warfare is 'a real threat'
- More than 3,000 people evacuated from Ukrainian cities on Thursday
- Zelenskyy warns threat of chemical warfare is high
- Zelenskyy calls for more planes and tanks
- Where to find yesterday's blog
Live updates
By Kate Ainsworth
That's all for the blog this Friday
Thanks for joining us throughout the day.
You can stay up to date with the latest news online or on the ABC News app.
By Kate Ainsworth
Ukraine says troops stopped Russian attack on Chernobyl workers' town
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych says Ukrainian troops have stopped an attack by Russian forces on the town of Slavutych, where workers at the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant live.
Earlier on Friday, local authorities said Slavutych was isolated, with Russian forces around 1.5 kilometres from the town.
Chernobyl was seized by Russian forces on the first day of its invasion of Ukraine, and concern has been mounting for the 210 operational staff and guards who remain working at the defunct nuclear power plant site.
Reuters
By Kate Ainsworth
Security expert warns of new Russian offensive in next fortnight
An international security expert has warned while Russia may have suffered a series of setbacks on the battlefield, it could unleash a new offensive in the next 10 to 14 days as it becomes more desperate.
Dr Peter Layton, a Visiting Fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute at Griffith University, said Russia may regroup and fight back with greater ferocity.
While the Ukraine military has been able to inflict heavy losses on the invaders, Dr Layton told PM's Nick Grimm most of Russia's army was now in Ukraine and it was now running out of reserves.
"The Russians are now moving away from using soldiers and now using long-range firepower like rockets, artillery, and aircraft drop bombs," he said.
"And as soon as they do that their firepower becomes more indiscriminate."
NATO has signaled Russia may use chemical weapons in future and if so could respond in a military matter.
"It appears the Russians are planning an offensive for about 10 days, two weeks’ time and there's a belief growing that Russia will try to use chemical weapons as part of that offensive to break the current stalemate and the current deadlock,” Dr Layton said.
"Is Putin a rational actor or has he lost it? That's what we won't know until the end."
By Kate Ainsworth
Ukraine says Russian forces have 'partially' created a land corridor to Crimea
Ukraine's Defence Ministry says Russian forces have managed to partially create a land corridor to Crimea from part of Ukraine's Donetsk region.
"The enemy was partially successful in creating a land corridor between the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and part of Donetsk region," it said in an online post.
Russia invaded and subsequently annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Reuters
By Kate Ainsworth
In pictures: Ukrainians arrive to safety in Romania
More than half a million Ukrainians have fled to Romania since Russia's invasion began.
After arriving at the Isaccea-Orlivka border crossing in Romania, Ukrainians wait in tents before boarding buses to their next destination.
By Kate Ainsworth
Finland to suspend trains between Helsinki and St Petersburg
Given sanctions on Russia, the operator VR has been told it's no longer appropriate to run the service to St Petersburg, known as the Allegro, its head of passenger traffic Topi Simola said in a statement on Friday.
"We are suspending the traffic for the time being," Mr Simola said.
Trains from Russia to Finland's capital Helsinki have been full of Russians since the invasion of Ukraine began, and mutual airspace closures cut off flight connections between Russia and the European Union.
The border between Finland and Russia remains open for crossings by private car.
Finland's minister in charge of state holdings Tytti Tuppurainen told the country's largest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that one of the reasons for maintaining the train services until now was to allow Finns living in Russia to return to Finland.
"Now it is evident that the situation has changed for the Allegro (trains) and the continuation of Allegro traffic is no longer appropriate from the point of view of the state owner," she told the paper.
Reuters
By Kate Ainsworth
UN says there's growing evidence of mass graves in Mariupol
The head of the UN human rights team in Ukraine says monitors are receiving increasing information pointing to mass graves in the encircled city of Mariupol, including one that appeared to hold 200 bodies.
"We have got increasing information on mass graves that are there," Matilda Bogner said, saying some of the evidence came from satellite images.
Speaking via video link from Ukraine, Ms Bogner said that civilian deaths in Ukraine exceeded 1,035.
She also said that the UN team was probing what appeared to be indiscriminate attacks by both sides in the conflict.
Reuters
By Kate Ainsworth
300 people killed after Mariupol theatre attack last week: Ukrainian authorities
The post on the city government's Telegram channel cited eyewitnesses for the toll of “about 300".
It is not yet clear whether emergency workers have finished excavating the site or how the eyewitnesses arrived at the horrific death toll.
Before the theatre was struck, the word "CHILDREN” was written outside in Russian, intended to be visible from the skies above.
Soon after the airs trike, Ludmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian Parliament’s human rights commissioner, said more than 1,300 people had been sheltering in the building.
By Kate Ainsworth
3.7 million Ukrainians have now fled since Russian invasion began
The UN's refugee agency says more than 3.7 million Ukrainians have now left the country since Russia began its invasion on February 24.
To date 2.2 million Ukrainians have traveled to Poland, while more than 570,000 have fled to Romania.
Another 330,000 people have arrived in Moldova, and 263,000 have sought refuge in Slovakia.
By Kate Ainsworth
In pictures: Life inside a Ukrainian metro station
Russian forces have been relentlessly shelling across the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv since it began its invasion a month ago.
Once a bustling city home to nearly 1.5 million people, those who remain have sought refuge in underground metro stations, bringing with them only what they could carry.
By Kate Ainsworth
Ukrainian city of Chernihiv cut off by Russian forces, governor says
The regional governor of Chernihiv says the northern Ukrainian city has been effectively cut off by Russian forces.
Chernihiv is around 60 kilometres away from the Belarusian border.
Speaking on national television, Governor Viacheslav Chaus said the city was under fire from Russian artillery and warplanes.
"The city has been conditionally, operationally surrounded by the enemy," he said.
Reuters
By Kate Ainsworth
By Kate Ainsworth
US, EU strike gas deal as Europe seeks to reduce reliance on Russia
Speaking in Brussels, US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the formation of a task force to reduce Europe's reliance on Russian fossil fuels after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"Today we've agreed on a joint game plan for that goal, while accelerating our progress towards a secure, clean energy future," Mr Biden said.
He said the initiative would also seek to maximise the use of renewable energy and reduce energy demand.
The Commission will also work with EU countries to ensure they are able to receive about 50bcm of additional LNG until at least 2030, the White House said.
It was unclear whether it referred to amounts additional to last year's 22bcm of US exports to the EU.
The Commission plans to draw up plans in May to end the European Union's use of Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
Mr Biden is due to travel to Poland later today.
Reuters
By Kate Ainsworth
Ukrainian political scientist unsure of Russia's motivations with Mariupol
Speaking to This Week’s Emily Bourke, Professor Dubovyk, who remains in Ukraine despite the constant threat of attack, said Russia faced a long and tough battle.
He said Russia made two major miscalculations and mistakes to start with and had underestimated the ability of his people to work together.
"The major one by Russia is they overestimated the capacity and the capabilities of their own military forces and their readiness,” he said.
"It gets clear why Russia is bogged down, and why their advance has been a failure in many ways."
Professor Dubovyk, who was forced to flee his city in the first week of the invasion, said he had many friends in Mariupol, some of whom he had yet to hear from.
"Mariupol, it's a tragedy what's happening there,” he said.
"It's there you have absolutely overwhelming military force by Russia — it's been a priority for them to take Mariupol and yet even up to this day they haven't taken the entire town.
"It's a tragedy that all those people were caught in harm's way, not just caught in harm's way but lacking basic supplies like food and water and medicine and so on.”
Professor Dubovyk said reports some people been forcibly taken away by Russia and had passports seized was concerning and Russia was gaining nothing from bombing cities like Kharkiv.
"Why are they destroying Mariupol basically, I have no idea. They want to take it they want to use it they want it under their control, why would you destroy the city with the citizens?" he said.
“Kharkiv has a large Russian-speaking population and yet they're bombing it … it’s completely obliterated now.”
Professor Dubovyk said he feared the war could become even more brutal as it dragged on, and would become tougher for Ukraine if Belarusian forces joined the attack.
By Kate Ainsworth
Thousands flee Ukrainian city of Boryspil, Mayor says
Speaking on national television, Boryspil Mayor Volodymyr Borysenko says about 20,000 people have fled the Ukrainian city.
Boryspil has a population of around 63,000 people and is located about 30 kilometres east of the capital, Kyiv, near the country's main international airport.
Mr Borysenko has also restated his plea urging others to evacuate, saying the large number of civilians in villages nearby made it difficult for Ukrainian troops to clear Russian forces from the area.
He first urged people to leave the city if they could on Tuesday, due to fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces nearby.
By Kate Ainsworth
By Kate Ainsworth
Western sanctions won't sway the Kremlin, says former Russian president quoted in state media
The sanctions will only consolidate the Russian society and not cause popular discontent with the authorities, Mr Medvedev told Russia's RIA news agency in an interview.
The West has imposed an array of sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, but one month into the war, the Kremlin says it will continue the assault until it accomplishes its goals of Ukraine's "demilitarisation and denazification".
Some of the sanctions have specifically targeted billionaire businessmen believed to be close to President Vladimir Putin.
"Let us ask ourselves: can any of these major businessmen have even the tiniest quantum of influence of the position of the country's leadership?" Mr Medvedev said.
"I openly tell you: no, no way."
Mr Medvedev said opinion polls showed that three-quarters of Russians supported the Kremlin's decision to carry out a military operation in Ukraine and even more supported President Vladimir Putin.
He lashed out at those Russians who spoke against the invasion while staying outside Russia.
"You can be dissatisfied with some of the authorities' decisions, criticise the authorities — this is normal," he said.
"But you cannot take a stand against the state in such a difficult situation, because this is treason."
Reuters
By Kate Ainsworth
Ukraine retakes towns previously occupied by Russia: UK defence ministry
The UK's Ministry of Defence says Ukraine has re-occupied towns and defensive positions up to 35 kilometres east of the capital, Kyiv, after successful counter-attacks and Russian forces "falling back on overextended supply lines".
By Kate Ainsworth
Missile strike hits Ukraine military unit in Dnipro
Two missiles have hit a Ukrainian military unit on the outskirts of the city of Dnipro, in central Ukraine.
The city's regional governor, Valentyn Reznychenko, wrote on Telegram that the missiles have caused "serious destruction", and rescuers were searching for survivors among the debris.
Dnipro is about 85 kilometres north of Zaporizhzhia.
Rocket strikes destroyed a railway station in the region on Tuesday, killing one person and damaging rails enough to prevent train passage indefinitely, Mr Reznychenko said.
Reuters
By Kate Ainsworth
Half of Ukraine's children are fleeing their homes due to the Russian invasion
On a hospital bed in a town close to the Ukrainian border with Poland, a little girl with a long, blonde braid and dressed in pink is one of the millions of minors who have been forced to flee their homes since the Russian invasion began.
To get there, Zlata Moiseinko survived a chronic heart condition, daily bombings, days of sheltering in a damp, chilly basement and nights of sleeping in a freezing car.
The fragile 10-year-old became so unsettled that her father risked his life to return to their ninth-floor apartment 97 kilometres south of Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, to rescue her pet hamster, Lola.
Now Lola rests in a small cage beside Zlata's bed, in a schoolhouse that has been converted into a field hospital operated by Israeli medical workers.
"I want peace for all Ukraine," the little girl said.
