KYIV (UKRAINE) - Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:
- Kyiv hit as UN chief visits -
Russia confirms it carried out an air strike on Kyiv, as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Ukrainian capital.
The Russian defence ministry says "high-precision, long-range air-based weapons... destroyed the production buildings of the Artyom missile and space enterprise in Kyiv."
The city's mayor Vitali Klitschko says at least one person died in Thursday's strike. US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty says its journalist and producer Vera Gyrych died when a Russian missile hit the building where she lived.
Guterres and his team are unhurt. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the strikes are part of Russian attempts to humiliate the United Nations. Germany calls the strike "inhumane".
- Mariupol plant evacuation to start -
The Ukrainian presidency says plans are in place to evacuate civilians on Friday from the besieged Azovstal steel plant where Ukrainian forces and civilians are encircled by Russian troops in the southern city of Mariupol.
Russia last week said it had gained full control of the strategic port city, except for the huge industrial area.
President Vladimir Putin ordered a blockade of the steelworks, where hundreds of civilians are sheltering with Ukrainian troops, according to Kyiv.
In an early morning statement on Telegram, defenders of the factory there said shelling had struck a field hospital inside the plant, causing it to collapse and killing some already wounded servicemen.
- Putin, Zelensky invited to G20 summit -
Putin will attend the G20 summit in November and Zelensky has also been invited, President Joko Widodo of host nation Indonesia says.
His announcement suggests a compromise had been reached following Western pressure to bar Russia from the event in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
- Biden in cash appeal -
US President Joe Biden asks Congress for $33 billion more for Ukraine.
He says it is "not cheap" but argues that Washington cannot stand by in the face of Russia's "atrocities and aggression".
- British exercises in Europe -
The UK government says it is deploying about 8,000 troops for exercises across eastern Europe in a show of strength after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Britain is deploying 72 Challenger 2 tanks and 120 armoured fighting vehicles along with artillery guns, helicopters and drones for the exercises, some of which are already underway.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace calls it "one of the largest shared deployments since the Cold War".
- Two UK aid workers 'captured' -
Two British men working as aid volunteers in Ukraine have been taken captive by Russian forces on suspicion they are "spies", according to Presidium Network, a humanitarian organisation.
Paul Urey and Dylan Healy were "captured" by Russian soldiers on Monday at a checkpoint south of the city of Zaporizhzhia in south-eastern Ukraine, it says.
- Five killed in Kharkiv -
Kharkiv Governor Oleg Sinegubov says five civilians were killed Thursday in what he described as near-continuous shelling.
More than 2,000 buildings in Ukraine's second city have been damaged or destroyed by fire since Russia launched its invasion.
- 10 suspects in Bucha inquiry -
Ukrainian prosecutors say they have identified 10 Russian soldiers suspected of committing war crimes, including premeditated murder and cruel treatment, in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.
Investigators have also identified more than 8,000 cases of suspected war crimes since Russia's invasion.
- Russian interest rate cut, again -
Russia's central bank says it is cutting its key interest rate for a second straight time because "price and financial stability risks (are) no longer on the rise".
burs-jmy/jm
