9.55 a.m.  BST 09:55

Many of the nearly five million people who have fled Ukraine will have no homes to return to, the United Nations has warned. When, in late January, Poland’s Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wąsik said his country had to be “prepared for a wave of up to a million people” in the event of a major Russian invasion of Ukraine, many considered it an exaggeration. . Nearly five million Ukrainians have fled the country, 53 days after the Russian invasion, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. About 90% of those fleeing are women and children, after the government introduced a martial law banning men aged 18-60 from leaving. In early April, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that more than seven million people had been internally displaced. Bohdan lysun and Crowley’s black cat late at night at Przemysl train station. Photo: Amy Katz / ZUMA Press Wire / REX / Shutterstock Poland remains the main destination for Ukrainian refugees, with the country receiving about 2.69 million refugees, followed by Romania with about 720,000. Last week, UK Foreign Secretary Pretty Patel apologized for the time it took for Ukrainian refugees to arrive in the UK under two visa programs, as new figures showed just 12,000 had arrived in Britain so far.

        9.35 a.m.  BST 09:35

Ukraine and Russia failed to agree on Sunday on humanitarian convoys to evacuate civilians from war-torn areas, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. “We could not agree… on a ceasefire on the evacuation routes. “That is why, unfortunately, we are not opening humanitarian corridors today,” she told her Telegram account. Verestsuk also said Ukrainian authorities had requested humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians and wounded Ukrainian troops from the besieged port of Mariupol, Reuters reported. Updated at 9.35 a.m. BST

        9.14 a.m.  BST 09:14

Russia: Ammunition factory “destroyed” near Kyiv

The Russian Armed Forces destroyed an ammunition factory near Kyiv, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday. “Overnight, high-precision missiles fired from the air destroyed an ammunition factory near the city of Brovary in the Kiev region,” Konashenkov was quoted as saying by Reuters. The representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense / AFP / Getty Images

        8.54 a.m.  BST 08:54

Bulgaria has banned Russian-flagged ships from entering Black Sea ports as part of expanded EU sanctions, the country’s Maritime Administration announced on its website on Sunday. “All ships registered under the Russian flag, as well as all ships that have changed their Russian flag or flag or are registered in the naval register in any other state after 24 February, shall be barred from accessing the Bulgarian sea and rivers. ports “, the authority stated. Exceptions will only be made for ships in danger or seeking humanitarian aid or for ships carrying energy products, food and medicine to EU countries.

        8.13 p.m.  BST 08:13

The city of Kramatorsk feels empty. Only a handful of supermarkets, restaurants and hotels are still open. The windows on the main roads are closed. Many residents have moved from their apartment buildings to houses in neighboring villages, where they believe it will be safer. The few locals who walk behave as if they do not hear the sirens ringing and do not seem to be frightened by the occasional thunder of the incoming shells. Russia’s war in Ukraine is entering a new phase, focusing on the Donbas region to the east, and most of its citizens are not taking any risks. Regional mayors told the Observer that they estimated that about 70 percent of the population had left since the Russian offensive began in February. Ukrainian-controlled Donbass is surrounded by Russian forces from the north, east and south. Ukrainian authorities believe that Russian forces are aiming to encircle the territory by cutting off their supply lines from the west. The Russian-backed forces have occupied about a third of the region since 2014. Russia hoped and probably expected that its efforts to gain more ground would be popular with the predominantly Russian-speaking population. But eight years of conflict, and especially the last eight weeks, have paid off.

        8.01 a.m.  BST 08:01

Thanks everyone for watching, I’ll now hand over the blog to my colleague Tom Ambrose in London. Updated at 8.03 a.m. BST

        7.53 a.m.  BST 07:53

A rocket attack early Sunday morning damaged infrastructure in the town of Brovary, near the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Brovary Mayor Igor Sapozhko said in an online post. There are no details on the extent of the disaster and the possible victims.

        7.47 a.m.  BST 07:47

Ukrainians teach in war zone: bombed schools, evacuations and board games Yulia Kuryliuk, a teacher in a village near Lviv, woke up on February 24 to find her country at war and assembled a sixth-grader at Zoom. Two children asked in tears when the fighting would end. She had no answer, but led her students to breathing exercises to manage stress and encouraged them to hug a relative, a pet or a stuffed animal for comfort. With Ukraine’s education system overthrown by the war, teachers are helping to provide stability to their students, along with other forms of emergency support, such as evacuation and humanitarian aid. While the Ministry of Education and Science has announced a two-week break after the full-scale invasion of Russia began, classes have now resumed where possible, although they are often interrupted by the mourning of air raid sirens.

        07:33 BST 07:33

“I feel really lost but not alone”: the diary of a Kherson mother who left a war zone Olha spent weeks living under Russian occupation in her hometown of Kherson in southern Ukraine. He now tells the story of escaping the violence and traveled across Europe with two children and a cat in tow. Groups of people who wanted to leave Hersonissos appeared on the Telegram. People shared information and exchanged ideas. The first message to our group from anyone who had escaped came from a girl named Alinka. Her boyfriend took her out on a country road. It gave us a ray of hope.

        07:30 BST 07:30

Russia’s demand that Ukrainian forces surrender to Mariupol by 3 p.m. Greek time passed without immediate signs of response, as Volodymyr Zelensky warned that peace talks would be canceled if the city’s remaining defenders were killed. As airstrikes sounded across Ukraine, including the Kiev region, early Sunday, Russia said its troops had cleared most of the besieged city, with only a handful of Ukrainian fighters remaining at the Azeri steel plant. in the southeast port. , as missiles hit Kyiv and other cities. If it falls, it would be the first occupation of a large city by Russia. The President of Ukraine stated in a video clip: “The situation in Mariupol remains as serious as possible. “It’s just inhumane. Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone there.” He added: “The elimination of our troops, of our men [in Mariupol] will put an end to all negotiations “, and called on the West to immediately supply heavy weapons.

        7.17 p.m.  BST 07:17 …