29,000 people evacuated from Ukrainian cities - official

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Some more details now on President Biden's planned visit to Brussels next week, where the White House says he'll be meeting with Nato and EU leaders to discuss the response to the invasion.

On 24 March the US president will join a special Nato summit where he will reaffirm the US's "ironclad" commitment to the defensive alliance, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

Biden will also meet with EU leaders the same day at a scheduled European Council summit to coordinate the transatlantic response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Reacting to the news that the Kremlin had today added Biden to a list of individuals banned from entering Russia, Jen Psaki said this wouldn't have an impact on the president's schedule.

"It won’t surprise many of you that none of us are planning tourist trips to Russia, none of us have bank accounts we won’t be able to access so we will forge ahead," she said.

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Around 29,000 people were able to flee besieged Ukrainian cities through humanitarian corridors on Tuesday, a Ukrainian presidential adviser has said.

Some civilians were able to leave the southern port city of Mariupol, where 20,000 people have fled the city in the past day in 4,000 private cars. Local authorities say that Russian forces are preventing buses from evacuating civilians from the city, which is facing intense Russian bombardment.

In the north-eastern city of Sumy, the Red Cross says it was able to evacuate thousands of civilians in 100 buses after Russia gave the greenlight for a humanitarian corridor out of the city today.

Ukraine presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak has tweeted to say that negotiations with Russian officials "will continue tomorrow".

He said that "there is certainly room for compromise".

"A very difficult and viscous negotiation process. There are fundamental contradictions. But there is certainly room for compromise. During the break, work in subgroups will be continued," he said.

Russian state TV's Channel One plays a crucial part in the Kremlin's media messaging.

It is Russia's second most popular channel, and its flagship news programme Vremya (Time) is watched by millions.

Normally, there is no room for deviation from the party line.

So when Marina Ovsyannikova ran on to the set behind the news anchor in prime time, brandishing a poster saying "Stop the War!", it was an unprecedented moment of dissent against the Kremlin that reached into living rooms across the country.

Ovsyannikova, who has a Ukrainian father and Russian mother, has been fined 30,000 roubles (£214, $280) for an anti-war video she had also released.

Read more on Monday's extraordinary moment of protest.

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On Monday night, Marina Ovsyannikova staged an anti-war protest during a live news bulletin in Moscow.

As she was leaving the courtroom, the state TV employee - who claims she was questioned about the incident for over 14 hours - told reporters the protest was entirely her own decision.

"I made this decision by myself because I don't like that Russia started this invasion," she said.

The Russian Ministry of Defence says Russian troops have helped evacuate thousands of civilians trapped in the fighting in Ukraine to western parts of the country in the past 24 hours.

Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia's National Defence Control Centre, said more than 36,000 were evacuated "thanks to the unprecedented security measures taken by the Russian Armed Forces".

He added that an evacuation of Ukrainian citizens to Russia was also ongoing.

The official reiterated claims that Ukrainian forces were hampering evacuation efforts.

Almost three million people have now fled Ukraine because of the Russian invasion, according to the United Nations (UN).

And the UN says there are an estimated 1.85 million internally displaced people inside Ukraine.

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A growing line of Western drug makers are now pulling out of Russia as the invasion of Ukraine enters its third full week.

Novartis is suspending all Russian investments and marketing activity, and will also make a $3m (£2.3m) donation to various NGOs.

Eli Lilly says it has halted investments, promotions, clinical trials and the export of non-essential medicines. It will also donate the profits from its remaining Russia sales to humanitarian relief.

AbbVie, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Pfizer and Sanofi have also recently announced they will halt certain operations in the country.

The Pentagon says Russian troops continue to make little progress on the ground in Ukraine, 20 days since their invasion began.

But several major cities are suffering heavy bombardment, according to a senior US defence official.

A troop convoy moving toward Kyiv remains some 20 km outside the capital Kyiv, where the official said civilians are increasingly facing assault.

Russians continue to face stiff resistance in their attempt to take Kharkiv - Ukraine's second-largest city - and Mykolaiv, a southern city near the Black Sea.

However, invading forces have isolated Chernihiv in the north, and Mariupol in the southeast, though the US says Ukraine is working to keep lines of communication open with local leaders.

The defence official notes that both the Russians and Ukrainians have used about 90% of their combat power. More US-funded weapons are expected to arrive in Ukraine over the next 24 hours, he said.

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A US astronaut will return to earth aboard a Russian capsule - after initial fears he might be stranded due to tensions over Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

Mark Vande Hei, 55, - who has been in space for 355 days - will arrive back on Earth in Kazakhstan. Two Russian cosmonauts will also be brought back.

Dmitry Rogozin, chief of the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, had warned about sanctions causing technical issues to the International Space Station (ISS), but Nasa said it had continued to run smoothly.

The US controls power and life support aboard the ISS and Russia controls things such as its propulsion.

You can read more here.

An adviser to the mayor of Mariupol Petro Andrushenko has told the BBC that buses to evacuate people from the city and aid trucks to deliver food and medicine are still being blocked from entering Mariupol by Russian troops.

It’s been the same for 3 days now, he said, with supplies stuck in the town of Berdiansk, currently controlled by Russian forces.

"We don’t know what’s going on," he said. "They didn’t give us any chance for moving [sic].They just block. We don’t understand. But we can’t go without a command by the Russian army".

He said some people who still had fuel were managing to make it out in private cars, which he called ‘a success’.

As for the situation in the city itself, he said: "The shelling and bombing.. the situation today is like yesterday and before. It’s the same..shelling hour by hour – and our people stay[ing] in shelters without any water, electricity, heating and food. It’s a terrible situation in Mariupol".

Earlier today, President Volodymr Zelensky became the first Ukrainian leader to address the Canadian Parliament via video link.

He was introduced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and received a standing ovation from ministers as he is described as a champion of democracy.

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More than 100 buses loaded with several thousand civilians have left the besieged Ukrainian city of Sumy in two convoys, the International Committee of the Red Cross has told Reuters.

The city of Sumy is surrounded by Russian troops and has been the target of deadly shelling and air strikes in recent days.

The evacuation is being organised jointly by the ICRC and the Ukrainian Red Cross.

The ICRC said Russia had given a greenlight for the evacuation, but the convoys may not be able to take a direct route to the safe city of Poltava, in central Ukraine.

Seven-year-old Amelia was filmed singing a song from the Disney film Frozen whilst in a bomb shelter in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

The video has been watched by millions of people around the world, and even caught the attention of the song's original singer Idina Menzel.

Amelia is now safe in Poland with her grandma.

Watch the video below for more on what Amelia likes about the Disney film, and what it was like sheltering in Ukraine.

The prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia are scheduled to meet with Ukraine's president Vlodomyr Zelensky in Kyiv at 18:00 GMT, Czech media is reporting.

The three leaders intend to present a broad package of support for Ukraine following a symbolic trip that is intended to show European solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

The three prime ministers reportedly crossed the border into Ukraine this morning before travelling to the capital overland by train.

The visit comes as Russia continues it's attacks on Kyiv - where a curfew lasting until Thursday will shortly come into effect. It is not known how the curfew will impact the leaders' visit.

Orla GuerinCopyright: Orla Guerin

Under a bright morning sun Colonel Valeriy Gudz was laid to rest, with military honours, in his hometown of Boryspil on the outskirts of Kyiv. The singing of Orthodox priests was punctuated now and then by the rumble of distant shelling.

Many troops in uniform came to pay their last respects holding bouquets of flowers. As mourners came to place their hands on the coffin, heart-rending cries from the colonel’s loved ones pierced the air.

A lifelong friend told us he was the colonel was patriot who first took up arms in 2014 when Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine went to war with the government.

Burying fallen soldiers is part of the new normal here, as Ukraine’s losses increase. At the weekend President Zelensky said 1,300 soldiers had been killed defending their homeland.

But it does not feel as if resistance is being eroded. Instead, the deaths on the battlefield, and the killing of innocent civilians, seems to be strengthening the resolve here.

Orla GuerinCopyright: Orla Guerin

US President Joe Biden is expected to join European Union and Nato leaders in Brussels next week, the White House says .

The meeting of EU and Nato leaders will likely focus in large part on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with the agenda set to include issues like "security and defence" and "external relations".

The US president will join his EU counterparts on Thursday 24 March, although more details are expected soon.

MARINA OVSYANNIKOVACopyright: MARINA OVSYANNIKOVA

Marina Ovsyannikova, the state TV employee who staged an anti-war protest during a live bulletin last night in Moscow, has been fined 30,000 roubles (£213).

She was charged with an administrative offence under Russia’s protest laws. It was because of the video she released calling for others to demonstrate against what the Kremlin calls it’ "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Speaking outside the court, Ovsyannikova said: “It was my anti-war decision. I made this decision by myself because I don’t like Russia starting this invasion. It was really terrible.

“I want to thank everyone for their support, friends and colleagues. It has been very hard few days in my life. I spent two days without sleep. I was being questioned for over 14 hours.”

She accused the authorities of initially denying her legal help. Her lawyers also said in court that despite asking for a lawyer to be present, she was not given access to one for several hours.

“They didn’t allow me to get in touch with close ones and relatives. They didn’t not allow any legal help. I was in a hard condition,” said Ovsyannikova.

She asked to be allowed to rest before commenting further and said again that it was her decision alone to stage her protest.