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Ukraine: Russian general killed near Kharkiv, say defenders

A senior Russian military commander has been killed in a battle on the edge of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s defence ministry says. Maj-Gen Vitaly Gerasimov, 41st Army chief of staff, died along with other Russian officers, the report says. Russia has not commented, but if confirmed he would be their second officer of this rank to be killed. Ukraine has begun evacuating civilians from the town of Irpin near Kyiv and the northern city of Sumy. It comes after Russian and Ukrainian officials agreed to establish humanitarian corridors. “As of 09:30 [07:30 GMT], more than 150 people have

War in Ukraine: World Bank approves $723m financial package

The World Bank has approved $723m (£551m) in loans and grants for Ukraine, as the country fights against a Russian invasion. The bank said it is continuing to work on another $3bn package of support in the coming months for the country. It also promised extra help for neighbouring countries that are taking in more than 1.7m refugees, which are mostly women, children and the elderly. The financial package for Ukraine includes a $100m pledge from the UK. “The World Bank Group is taking quick action to support Ukraine and its people in the face of the violence and extreme

War in Ukraine: Crisis is unleashing ‘hell on earth’ for food prices

The head of the World Food Programme, David Beasley, has warned the conflict in Ukraine could send global food prices soaring, with a catastrophic impact on the world’s poorest. Ukraine and Russia are both major exporters of basic foodstuffs, and the war has already hit crop production, driving up prices Mr Beasley said it was putting more people at risk of starvation worldwide. “Just when you think hell on earth can’t get any worse, it does,” he said. Russia and Ukraine, once dubbed “the breadbasket of Europe”, export about a quarter of the world’s wheat and half of its sunflower

War in Ukraine: ‘It’s hell, it’s really hell’ – Families flee bombs in Irpin

They came on foot, in an endless stream – trying to outpace the Russian shells laying waste to their hometown. There were families with children in strollers clutching stuffed toys, young mothers with babes in arms, and the elderly moving as fast as their years would allow. Most were silent. Some were weeping. At the edge of Irpin there was urgency, panic, and anguish. It felt like we were witnessing the death of a city. “Everything is bombed,” said Valentina, as she rushed past us, fleeing her home and her life with just a single bag over her shoulder. “There

Ukraine war: Chernobyl workers’ 12-day ordeal under Russian guard

More than 100 workers at Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant – the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986 – have been stuck there for more than 12 days, unable to leave after Russian forces seized the plant on the first day of the invasion. Another 200 Ukrainian guards, who’d been in charge of security at the time of the assault, also remain trapped. Workers continue to go about their duties and the atmosphere is said to be calm, but the BBC has been told that the conditions inside are difficult, with food and medicine limited. There are

A small Ukrainian city becomes a waypoint for thousands on the move

When Svitlana Maksymenko’s train pulled into the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, about halfway through her 800-mile journey from home to safety, people pushed onto every part of the carriage, she said, grasping for their own escape route west. Some abandoned their luggage. Some begged to get on. “They were on their knees on the platform,” Maksymenko said. “There was no room. There were people standing in every space, in every gangway, there were five people on every bed.” Maksymenko’s journey began in Kharkiv, an eastern city that has been heavily shelled by Russian forces, and stopped, for now, in Lviv, a

Ukraine: With placards and tears, Poles are greeting refugees like family

Refugees from across Ukraine are being welcomed as they arrive in the Polish border town of Przemysl, but there are concerns about how the relief effort can be maintained if the war goes on. “We have had 180,000 refugees in 10 days. If it carries on like this, we’ll have had half a million people coming through by the end of the month.” In the packed train station at Przemysl, eight miles from the Ukrainian border, mayor Wojciech Bakun is both proud of what his town – population 60,000 – is doing for Ukraine but also apprehensive about what could

Twitter is part of our war effort – Ukraine minister

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As Ukraine’s military and citizens battle Russia’s advancing troops, the country has opened a new front in the fighting – using tech expertise to rally Silicon Valley’s support and undermine the enemy. Digital minister Mykhailo Fedorov is leading the charge, but some of his tactics are proving divisive. From his underground shelter in a secret location in Kyiv, Ukraine’s youngest cabinet minister is waging a digital war on Russia. Using his preferred weapon – social media – Mykhailo Fedorov has been urging chief executives of big businesses to cut ties with Moscow. He’s also taken the unprecedented move of setting

Ukraine crisis: The West fights back against Putin the disruptor

Successive US presidents have struggled to get the measure of Vladimir Putin but now that Brussels and Berlin have joined the fray with such resolve, it’s a different story, writes Nick Bryant. It is often tempting to look upon Vladimir Putin as the millennium bug in a human and deadly form. The Russian president rose to power on 31 December 1999, as the world held its breath that computers would go into meltdown when the clock struck midnight, unable to process the change from 1999 to 2000. In the 20 years since, Putin has been trying to engineer a different

Ukraine: Angry Zelensky vows to punish Russian atrocities

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President Volodymyr Zelensky has said everyone who commits atrocities against Ukraine’s civilians will be punished. He said Ukrainians would not forgive or forget, and accused invading Russian troops of deliberate murder. “There will be no quiet place on Earth for you. Except for the grave,” the president said. Ukrainian officials say Russia is striking civilian targets around the country, including hospitals, nurseries, and schools. But Russia denies targeting civilians, saying it is carrying out a “special military operation” against Ukrainian “nationalists” and “neo-Nazis”. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna told the BBC that, after “strong resistance” from the Ukrainian army,

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