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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,

Ukraine conflict: Shares slide as oil and gas prices soar

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Stock markets have sunk as soaring oil and gas prices spark fears of a global economic shock from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Oil prices soared to $139 a barrel, the highest level for almost 14 years, while wholesale gas prices for next-day delivery more than doubled. It came as the US hinted at a ban on buying Russian energy, as it looked to other countries to increase supplies. Petrol prices hit another record high, amid warnings of higher energy bills. The market turmoil is fuelling concerns that the price of many everyday items from food to petrol and heating, already

Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak investigated for wearing pro-war symbol on podium next to Ukrainian

Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak is being investigated after wearing a national war symbol on his leotard as he stood next to a Ukrainian rival on the podium in Qatar on Saturday. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said it had opened disciplinary proceedings against Kuliak for his “shocking behaviour” at the Apparatus World Cup in Doha. Kuliak earned bronze in the parallel bars final and displayed a letter ‘Z’ taped to his chest as he stood next to gold medal winner Illia Kovtun of Ukraine. The letter Z has become symbolic with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has been seen painted

Shell defends ‘difficult’ decision to buy Russian crude oil

Shell has defended its decision to purchase Russian crude oil despite the invasion and bombardment of Ukraine. The oil giant said in a statement that the decision to purchase the fuel at a discounted price was “difficult”. It confirmed that it had bought a cargo of Russian crude oil on Friday but it had “no alternative”. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hit out at the energy company, asking on Twitter: “Doesn’t Russian oil smell Ukrainian blood for you?” So far Western countries have not imposed sanctions on Russian oil imports, fearing it will drive up already record high energy prices

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