Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russian troops press into Kharkiv

• Russian troops have entered Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, where street fighting is now taking place.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine is ready for peace talks, but not in Moscow’s preferred venue of Belarus.
• More than 200,000 Ukrainians have fled the country since the beginning of Moscow’s assault, the UN says.
• Strikes target Ukrainian oil and gas facilities, igniting a depot near the capital, Kyiv.
• Western powers impose sweeping sanctions on Moscow, move to supply Ukraine with weapons.

Here are all the latest updates:

48 seconds ago (10:51 GMT)

World in ‘new era’ after Russian invasion of Ukraine, Scholz says

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says the world has entered a “new era” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In an address to lawmakers at a special parliamentary sitting, Scholz that the central question now confronting Western powers was whether they can muster enough force to check “warmongers” like Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“In essence, it’s a question of whether might can break right,” he said.

4 mins ago (10:49 GMT)

EU should fund weapons and fuel for ‘heroic’ Ukraine, Borrell says

The European Union’s foreign policy chief says he will propose using the bloc’s funds to help finance weapons and other supplies for Ukraine during a meeting of its foreign ministers later.

“I will propose to [EU foreign] ministers to use the European Peace Facility for two emergency assistance measures,” Josep Borrell said in a statement ahead of the virtual meeting.

“These aim to finance the supply of lethal material to the heroic Ukrainian army, which is fighting with fierce resistance against the Russian invaders and provide urgently needed non-lethal supplies, such as fuel.”

8 mins ago (10:44 GMT)

Portugal to supply military equipment to Kyiv

Portugal will send military equipment to Ukraine, including ammunition and grenades, the country’s defence ministry has said.

Lisbon is to dispatch “vests, helmets, night-vision goggles, grenades and ammunition”, the ministry said in a statement on Twitter.

“Portugal supports Ukraine, which is defending itself against an unjustified, illegal and unacceptable invasion,” Defence Minister Joao Cravinho said in a separate tweet.

The move means Portugal joins several other Western nations in dispatching military aid to Kyiv as it stares down Russia’s attack.

19 mins ago (10:33 GMT)

Putin suspended as honorary president of International Judo Federation

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been suspended as honourary president of the International Judo Federation (IJF), the governing body has announced.

“In light of the ongoing war conflict in Ukraine, the International Judo Federation announces the suspension of Mr Vladimir Putin’s status as Honorary President and Ambassador of the International Judo Federation,” the IJF said in a statement.

A judo blackbelt, 69-year-old Putin is a keen practitioner of the discipline and has co-authored a book titled “Judo: History, Theory, Practice”.

In light of the ongoing war conflict in Ukraine, the International Judo Federation announces the suspension of Mr. Vladimir Putin’s status as Honorary President and Ambassador of the International Judo Federation.https://t.co/QQDZbF6rfd

— Judo (@Judo) February 27, 2022

38 mins ago (10:15 GMT)

‘We try to do everything we can to help our army’: Dnipro blood bank volunteer

Tatyana, a mother of two children, aged six and nine, and a volunteer at a blood bank in the city of Dnipro, in central Ukraine, says the situation in the country is “very scary”.

“We just try to do everything we can now, gathering all our power to volunteer, to do something and help our army,” Tatyana, who declined to give her surname, told Al Jazeera.

“[I came here] because I can’t just sit at home and do nothing,” she added.

“I am going to stay here [in Dnipro] for as long as I can – only if there is a very big danger to my kids will I drive to another region, but for now I’m not going to leave Dnipro … this is my city and I want to do everything I can to keep it safe.”

52 mins ago (10:00 GMT)

Turkey calls Russia’s assault a ‘war’

Turkey has called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a “war” in a rhetorical shift that could pave the way for the NATO member nation to enact an international pact limiting Russian naval passage to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Turkey has control over the Dardanelles and Bosphorus Straits that connect the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and can limit the passage of warships during wartime or if threatened.

Balancing its Western commitments and close ties to Moscow, Ankara has said the Russian attack is unacceptable but until now had not described the situation as a war.

“On the fourth day of the Ukraine war, we repeat President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s call for an immediate halt of Russian attacks and the start of ceasefire negotiations,” presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said on Twitter.

Kyiv has appealed to Ankara to block any more Russian warships from passing through the straits towards the Black Sea, from which Moscow has launched one of its incursions on Ukraine’s southern coast.

1 hour ago (09:50 GMT)

Ukrainian official says 4,300 Russian troops killed

Ukraine’s deputy defence minister has claimed that approximately 4,300 Russian troops have been killed in fighting so far.

Hanna Malyar said in a statement posted on Facebook that the exact number was being clarified, but alleged that Ukrainian forces had also destroyed about 146 tanks, 27 aircraft and 26 helicopters.

There was no immediate response to the claims from Moscow, and Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify the figures provided.

1 hour ago (09:41 GMT)

Zelenskyy adviser claims military situation largely unchanged

An adviser to Zelenskyy says the military situation has not changed significantly in Ukraine, claiming the country’s armed forces are still in control of the territory west of Kyiv and Russian troops not making any advance in the south.

“The fact that a Russian delegation arrived in Gomel with a proposal to conduct peace talks from a military point of view means only one thing: they have lost the initiative and are now unable to continue active hostilities,” Oleksiy Arestovych said, citing Russia’s push for negotiations in Belarus.

1 hour ago (09:34 GMT)

UN refugee agency says more than 200,000 Ukrainians have fled the country

More than 200,000 people have now fled Ukraine into Poland and other neighbouring countries in the wake of Russia’s invasion, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says.

The number has risen rapidly since Moscow launched its onslaught and is expected to continue to climb quickly.

Ukraine: Numbers are constantly being updated but the latest count of refugee arrivals in neighbouring countries now exceeds 200,000. We aim to have another update later today.

— UNHCR News (@RefugeesMedia) February 27, 2022

1 hour ago (09:31 GMT)

Russian president thanks special forces for fulfilling ‘heroic duty’

Putin has thanked Russia’s special forces for their actions in Ukraine, singling out those who are “heroically fulfilling their military duty” for praise.

“Special gratitude to those who these days are heroically fulfilling their military duty in the course of a special operation to provide assistance to the people’s republics of Donbas,” Putin said in a televised address, citing the two breakaway regions – the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) – in eastern Ukraine.

2 hours ago (09:15 GMT)

Moscow’s proposals for Belarus talks widely seen ‘as a ploy’

Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari, reporting from Moscow, says it seems clear that Russia’s proposals for talks with Ukraine in Belarus are “not going to happen” despite the Kremlin’s apparent insistence over the country as the venue for any such discussions.

“The Kremlin has said that they are ready and willing to have discussions but it seems like they are adamant they want to have these negotiations in Belarus,” Jabbari said.

“And, of course, the Ukrainians have said they are willing to discuss a format for talks … but the location is important [for them] because we know that Belarus is one of the areas have entered into Ukraine from,” she added.

“So it is very unclear what the Russians are thinking, but a lot of people have said that this seems to be yet another ploy [by Moscow], in order to make it appear that the Russians are willing to hold talks.”

2 hours ago (09:13 GMT)

UK says Russia ‘cannot negotiate with a gun to the head of the Ukrainians’

The United Kingdom’s foreign secretary has said Ukraine cannot hold talks with Russia while Moscow has troops stationed in the country.

“Now if the Russians are serious about negotiations they need to remove their troops from Ukraine. They cannot negotiate with a gun to the head of the Ukrainians … So frankly, I don’t trust these so-called efforts of negotiation,” Liz Truss told Sky News.

2 hours ago (08:59 GMT)

Ukrainian president slams Russian ‘terror’

Zelenskyy has urged world powers to scrap Russia’s voting power at the UN Security Council (UNSC), claiming Russian actions in his country verged on “genocide”.

“This is terror. They are going to bomb our Ukrainian cities even more, they are going to kill our children even more subtly. This is the evil that has come to our land and must be destroyed,” the Ukrainian president said in a short video message.

“Russia’s criminal actions against Ukraine bear signs of genocide,” he added.

There was no immediate response from Moscow, which itself has accused Ukraine’s government of carrying out a “genocide” in the country’s war-torn eastern Donbas region, where Russian-backed separatists control swaths of territory.

Russia’s allegation has been roundly dismissed by Ukraine and Western countries.

2 hours ago (08:47 GMT)

Lukashenko urges Kyiv to accept Russian offer of talks: Report

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has called on Ukraine’s government to sit down and hold peace talks with Russia so that the country does not lose its statehood, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reports.

2 hours ago (08:30 GMT)

Ukraine death toll: What we know so far

Scores of people have reportedly been killed in Ukraine amid Russia’s assault, with fighting widespread across the country.

The UN said late on Saturday that it had confirmed at least 64 civilians had been killed, though added it believed the “real figures are considerably higher” because many reports of casualties remain unconfirmed.

Ukraine’s Health Minister Viktor Liashko had earlier said that 198 Ukrainians, including three children, had been killed.

Read more here.

3 hours ago (08:20 GMT)

Situation in Kharkiv ‘very fluid’, but Ukrainian forces fighting ‘fiercely’

Maria Avdeeva, the Kharkiv-based research director for Ukraine’s European Expert Association think-tank, has told Al Jazeera that heavy shelling started in the city late on Saturday and continued throughout the night and early this morning.

“I’ve even heard the [sound] of guns on the streets,” Avdeeva said.

“What we know now is that Russia is entering the city in small groups, on lighter military vehicles, and they are [being] destroyed by the Ukrainian military. Some of the groups were already destroyed, they tried to get close to the city centre and we see many images of the destroyed Russian military vehicles on the streets,” she added.

“The situation is very fluid, the Ukrainian military fights back fiercely, and there are also territorial defence units here as well, and these people will also participate in this fight on the streets.”

3 hours ago (08:07 GMT)

Russians intend to use Kharkiv as a ‘rear base’

Local authorities in Kharkiv say some light Russian vehicles have managed to enter the city from its from the northeast, according to Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid.

“It seems the city, from what we understand, is now surrounded from all sides by the Russians and it is difficult for civilians to get out of there,” Abdel-Hamid said from Dnipro.

“Kharkiv is so close to the Russian border, about 40 kilometres (24 miles) from there, and a lot of people that live there are ethnically Russian,” she added.

“There are a lot of commercial links between the two sides and even family links between the two sides, and I think the Russians were quite surprised to see that that city has put up a fight and is resisting.

“The Russians want to use Kharkiv as some sort of a rear base and from there head south, maybe towards here, Dnipro, which is a city that they would like to take.”

Kharkiv sits near Ukraine’s border with Russia and is home to about 1.5 million people [Sergey Bobok/AFP]

3 hours ago (07:58 GMT)

Zelenskyy says Ukraine is ready for peace talks, but not in Belarus

Ukraine’s president says his country is ready for peace talks with Russia, but not in Belarus.

Zelenskyy’s remarks came after the Kremlin said its delegation was ready to meet Ukrainian officials in the Belarusian city of Gomel.

Russia had massed tens of thousands of troops in Belarus prior to its invasion of Ukraine, and Kyiv has accused Moscow of using the country as a staging ground for its invasion.

4 hours ago (07:11 GMT)

Ukraine says it downed missile launched by Russian bomber flying over Belarus

Ukrainian forces have downed a cruise missile launched by a Russian Tu-22 strategic bomber from the territory of Belarus, Valery Zaluzhny, the chief commander of the armed forces, says.

4 hours ago (06:22 GMT)

Russia claims to have besieged Kherson, Berdyansk

Moscow has claimed its troops have “entirely” besieged the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson and the southeastern city of Berdyansk.

“Over the past 24 hours, the cities of Kherson and Berdyansk have been completely blocked by the Russian armed forces,” defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

5 hours ago (06:04 GMT)

Russian troops have entered Kharkiv, regional official says

Ukrainian forces are battling Russian troops on the streets of Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv, regional governor Oleh Sinegubov says.

“The Russian enemy’s light vehicles have broken into Kharkiv, including the city centre,” Sinegubov said. “Ukraine’s armed forces are destroying the enemy. We ask civilians not to go out.”

Videos published by Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection showed several light military vehicles moving along a street and, separately, a burning tank.

Ukrainian soldiers handle equipment outside Kharkiv on Saturday, February 26. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed Saturday that Ukraine’s forces had repulsed the assault and vowed to keep fighting. ‘We will win,’ Zelenskyy said. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko )

5 hours ago (05:38 GMT)

China’s envoy to Ukraine postpones evacuation of citizens

China’s envoy to Ukraine has said current conditions in the country mean it is too unsafe to evacuate citizens.

In a lengthy video message on the embassy’s official WeChat account, Chinese ambassador Fan Xianrong sought to dispel rumours he had left Kyiv and reassure Chinese nationals left stranded in the war-torn country.

“We must wait until it is safe before leaving,” said Fan from his office, seated in front of a Chinese flag and what appeared to be a fold-out camp bed.

8 hours ago (03:12 GMT)

SWIFT preparing to comply with curbs on Russian banks

The SWIFT international payments system says it is preparing to implement Western nations’ new measures targeting certain Russian banks in the coming days.

“We are engaging with European authorities to understand the details of the entities that will be subject to the new measures and we are preparing to comply upon legal instruction,” it said in a statement.

8 hours ago (02:48 GMT)

Ukraine says Russian troops have blown up a gas pipeline in Kharkiv

Russian troops have blown up a natural gas pipeline in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s state communications service says.

A mushroom-shaped explosion was shown in a video it posted on the Telegram messaging app.

It was not immediately clear how important the pipeline was and whether the blast could disrupt gas shipments outside the city or country. Despite the war, Ukraine continues to ship Russian natural gas to Europe.

8 hours ago (02:46 GMT)

Ukraine roads company removing road signs to confuse Russians

A Ukrainian company in charge of building and maintaining roads says it is removing all road signs that could be used by invading Russian forces to find their way around the country.

“The enemy has poor communications, they cannot navigate the terrain,” Ukravtodor said in a Facebook post. “Let us help them get straight to hell.”

The company posted an edited photo of a standard road sign in which directions to nearby cities have been replaced with profanities.

8 hours ago (02:35 GMT)

‘It was hell’: Long lines of Ukrainian refugees at Poland border

The Polish government says more than 115,000 Ukrainian refugees have crossed its border from Ukraine, most from the main border crossing of Medyka.

Read more here.

9 hours ago (02:03 GMT)

Town near Ukraine’s Kyiv hit by missiles, oil terminal on fire

Russian missiles have hit the Ukrainian town of Vasylkiv, southwest of Kyiv, setting an oil terminal ablaze, the town’s mayor says.

“The enemy wants to destroy everything around,” Natalia Balasinovich said in a video posted online.

9 hours ago (01:46 GMT)

At least 64 civilians killed in Ukraine: UN

The UN says it has confirmed at least 240 civilian casualties, including at least 64 people killed, in the fighting in Ukraine, although it believes the “real figures are considerably higher” because many reports of casualties remain to be confirmed.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) relayed the count from the UN human rights office, which has strict verification procedures concerning death tolls in conflicts.

OCHA also said damage to civilian infrastructure has deprived hundreds of thousands of people of access to electricity or water, and produced a map of “humanitarian situations” in Ukraine – mostly in the country’s northern, eastern and southern regions.

Ukrainian servicemen pick up a corpse [Daniel Leal/AFP]

10 hours ago (00:42 GMT)

Details of financial sanctions are ‘all that matters’

Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, DC, says the decision by Western allies to cut Russia out of the SWIFT global payment system may affect some European countries.

“When it comes to financial sanctions, the details are really all that matters,” she said. “The key here is how many banks are they going to go after – are they going to go after the truly powerful ones,” Culhane said.

“Cutting some banks off would be very bad for those banks … can they do it so that it’s not so bad for the European economy,” she added.

Western allies announced further sanctions on Russia, including cutting off a number of Russian banks from the SWIFT interbank payments system [Chris Helgren/Reuters]

10 hours ago (00:30 GMT)

UK says Russian forces limiting social media access for own people

Britain has said that Russian forces restricted access to a number of social media platforms in an attempt to conceal details about the situation in Ukraine from their own people.

“Russian forces are sustaining casualties and a number of Russian troops have been taken prisoner by Ukrainian forces,” the Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update. “They are suffering from logistical challenges and strong Ukrainian resistance.”

11 hours ago (23:48 GMT)

Ukrainian tennis player Yastremska flees to safety in France

Ukrainian tennis star Dayana Yastremska has fled her native country and is now safe in France, the 21-year-old said in a social media post.

Yastremska, who has won three WTA titles and been ranked as high as world number 21, says she and her younger sister left Odesa with help from their parents.

“Tired, but my sister and I are safe!” she posted in an Instagram story, which showed their arrival in Romania en route to France. “Thank you France. Ukraine stay strong. We miss you Home, Mum and Dad.”

11 hours ago (23:38 GMT)

UN to launch appeal to fund humanitarian operations in Ukraine

Secretary-General António Guterres has announced that the UN will launch an appeal to fund its humanitarian operations in Ukraine.

A UN spokesperson said Guterres spoke with Zelenskyy over the phone.

“The Secretary-General conveyed to the President the determination of the United Nations to enhance humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine,” the spokesperson said.

11 hours ago (23:31 GMT)

SWIFT sanctions seek to block Putin from using reserves for Ukraine attack, US official says

The United States and its allies are “disarming Fortress Russia” with new sanctions that cut off key banks from the SWIFT financial transactions network and target Russia’s central bank, a senior Biden administration official says.

The actions are aimed at preventing Putin from using $630bn in central bank foreign currency reserves in the invasion of Ukraine and to defend a plunging rouble.

“Putin’s government is getting kicked off the international financial system,” the official said.

11 hours ago (23:27 GMT)

Ukraine is grateful for financial sanctions imposed on Russia: PM

Ukraine is grateful for the latest round of financial sanctions imposed on Russia by the US and its allies, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has said in a Twitter post.

“Thanks to our friends … for the commitment to remove several Russian banks from SWIFT” and for “the paralysis of the assets of the central bank of Russia”, he said.

Grateful for our friends from