Russia said yesterday it had hit hundreds of military targets in Ukraine overnight, destroying command posts with air-launched missiles, while authorities in the western city of Lviv, which has escaped heavy bombardment, said a missile attack killed seven.

Ukraine should make concessions to Russian demands, said philosopher and linguist Noam Chomsky in a recent interview, adding that the people must “pay attention to the reality of the world.”

Five "powerful" Russian missiles hit Lviv on Monday, a city in the west of the Ukraine that has so far been spared much of the fighting since Russia invaded its pro-Western neighbour nearly two months ago, the city's mayor said.

Ukraine yesterday vowed to ‘fight to the end’ as a Russian ultimatum for the last remaining Ukrainian forces in Mariupol to surrender expired yesterday.

Russia's defence ministry has told the Ukrainian forces still fighting in the besieged southern port of Mariupol to lay down their arms starting 6 am Moscow time (0300 GMT) on Sunday to save their lives.

Russian air raids and missile strikes hit Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and other major cities yesterday as Moscow launched more long-range attacks following the sinking of its Black Sea Fleet’s flagship.

Moscow on Saturday announced it was banning entry to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several other top UK officials, after London imposed sanctions on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine.

Indignant over what it called Ukrainian strikes in Russian territory and following the stunning loss of its Black Sea flagship, Moscow threatened renewed missile attacks on Kyiv, where authorities said the bodies of more than 900 civilians were found outside the capital. Most had been shot dead, police said, and likely “simply executed.”

Russian strikes pounded a military factory near Kyiv that makes the missiles Ukraine claims it used to sink the Moskva naval flagship, with Moscow yesterday vowing renewed attacks on the capital.

The flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet has sunk after what Kyiv said was a Ukrainian missile strike, dealing one of the heaviest blows yet to Moscow's war effort and providing a stunning symbol of Kyiv's resistance against a better-armed foe.

On a day that saw Moscow suffer a stinging symbolic defeat with the loss of its Black Sea fleet flagship, Ukraine’s president hailed his people for their resolve since Russia invaded in February and for making “the most important decision of their life — to fight.”

Powerful explosions were heard in Kyiv early on Friday, and air raid sirens blared across Ukraine as residents braced for new Russian attacks after Moscow's lead warship in the Black Sea sank following a fire.

One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies warned NATO on Thursday that if Sweden and Finland joined the U.S.-led military alliance then Russia would deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles in an exclave in the heart of Europe.

Ukraine said its forces struck and seriously damaged the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, dealing a potentially major setback to Moscow’s troops as they try to regroup for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine after retreating from much of the north, including the capital.

More than 1,000 Ukrainian marines have surrendered in the port of Mariupol, Russia’s defence ministry said of its main strategic target in the eastern Donbas region, which has been reduced to ruins but is not yet under Russian control.

US President Joe Biden said for the first time that Moscow's invasion of Ukraine amounts to genocide, as President Vladimir Putin said Russia would "rhythmically and calmly" continue its operation and achieve its goals.

President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday peace talks with Ukraine had hit a dead end, using his first public comments on the conflict in more than a week to vow that his troops would win and to goad the West for failing to bring Moscow to heel.

OPEC told the European Union on Monday that current and future sanctions on Russia could create one of the worst ever oil supply shocks and it would be impossible to replace those volumes, and signalled it would not pump more.

Escalating global geopolitical tensions arising from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could spill over to Asia through sharper-than-expected increases in energy and other commodity prices, said experts yesterday.

Ukraine said yesterday that tens of thousands of people have likely been killed in Russia’s assault on Mariupol and Russian forces have slowed down evacuations from the besieged southeastern city, where conditions are desperate.