Australia has welcomed Ukrainians fleeing the war with bipartisan support as its government has promised to expedite student, skilled worker, and tourist visas for them, according to MSN News.

The body of Hadisur Rahman, third engineer of the Bangladeshi ship “Banglar Samriddhi”, who was killed in a rocket attack at a Ukraine port on March 3, is now in Turkey’s Istanbul and is set to reach Dhaka tomorrow afternoon (March 14).

The United Nations will have multiple meetings this week about Russia's war in Ukraine, though it is unclear if these will lead to the adoption of an official text, diplomats said.

Around 13,000 people were evacuated from a number of Ukrainian cities on Saturday, said Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, almost twice the number who managed to get out the previous day.

Russian forces pounded the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Saturday, shelling its downtown as residents hid in its iconic mosque and elsewhere to avoid the explosions. Fighting also raged in the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, as Russia kept up its bombardment of several resisting cities.

Ukraine accused Russian forces on Saturday of killing seven civilians in an attack on women and children trying to flee fighting near Kyiv, and France said Russian President Vladimir Putin had shown he was not ready to make peace.

Russian forces upped pressure on Kyiv yesterday, pummelling civilian areas in other Ukrainian cities, amid fresh efforts to get aid to the devastated port city of Mariupol.

Most business owners have shut up shop and fled Ukraine’s Mikolaiv, but florist Angela Kalisnik continues to sell tulips and roses just a short drive away from the frontline.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday authorized $200 million in weapons and other assistance for Ukraine, the White House said, as Ukrainian officials said heavy shelling by Russian forces were endangering attempted evacuations.

Ukraine was ready to negotiate to end the war started by Russia more than two weeks ago, but would not surrender or accept any ultimatums, the country's foreign affairs minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Saturday.

As Russian and Ukrainian websites fall victim to cyber attacks and Moscow restricts access to some foreign social media, internet users across both countries have turned to online tools to help circumvent the blocks.

Russian forces pounding the port city of Mariupol shelled a mosque sheltering more than 80 people, including children, the Ukrainian government said Saturday as fighting also raged on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv.

Western sanctions against Russia could cause the International Space Station to crash, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos warned Saturday, calling for the punitive measures to be lifted.

Fighting raged northwest of Kyiv on Saturday, with the bulk of Russian ground forces 25 km (16 miles) from the centre of the Ukrainian capital, while several other cities were encircled and under heavy shelling, the UK Defence Ministry said.

The United Nations on Friday said it had no evidence Ukraine had a biological weapons program while Washington and its allies accused Russia of spreading the unproven claim as a possible prelude to launching its own biological or chemical attacks.

US President Joe Biden on Friday vowed that Russia would pay a "severe price" if it used chemical weapons in Ukraine, while also pledging to avoid provoking Moscow into "World War III."

Russian strikes hit fresh civilian targets in central and eastern Ukraine yesterday, including a city previously considered a safe haven, as Moscow’s troops edged closer to the capital Kyiv.

Fleeing the horrors of war in Ukraine, Bangladeshis are finding new hope in other European countries.

The body of engineer Md Hadisur Rahman, who was killed in a rocket attack on the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) vessel stranded at a Ukraine port, is expected to reach Dhaka on March 13 or 14, said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam yesterday.

The UN yesterday voiced alarm at Facebook’s decision to temporarily ease its policy on violent speech after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, warning it could spark “hate speech” against Russians.