Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday urged Russian troops to abandon their equipment and leave the battlefield to save their lives, claiming that more than 4,500 Russian soldiers had already died in battle.
He also called on the EU to give Ukraine "immediate" membership, through a special procedure.
Ukraine demanded an immediate Russian ceasefire and troop withdrawal as its delegation arrived in Belarus for talks with Russian negotiators, on the fifth day of the Kremlin's offensive.
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A monitor displays a projectile striking the regional state administration building in Kharkiv, as the Russian invasion continues. Reuters -
People help a wounded woman in the aftermath of Russian shelling in Kharkiv. EPA -
Ukrainian emergency service personnel carry the body of a victim following shelling in Kharkiv. AP -
Students who fled the conflict rest in a refugee camp in Voluntari, Romania. AP -
Members of an Ukrainian civil defence unit pass new assault rifles to the opposite side of a blown-up bridge on Kiev’s northern front. AFP -
Civilians cross a river on Kiev's northern front. AFP -
A woman takes photos of a destroyed accommodation building near a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kiev. AP -
The city hall of Kharkiv, damaged by Russian shelling. AFP -
Debris litters the square outside the damaged Kharkiv city hall. AFP -
A Ukrainian woman sleeps on the floor of the railway station in Zahonyi close to the Hungary/Ukraine border. AFP -
A medical worker attends to wounded man at a hospital in Brovary, outside Kiev. AP -
Refugees from Ukraine in a tent at the Medyka border crossing, Poland. AP -
Debris outside the regional administration building, which city officials said was hit by a missile, in Kharkiv. Reuters -
A student evacuated from Ukraine is embraced by her family after arriving at Tunis-Carthage International Airport in Tunisia. AFP -
Rescuers in a building damaged by a missile in central Kharkiv. Reuters -
An ambulance is visible through the damaged window of a vehicle hit by bullets in Kiev, Ukraine. Reuters -
Territorial defence members prepare to head out on patrol in Kiev. EPA -
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech on screen during the opening of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. AP -
A policeman detains a young demonstrator during a protest against Russia's attack on Ukraine in St Petersburg, Russia. AP -
Local residents in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, prepare Molotov cocktails. Reuters -
Residents clean a bomb shelter under an out-of-service cinema in central Zhytomyr. Reuters -
Ukrainian volunteers tear cloth into strips to make camouflage nets in Lviv, western Ukraine. AP -
Part of the military convoy north-west of Invankiv, Ukraine. AP -
Mark Goncharuk, a young boy from Kiev, leaves his father behind as he travels with the rest of his family towards the border. Reuters -
People hold an anti-war protest outside the Russian Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico. Reuters -
A crater caused by shelling on the outskirts of Kiev. AFP -
People queue outside a grocery store in the Ukrainian capital. EPA -
Ukrainian soldiers stand at Maidan Nezalezhnosti, or Independence Square, in Kiev. EPA -
Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, second left, and Davyd Arakhamia, faction leader of the Servant of the People party in the Ukrainian Parliament, third right, attend the peace talks in the Gomel region of Belarus. AP -
People who have fled the Russian invasion in Ukraine, clamour to board a bus bound for a refugee centre established in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters -
Hanna Pavlovna Lukasz, from Mirhord, Ukraine, said her sons, aged 12 and 8, and her 66-year-old mother had been waiting on the Ukrainian side of the border crossing with Medyka, Poland, for four days. AP -
A volunteer from Kiev prepares a rear post with trenches in the city. AFP -
A child being treated for cancer rests in the bomb shelter of the oncology ward at a hospital in Kiev. Getty -
Police officers check occupants of a suspicious car in Kiev, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters -
A woman from Ukraine uses a phone to listen to a speech by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a refugee shelter in Beregsurany, Hungary. Reuters -
Shelves empty of bread after a curfew was lifted as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kiev. Reuters -
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, left, and President Zelenskyy. AFP -
Snow-covered shoes donated for those fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland. Reuters -
People who have fled Ukraine wait for a bus to transport them away from the border crossing in Medyka. Reuters -
Norwegian soldiers of the Nato-enhanced forward presence battalion pose at a military plane as they arrive at an airport in Kaunas, Lithuania. AP -
A person fleeing Ukraine sits during snowfall at a temporary camp in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters -
Footage reportedly of Russian Buk missile system vehicles on a road before a drone strike near Malyn, Ukraine. Reuters -
An explosion after what are said to be Russian Buk missile system vehicles on a road are struck by a drone. Reuters -
The monument to Russian troops from the Second World War, after the figures’ hands were painted red, at the Red Army memorial in Sofia, Bulgaria. EPA -
The Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, is lit up with the colours of Ukraine’s national flag in a show of support. AP -
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the construction site of the National Space Agency on the premises of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Centre, in Moscow. EPA -
A man looks out from a train, at the railway station in Lviv, Ukraine. The UN has estimated the conflict could produce as many as four million refugees. AP -
A Ukrainian boy waits for his mother after passing the border crossing point in Siret, northern Romania. EPA -
Russian policemen detain a demonstrator in St Petersburg, during a protest against the country's military actions in Ukraine. EPA -
Ukrainian soldiers at a check point in the city of Zhytomyr. Reuters -
Residents prepare petrol bombs to defend the city, in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Reuters -
A pro-Russian fighter sits inside a tank in the separatist self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, in the Luhansk region, Ukraine. Reuters -
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, speaks to Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, second left, and Head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and First Deputy Defence Minister Valery Gerasimov, left, during their meeting in Moscow. AP -
Ukrainians and supporters gather during a demonstration in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens against the Russian military's operation in Ukraine. AFP -
Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighters test an automatic grenade launcher taken from a destroyed Russian infantry mobility vehicla after a battle in Kharkiv. AFP
Ukraine's delegation is set to meet Russian representatives for the first talks since Moscow's assault, as the fighting for several Ukrainian cities continues and the Russian rouble collapses.
The meeting will take place just across the border in neighbouring Belarus, a key Kremlin ally that has allowed Russian troops passage to attack Ukraine.
"The Ukrainian delegation arrived at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border to take part in talks with representatives of the Russian Federation," the Ukrainian presidency said.
Zelenskyy has said he is sceptical about the possibility of a breakthrough.
"As always: I do not really believe in the outcome of this meeting, but let them try," he said.
US President Joe Biden will hold a secure call with allies and partners on Monday to discuss developments in Russia's attack on Ukraine and “co-ordinate our united response,” the White House has said.
The administration did not elaborate on who would participate in the call, which will take place at 11.15am (4.15pm GMT).
Russian forces have taken over the towns of Berdyansk and Enerhodar in Ukraine's south-eastern Zaporizhzhya region as well as the area around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, Interfax quoted Russia's Defence Ministry as saying on Monday.
The plant's operations continued normally, it added.
Russia is at the centre of international attention as its forces battle on the streets of Ukraine's cities. The country is facing a barrage of sanctions that include a ban on its national airline from Western airspace and the removal of its banks from crucial financial networks.
Rising death toll
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said 352 civilians have been killed since Russia’s military operation began, including 14 children. It said an additional 1,684 people, including 116 children, have been wounded.
The ministry’s statement on Sunday did not give any information about casualties among Ukraine’s armed forces.
Russia has claimed that its troops are aiming only at Ukrainian military targets and says that the country's civilian population is not in danger.
Moscow has not released any information on casualties among its troops.
Meanwhile, the Vatican is ready to "facilitate dialogue" between Russia and Ukraine to end the war, its top diplomat said on Monday.
Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who ranks second only to Pope Francis in the Vatican hierarchy, told Italian newspapers that "despite the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine" he was "convinced there is always room for negotiations".
The Russian Defence Ministry acknowledged on Sunday that Russian soldiers have been killed and wounded but did not give any numbers.
UN says Ukraine radioactive waste site was hit
The UN's nuclear watchdog said missiles have hit a radioactive waste disposal site in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, but there are no reports of damage to the buildings or indications of a release of harmful material.
International Atomic Energy Agency director general Rafael Grossi said late on Sunday that the Ukrainian authorities informed his office about the overnight strike.
He said his agency expects to soon receive the results of on-site radioactive monitoring.
The report came a day after an electrical transformer at a similar disposal site in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was damaged.
Russian rouble plunges to record
Russia’s rouble plunged by more than 28 per cent to a record of 118 against the dollar in early trading on Monday, after the US and EU allies imposed tighter sanctions in response to Moscow's military offensive in Ukraine.
The currency clawed back some ground but was still down 18 per cent as of 7.58am UAE time on Monday at 100.2 to the greenback.
“A bank run has already started in Russia at the weekend, and the rouble … will be well above $100 to the US dollar,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda.
Equities rallied on Friday and oil dipped as dealers assessed that the punishments imposed on Moscow were light enough to not hit its crucial oil exports — Russia is the world's third-biggest producer — at a time when supplies are thin and demand is surging.
But the picture changed at the weekend, when the US and the EU said they would exclude some Russian banks from the international bank payments system Swift and personally targeted President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
