Child among Ukraine hospital air strike dead
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Military may help at UK visa centres - armed forces minister
BBC Breakfast
The UK Home Office is looking at ways of expanding the visa programme for Ukrainian refugees trying to enter the UK, armed forces minister James Heappey says.
The government has resisted calls to eliminate all visa rules for refugees, citing security concerns.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Heappey said the Home Office was "looking at a number of policy checks that they currently have in place in order to make the process easier."
But he added that the real issue was the speed at which people can get through the process, which he said was "a matter of capacity".
In order to speed things up, he said, the armed forces had offered to send troops who are on stand-by for humanitarian tasks to visa application centres in Europe.
The Home Office has accepted the offer, he says, but they now needed to get the go-ahead from the countries where the visa centres are located.
Ukraine opening seven humanitarian corridorsImage caption: Ukraine has accused Russia of a war crime following the destruction of a children's hospital in Mariupo
Ukraine is opening seven "humanitarian corridors" on Thursday to help civilians leave cities besieged by Russian forces, including the southern port of Mariupol, the country's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said.
BreakingRussian and Ukrainian foreign ministers meet
Image caption: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba attend talks in Turkey The Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers are meeting for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine began, Reuters news agency reports.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, are in Antalya, Turkey.
- The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine are to hold peace talks in Antalya, Turkey later today
- US Vice-President Kamala Harris is in Poland, a day after her administration rejected the country's proposal to transfer its jet fleet to the US, rather than directly to Ukraine
- The UK says Moscow has had to deploy conscript troops to Ukraine despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's assurances, even this week, that it wouldn't happen
- Four people were reportedly killed - of which two were children - after a residential building near the city of Kharkiv was shelled during the night by Russian forces, said Ukraine's State Emergency Services
- White House officials have warned that Russia is growing increasingly desperate, and could resort to chemical weapons attacks against civilians in the coming days
- US officials estimate that between 5,000 to 6,000 Russian troops have died so far in Ukraine
- Ukraine's President Zelensky says that Russia's bombing of a hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol - which destroyed the maternity and children's wards - is a war crime
- More private companies are pledging to end business in Russia, as the country's economic isolation continues
Mariupol hospital bombing a war crime - UK armed forces minister
BBC Breakfast
The UK's armed forces minister has called yesterday's bombing of a maternity and a children's ward in Mariupol, south-eastern Ukraine, a war crime.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, James Heappey described the attack as "utterly despicable".
He said that whether it was a targeted or an indiscriminate attack, both amounted to a war crime.
He added that it was the responsibility of the international community "to make sure that the evidence is gathered, recorded, so that when the time comes, and I promise you that the time will come, there is an opportunity to prosecute these people in international criminal courts".
BreakingThree killed in maternity hospital bombing, says Mariupol official
The deputy mayor of the besieged city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine has told the BBC, three people - including one child - were killed when Russia bombed a maternity hospital on Wednesday.
At least seventeen others were reportedly injured, some of whom included pregnant women.
"I'm absolutely sure they know about this facility and this is their third hospital that they are destroying in this city," Sergei Orlov told the BBC.
He said a 300-bed hospital dedicated to treating Covid patients had been destroyed by artillery shelling the previous day, along with a blood-collection centre in Mariupol.
"I'm absolutely sure (these are their) targets," Orlov added.
The World Health Organization says it's verified at least 18 different attacks on health facilities in Ukraine since the invasion began.
Russia insists Ukrainian fighters had moved staff and patients out of the hospital and set up firing positions there.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has accused Russia of committing a war crime.
The latest developments from Ukraine
Hello, to those of you just joining us. Here's a recap of the latest developments from Ukraine:UK visa office in Brussels 'overwhelmed'
Over the last few days we've been reporting on the difficulties some refugees are having applying for visas granting them entry to the UK.
This morning, a sign outside the UK visa office in Brussels - where Ukrainian refugees trying to enter the UK are being sent - says it is "overwhelmed" by "unprecedented circumstances".
It adds, "we sincerely apologise if we're unable to assist all of you quickly."
About 500 visas have been granted to the UK so far, with more than 10,000 people having applied to join relatives in the UK. A second visa route, requiring a British sponsor, is also being set up.
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