Ukraine: What happened on day 15 of Russia's invasion

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Kharkiv has been one of the focal points of the Russian attack

"We met only this afternoon, but already I know that just last week, his father Oleg was killed defending the city, and Lt Gromadsky is the seventh generation of military in his family. He plans for an eighth, in a free Ukraine."

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has now entered its third week. What Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, surely intended to be a quick victory has stalled in the face of Ukrainian resistance.

Major urbans centres remain contested, with Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv a flashpoint.

Our reporter, Quentin Sommerville, has been embedded with Ukrainian forces.

Over a cup of borscht, he found men willing to fight but recognising they need more from the West if they are to win.

"If Kharkiv falls, then all of Ukraine falls," one of them said.

Death and despair in Mariupol

Image source, Sergei Orlov

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Ukrainian officials say three people including a child died in an attack on a children's hospital in Mariupol

A dire picture is emerging from the southern port city of Mariupol.

Reports say food and medicine are hard to find, and residents resorting to melting snow for water. And all this under an intense Russian bombardment.

With the city encircled, residents of those trapped inside face the agonising uncertainty of trying to reach them by phone.

The BBC's Joel Gunter, who is in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, has been speaking to some of them.

"There is no possibility of private graves, because of the high numbers and because of the continuous shelling," one of them told him.

"They are being put into mass graves."

Dragging grandmother to safety

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A relieved Dmytro (R) poses here with (L-R) his sister, neighbour, grandmother and mother

Bucha is a small town just to the north-west of Kyiv. Much like in Mariupol, the shelling has been relentless, with residents forced to shelter in basements.

Dmytro, a 30-year-old lawyer, decided to escape. He was joined with his sister, his mother and his two grandmothers, aged 74 and 83.

Not long after they left, their grandmother could no longer walk so they needed to drag her to safety.

"My granny begged us to leave her behind. She didn't want to be a burden for us but we didn't drop our loved ones."

High-level talks but no breakthrough

Image source, Reuters

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Russia's Lavrov (R) in talks with Ukraine's Kuleba - but there was no immediate breakthrough

For the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine, the two sides have held high-level talks as Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Turkey.

The two agreed to continue discussions but apart from that there was nothing in the way of a substantial agreement.

They remain far apart. Lavrov repeated Russia's demands Ukraine disarm and adopt a neutral position, something Kuleba said amounted to wanting a surrender.