A wall of artificial flowers featuring laminated photos of those who have died has been built overnight in Lviv as a memorial to the thousands of civilians killed in Ukraine.
Look back on Thursday's updates as they happened in our live blog.
Key events
- 217 children killed in Ukraine, according to official numbers
- There are reports of explosions in Kherson
- Russian forces use tear gas and stun grenades at pro-Ukraine rally, officials say
- UK calls for Western allies to double down and send Ukraine tanks and jets
- Vladimir Putin warns of an 'immediate response' for countries who intervene in Ukraine
Live updates
By Jacqueline Howard
That is all for the blog today
We are closing the Ukraine-Russia war blog for today.
You can stay up-to-date with the latest news online or on the ABC News app.
By Jacqueline Howard
By Jacqueline Howard
Kherson will transition its currency to the rouble: Russian state media
From May 1, the Russian-occupied region of Kherson will begin to use the Russian rouble, as opposed to the Ukrainian hryvnia, the deputy chairman of the military-civilian administration of the Stremousov region Kirill Stremousov told state media RIA Novosti.
According to him, the transition period will take up to four months. During this period, both the rouble and the hryvnia will circulate, before a full transition to the rouble.
By Jacqueline Howard
217 children killed in Ukraine, according to official numbers
The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine is keeping track of the official Ukrainian count of casualties as a result of the Russian invasion in the country.
It says it has verified the deaths of 217 children to date, and a further 393 injuries.
As always, these numbers are not necessarily the actual toll — as the war rages on, there is great difficulty in verifying reports.
By Jacqueline Howard
Russian presence in the Black Sea remains a threat
The latest British Defence Intelligence release says there are 20 Russian ships currently operating in the Black Sea, off the south coast of Ukraine.
The Bosporus Strait, the only access to the Black Sea and which runs through Turkey, is currently closed to all non-Turkish war vessels. This means Russia is not able to add to or replace any of its force currently in the Black Sea.
The defence release says the 20 Russian ships, which include a number of submarines, have the capacity to do substantial damage to port cities on Ukraine's coast.
By Jacqueline Howard
Pro-Ukraine rally in Russian-occupied Kherson
Russian forces have used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse a pro-Ukraine rally in the occupied city of Kherson.
Local authorities say Russia appointed its own mayor of Kherson on Tuesday after its troops took over the administration headquarters in the regional capital, which was the first big urban centre to be seized.
Some residents have staged occasional anti-occupation rallies and crowds gathered in the centre again on Wednesday, the date Kyiv had said Russia planned to stage a referendum to create a breakaway region like those in eastern Ukraine.
"During a peaceful pro-Ukrainian rally on Freedom Square in the city of Kherson, servicemen of the Russian armed forces used tear gas and stun grenades against the civilian population," the office of Ukraine's Prosecutor General said in a statement.
It said it was investigating the incident, and that at least four people were wounded.
By Jacqueline Howard
Russia collecting digital data on Ukrainians
Russia's relentless digital assaults on Ukraine may have caused less damage than many anticipated. But most of its hacking is focused on a different goal that gets less attention but has chilling potential consequences: data collection.
Ukrainian agencies breached on the eve of the February 24 invasion include the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which oversees the police, national guard and border patrol.
A month earlier, a national database of automobile insurance policies was raided during a diversionary cyberattack that defaced Ukrainian websites.
The hacks, paired with pre-war data theft, likely armed Russia with extensive details on much of Ukraine’s population, cybersecurity and military intelligence analysts say.
It’s information Russia can use to identify and locate Ukrainians most likely to resist an occupation, and potentially target them for internment or worse.
Ukraine says Russian forces have killed and kidnapped local leaders where they grab territory, a strong indicator political targeting is a goal.
By Jacqueline Howard
European leaders blast cut-off of Russian gas as 'blackmail'
European leaders have blasted Russia's decision to cut natural gas shipments to Poland and Bulgaria as “blackmail,” saying the cut-off and the Kremlin's warning that it might cease shipments to other countries is a failed attempt to divide the West over its support for Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Russia made use of its most essential export as leverage, marking a dramatic escalation in the economic war of sanctions and counter-sanctions that has unfolded in parallel to the fighting on the battlefield.
The tactic against the two EU and NATO members could eventually force targeted nations to ration gas and deal another blow to economies suffering from rising prices. At the same time, it could deprive Russia of badly needed income to fund its war effort.
“It comes as no surprise that the Kremlin uses fossil fuels to try to blackmail us,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “The Kremlin has failed once again in its attempt to sow division amongst member states. The era of Russian fossil fuel in Europe is coming to an end.”
By Jacqueline Howard
'Wall of hope' memorial for victims of the war in Lviv
Pictures of some of the Ukrainian victims of the Russian invasion are on display with flowers at a memorial that popped up overnight in central Lviv, Ukraine.
Many locals stopped to pay their respect, some wiping tears away.
The war has killed thousands of people since Russia invaded two months ago, including at least 2,224 civilians, according to the United Nations.
The laminated photographs represent just a tiny fraction of them.
Among them is 11-year-old gymnast Kateryna Diachenko, grinning while wearing a leotard, before she was killed at home in Mariupol by a Russian missile.
There is army paramedic Valentina Pushich who lost her life trying to help evacuate civilians near the capital, and Indian student Naveen Gyanagoudar who died in the eastern city of Kharkiv on his way to buy food.
Leo Soto, an American born in Venezuela, travelled all the way from the US state of Florida to put up the floral tribute.
"It's a wall of hope," said the 27-year-old hospitality school student.
He said he had made his first memorial in Miami after a building collapsed there last summer, killing 98 people including a high school classmate.
People responded well, and he now wanted to provide what little comfort he could to Ukrainians.
In his latest wall of flowers in Lviv, he chose artificial flowers, all donated in Poland, so people would not have to replace them and it would be more permanent.
By Jacqueline Howard
No progress in organising peace talks between presidents
Ukraine's lead negotiator said no agreement had been reached for the Ukrainian and Russian presidents to discuss the war despite efforts by Turkey to arrange talks.
The negotiator, Mykhailo Podolyak, noted increased hostilities in east Ukraine and Russian attempts to "completely destroy" the southern city of Mariupol.
NATO member Turkey shares a border with Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, has good ties with both, and has been working as a mediator.
It has hosted two separate talks between Ukraine and Russia and has been pushing to host a leaders' meeting.
By Shiloh Payne
Moldovan breakaway region says shots have been fired from Ukraine towards a village
Moldova's pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria says shots were fired from Ukraine towards a village that houses an ammunition depot.
This is the latest report that raises concerns Russia's war might expand.
The region's interior ministry said that several drones had been detected flying over the village of Cobasna overnight and they had come from Ukraine.
The statement said shots were later fired towards the border village from Ukrainian territory on Wednesday morning, but said nobody has been hurt.
Reuters is reporting that Russia has a contingent of troops in Transnistria guarding tonnes of ammunition stored in the region since before the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.
Moscow also has peacekeepers there after a conflict between separatist and Moldovan forces.
Transnistria's interior ministry cited "experts" as saying that Cobasna holds the biggest ammunition depot in Europe.
Ukraine has accused Russia of trying to mastermind false flag attacks in the region, including explosions that damaged two radio masts on Tuesday.
The region itself blames the attacks on Ukraine.
By Shiloh Payne
White House says it expected Russia to 'weaponise' energy
The White House says Russia is essentially weaponising energy supplies by cutting off Poland and Bulgaria from gas.
Press Secretary Jen Psaki said this step that the Russians have taken was predicted.
"Unfortunately, this is the type of step, the type of almost weaponising energy supplies, that we had predicted that Russia could take," she said.
"That is why we've been in touch with Europe, with these countries, including over the last 24 hours with leaders in Poland and Bulgaria and we have been working for some time now, for months, with partners around the world to diversify natural gas supply to Europe.
Ms Psaki said this was done in anticipation of a move from Russia, and to also address near-turn needs that would otherwise come from Russia.
By Shiloh Payne
Germany rejects criticism that it has been slow to provide Ukraine with weapons
Germany announced its first delivery of heavy weapons this week after facing weeks of pressure.
There was also confusion around Germany's stance on the war.
But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit said that “the federal government and Chancellor have looked with great seriousness at the difficult situation Ukraine, Europe and the entire world are in, and taken a very balanced decision".
“I don’t see a change of position on the part of the government, but continuity.”
On Tuesday the German government said it would provide Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, but German defence company Rheinmetall has requested authorisation to export 88 Leopard 1A5 heavy battle tanks.
The request is yet to be granted.
The Leopard 2 is the main battle tank of the German Army.
By Shiloh Payne
Will a Russian prisoner exchange be possible for Brittney Griner?
US WNBA Phoenix Mercury player Brittney Griner remains detained in Russia after she was arrested for allegedly possessing a cannabis derivative in February.
The offence can mean up to 10 years in prison, but experts have predicted the two-time Olympic gold medalist could get much less if convicted.
But after Russia and the US traded a Marine veteran jailed in Moscow for a convicted Russian drug trafficker serving a long prison sentence in America, it's not clear what will happen with her case.
Ms Griner's wife, Cherelle, has posted on Instagram after Mr Reed's release, sharing that her "heart is overflowing" for the family.
"I do not personally know them, but I do know the pain of having your loved one detained in a foreign country," she said.
"That level of pain is constant and can only be remedied by a safe return home."
The Associated Press is reporting that Mr Reed's release seems unlikely to change anything about Ms Griner's case.
This is partially because the administration played down the idea of a broader rapprochement with Moscow while Russia is at war with Ukraine.
By Shiloh Payne
EU countries who agree to pay for gas in roubles will be breaching sanctions, officials say
The head of the European Union's executive Commission says energy companies in the EU that agree to Moscow's demands to pay for gas in Russian roubles will be breaching the sanctions imposed over the invasion.
Ursula von der Leyen spoke after Polish and Bulgarian officials said Moscow was cutting off natural gas deliveries to their countries due to their refusal to pay in roubles, the Associated Press reports.
Ms Von der Leyen said that "our guidance here is very clear."
"To pay in roubles, if this is not foreseen in the contract, is a breach of our sanctions."
"We have round about 97% of all contracts that explicitly stipulate payments in euros or dollars, so it's very clear.
"And the request from the Russian side to pay in roubles is a unilateral decision and not according to the contracts."
She said both Poland and Bulgaria are now receiving gas from their EU neighbors.
By Shiloh Payne
Local children play in front of destroyed Russian military equipment
Here are some photos of local boys Faddei and Oleksandr playing in front of a damaged Russian armoured military vehicle in the village of Kolychivka, in Chernihiv region.
On Saturday, volunteers in Chernihiv were working to find new ways to get supplies in and people out after an air strike destroyed a bridge crucial for bringing in food and aid.
By Shiloh Payne
There are reports of explosions in Kherson
Russian and Ukrainian news organisations say a series of explosions have boomed near a television tower and temporarily knocked Russian channels off the air.
The Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said missiles and rockets were fired at the city from the direction of the Ukrainian forces to the northwest.
It said the broadcast later resumed. Russian channels began broadcasting from Kherson last week.
Russia has been determined to strengthen its control over the city, but residents have continued to come out onto the streets to protest the occupation.
Kherson has been occupied by Russian forces since early in the war.
By Shiloh Payne
Ukraine to rename or remove street signs and public works associated with Russia
A number of Ukrainian cities plan to rename streets and squares associated with Russia under a process of "de-Russification" after Moscow's invasion.
A day after the dismantling of a huge Soviet-era monument in Kyiv that was meant to symbolise friendship between Russia and Ukraine, the city council said on Wednesday it had compiled a list of 467 locations that could be considered for renaming.
They included a central square named after 19th century writer Leo Tolstoy and a street named Russia's Lake Baikal.
A road named after Minsk, the capital of close Russian ally Belarus, was also on the list.
Since Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the names of some cities have been changed to erase the legacy of hated Soviet officials.
Some officials now want to remove the names of Russian authors, poets and mountain ranges.
By Shiloh Payne
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe calls for the release of detained members
The OSCE is calling for the release of four national members of its Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine in Donetsk and Luhansk.
OSCE Chairman-In-Office Zbigniew Rau said the detention of national mission members was "unacceptable."
“They were taken for engaging in administrative activities that fall within their official functions as OSCE staff," he said.
"They have been held without charge for a period of time now and the OSCE and their families have not been sufficiently informed of the situation.”
OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid said she condemned the "deplorable acts of intimidation, harassment, and hostile public rhetoric against the SMM and mission staff in non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk".
The OSCE's Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine has been in administrative mode since April 1, which means members are in Ukraine to carry out a number of essential administrative tasks, such as ensuring the safety and security of its mission members, assets and premises throughout all of Ukraine.
The OSCE is concerned with early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation.
