Despite Russia saying it is not targeting civilians, the UN human rights office says at least 847 civilians have been killed and 1,399 wounded in Ukraine. The real figure is likely much higher.
Take a look back at all of Sunday's updates in our blog.
Key events
- UNHCR says one out of every eight Ukrainians is now displaced
- Siege of Mariupol a 'terror' that will go down in history, Zelenskyy says
- Australia announces further financial, material and humanitarian support for Ukraine
- UN raises civilian death toll to 847, with 1,399 wounded
- The state of the war: Russian forces push into Mariupol; eight cities and villages in eastern Donetsk region fired upon; Russian losses estimated in low thousands
- Satellite images reveal extent of damage to Mariupol theatre, with hundreds still feared trapped under rubble
- Moldova is one of Europe's poorest nations. But its people are doing everything they can to help Ukrainians fleeing war
Live updates
By Caitlyn Davey
That's all for today
We're going to wrap up the blog there. Have a good afternoon, and keep up to date with other news via the ABC News website or download the news app.
By Caitlyn Davey
Qatar looks to supply Western energy following Russian sanctions
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has opened up diplomatic and commercial opportunities for gas exporter Qatar to expand energy sales to the West and bolster its alliance with Washington amid US tensions with other Gulf Arab states.
Qatar has sought a largely neutral stance on the conflict, but while trying to avoid choosing sides, it has signalled through its response that it can offer significant political and economic assistance to Western partners.
With many European energy importers looking urgently for ways to ease their heavy dependence on Russia, Qatar has suggested it could direct more gas in future to Europe.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in contrast have resisted Western calls for a rapid rise in oil output to contain a jump in crude prices caused by the conflict in Ukraine.
Those two leading Gulf Arab powers, which sought for years to isolate Qatar, have seen their own relations with Washington strained in recent years, partly over concerns about US security commitments to its Gulf Arab partners.
By Caitlyn Davey
Ukraine’s Mud Forcing Russian Tanks into Howitzer Traps
This has led to many Russian armored vehicles and even tanks getting stuck in the stuff, forcing their crews to abandon them. This means Russian armor has to stay on roads, and can’t risk maneuvering over open ground.
Ukraine’s army has been able exploit this limitation by getting information on where the convoys are moving toward.
They can then choose an ambush point and use trucks to pull long-range artillery pieces into a position where it can hit the ambush point accurately.
Drones can then be used to show when the enemy reached the ambush point. Drone footage recently showed how one such artillery ambush managed to drop shells on dozens of Russian tanks that had clustered together in the town of Skybyn.
The drone recorded as shell after shell rained down on the armored vehicles, scoring a few direct hits. The convoy then quickly retreated back up the road it came in on.
Ukrainian missile teams then moved in and managed to destroy more of these tanks just north of Skybyn.
By Caitlyn Davey
Currencies weakened by conflict, Russia and Ukraine take different approach
Their economies rocked by conflict, Russian and Ukrainian authorities have deployed different tactics to defend their weakened currencies, with varying degrees of success.
The Russian ruble, which was trading around 80 to the dollar before Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, lost 40 per cent of its value in the following days, slumping to an unprecedented level of 150 to the dollar.
It has since clawed back much of that, trading at around 105 rubles to the dollar, seemingly having profited from talks between Moscow and Kyiv to end the conflict.
Despite having been cut off from much of its foreign currency reserves due to Western sanctions, the Russian central bank has nevertheless occasionally sold some to support the ruble.
Together with strict capital controls that require exporters to sell most of their foreign currency to the central bank and limits on consumers accessing their holdings, the measures appear to be working.
"During the past 10 years the central bank intervened directly only several times, which now works in favour of the market exchange rate stabilising," said analyst Alexander Kudrin at investment bank Aton.
"The first signs of stabilisation are already appearing."
In Ukraine, which is under martial law, the central bank has suspended all currency trading and set a fixed exchange rate of approximately 29 hryvnia to the dollar.
It also banned foreign currency withdrawals and most cross-border payments.
Volodymyr Lepushynskyi, director of monetary policy at the Ukrainian central bank, said officials had a plan already prepared in case of conflict.
"We always hoped that we would not need to implement it, but we were ready," he told AFP.
"Thanks to the experience of working in administrative constraints, we had a clear understanding of what needs to be done to prevent destabilisation of the financial sector and to establish its effective operation under such circumstances."
By Caitlyn Davey
Russia's grip tightens on Mariupol as intense fighting hampers rescue attempts
Authorities in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol say tanks are in the streets, as Russia's grip tightens.
By Caitlyn Davey
Odesa volunteers collect and distribute supplies for troops
They are using bicycle tubes as tourniquets, due to shortages.
By Caitlyn Davey
One of Europe's largest iron and steel works badly damaged in Mariupol
One of Europe's biggest iron and steel works, Azovstal, has been badly damaged as Russian forces lay siege to the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, officials said Sunday.
"One of the biggest metallurgic plants in #Europe destroyed. The economic losses for #Ukraine are huge. The environment is devastated," tweeted Ukrainian lawmaker Lesia Vasylenko.
Ms Vasylenko posted a video of explosions on an industrial site, with thick columns of grey and black smoke rising from the buildings.
One of her colleagues, Serhiy Taruta, wrote on Facebook that Russian forces "had practically destroyed the factory".
"We will return to the city, rebuild the enterprise and revive it," Azovstal's director general Enver Tskitishvili wrote on messaging app Telegram, without specifying the extent of the damage.
By Caitlyn Davey
Scott Morrison announces visas for Ukrainians, $50 million in military and humanitarian aid
Australia will provide temporary humanitarian visas for Ukrainians, along with an extra $50 million in military and humanitarian support, the federal government has announced.
The temporary humanitarian visas will allow Ukrainians who have already arrived in Australia to stay for up to three years with the ability to work, study and access Medicare.
The federal government is also providing a further $30 million in humanitarian aid and $21 million in military support for Ukraine.
"The people of Ukraine have been defiant and they've asked for more help," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
Around 5,000 Ukrainians have been granted visas to travel to Australia, including skilled migrant and family reunion visas, as well as student and tourist visas.
By Caitlyn Davey
Strange dynamic in Lviv says filmmaker returning to city
An award-winning filmmaker who's returned to Ukraine says there's a strange dynamic at play in the city of Lviv.
Marc Wilkins fled his home in Kyiv just over a fortnight ago with his wife Olga, as Russia's invasion intensified.
However, the British citizen told NewsRadio they felt uncomfortable with their decision, and came back to make a series of short films about the crisis to raise money and awareness.
They're in the western city of Lviv, where he says there remains a semblance of normality.
"But then we also have you know, the restaurants are open and the coffee shops are open and people are going to work and that's very important, on one hand, to support the economy but also to somehow give a certain stability and routine to, to everybody."
By Caitlyn Davey
Surrogate babies born in Ukraine wait out war in basement
Some just a few days old, the infants are well cared for, but even below ground the blasts of occasional shelling can be heard clearly.
Many of the surrogacy center's nurses are also stranded in the shelter because it’s too dangerous to travel to and from their homes. Ukrainian troops have been resisting Russian forces in Kyiv's suburbs as they attempt to encircle the city.
“Now we are staying here to preserve our and the babies’ lives,” said Lyudmilia Yashchenko, a 51-year-old nurse. “We are hiding here from the bombing and this horrible misery.”
Exhaustion is constant.
“We are almost not sleeping at all,” Ms Yashchenko said. “We are working round the clock.”
Ukraine has a thriving surrogate industry and is one of the few countries that allow the service for foreigners. These babies’ parents live in Europe, Latin America and China.
Ms Yashchenko would not say how many parents have come to get their children, how many infants are still waiting or how many more surrogate mothers are expected to deliver soon.
While there's plenty of food and baby supplies to care for their young charges, the nurses are left to hope and wait for the newborns to be picked up — just as they wait for the war to end.
By Caitlyn Davey
By Caitlyn Davey
'Dance for Ukraine', a charity gala at The Coliseum in London
The event was the brainchild of former Royal Ballet stars Ivan Putrov, from Ukraine, and Romanian Alina Cojocaru.
"We have dancers from Brazil, from UK, from France, from Ukraine and from Russia. I feel it’s important to stress that Russian doesn’t equal aggression. Russian doesn’t mean support for genocide in Ukraine,” Mr Putrov told Reuters.
By Caitlyn Davey
Zelenskyy: The blockade of Mariupol will go down in history as a war crime
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made his nightly address and criticised the blockage in Mariupol, calling it a war crime.
He said: "The blockade of Mariupol will go down in history of responsibility for war crimes.
"To do this to a peaceful city what the occupiers did to it is a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come.
"And the more Ukrainians tell the world about it, the more support we find. The more Russia uses terror against Ukraine, the worse the consequences will be for it."
By Caitlyn Davey
People in Odesa fill sandbags to ready barricades
Nick Dole is in Odesa and saw residents readying sandbags to be used to build barricades against Russian forces.
"Before the war, people in Odesa might have been enjoying the beach on a day like this. Instead, thousands of ordinary citizens are filling sandbags to barricade their city against a potential Russian attack."
By Caitlyn Davey
China Vice Foreign Minister calls sanctions 'outrageous'
China's Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said that sanctions imposed by Western nations on Russia over Ukraine were increasingly "outrageous".
The United States and its European and Asian allies have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia for the February 24 invasion of its neighbour, which they call a war of aggression by President Vladimir Putin.
He says he launched a "special operation" to demilitarise and "denazify" Ukraine.
While saying it recognises Ukraine's sovereignty, Beijing has repeatedly said that Russia has legitimate security concerns that should be addressed and urged a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
By Caitlyn Davey
Chinese Foreign Minister says China on 'right side of history'
"China will never accept any external coercion or pressure, and opposes any unfounded accusations and suspicious against China," Wang told reporters on Saturday evening, according to a statement published by his ministry on Sunday.
Mr Wang's comments came after US President Joe Biden warned his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Friday of "consequences" if Beijing gave material support to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
During the video call, Mr Xi told Mr Biden the war in Ukraine must end as soon as possible and called on NATO nations to hold a dialogue with Moscow. He did not, however, assign blame to Russia, according to Beijing's statements about the call.
Mr Wang said the most important message Mr Xi sent was that China has always been a force for maintaining world peace.
"We have always stood for maintaining peace and opposing war," Mr Wang said, reiterating that China will make independent judgements.
"China's position is objective and fair, and is in line with the wishes of most countries. Time will prove that China's claims are on the right side of history."
By Jonathan Hepburn
Some more details on Ukrainian refugees
Data taken from the UNHCR's operational data portal shows 3,328,692 Ukrainians have fled the country since February 24.
The latest update is March 18, or early Saturday our time.
UNHCR data is collated from a variety of sources, mostly officials at border crossing points.
Not surprisingly, neighbour Poland hosts the most refugees, but many have crossed other borders or moved on from Poland to other countries:
| Poland | Government data | 18 Mar 2022 | 2,010,693 |
| Romania | Government data | 18 Mar 2022 | 518,269 |
| Republic of Moldova | Government data | 18 Mar 2022 | 359,056 |
| Hungary | Government data | 18 Mar 2022 | 299,273 |
| Slovakia | Government data | 18 Mar 2022 | 240,009 |
| Russian Federation | Government data | 17 Mar 2022 | 184,563 |
| Belarus | Government data | 17 Mar 2022 | 2,548 |
Since there are few border controls within the European Union's Schengen area, the data for Schengen Zone countries Hungary, Poland and Slovakia represents border crossings from Ukraine, not necessarily the number of refugees who have stayed in those countries.
By Jonathan Hepburn
By Jonathan Hepburn
UNHCR says one out of every eight Ukrainians is now displaced
Ukraine already has 5 million displaced people outside or inside the country in three weeks amid conflicts with Russia, meaning one out of every eight Ukrainians is displaced, according to Chris Melzer, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Mr Melzer spoke to China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Friday.
"Right now, the situation is that 3.2 million refugees are outside of Ukraine and another 2 million people who fled inside the country are internally displaced persons," he said.
In the past days, that number was raised to more than 3.3 million refugees outside Ukraine
"And this in only three weeks, so the conflict started to this day three weeks ago and we have already about 5 million people had to flee their homes.
"So one out of eight Ukrainians is now a displaced person in the country or outside the country. And we are afraid that the figure is still rising, not that much anymore like the first two weeks, but day by day, it's another 100,000 or 150,000 people who are fleeing Ukraine and our estimate was up to 4 million, and I'm afraid this is a very plausible figure."
He said nobody really knows at what point refugees can go home.
"This is, by the way, one of the two sentences I've heard every day on the border. It was really the question: 'what do you think when can go home?' We cannot answer this question.
"We wish that the refugees can go home very soon. I wouldn't mind if I'll be unemployed, but we just can't answer this question."
He added the other sentence he heard most was from children: "From the children asking very often, or telling me very often: 'I miss daddy so much.'"
