With disinformation rife, and social media amplifying military claims and counterclaims, determining exactly what is happening in Ukraine is difficult. Here's a look at what can be confirmed on the sixth day of Russia's military assault.
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SATELLITE IMAGERY
-- Russian troops advanced slowly on Kyiv from the north. A vast convoy of armoured vehicles, tanks, artillery and support vehicles was 25 kilometres from the centre of the city and stretched for 64 km, according to satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies.
-- The latest Maxar photos also showed deployments of ground forces and ground attack helicopter units in southern Belarus.
DIRECTLY WITNESSED
-- As talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations on the border with Belarus wrapped up, several blasts could be heard in Kyiv.
-- Russian forces shelled Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv. Video showed residential areas being shelled, with apartment buildings shaken by repeated, powerful blasts. Flashes of fire and grey plumes of smoke could be seen.
-- Pro-Russian separatists were taking control of the town of Nikolayevka in the eastern Donetsk region. AP witnessed burnt trucks and the corpse of a man in camouflage fatigues.
-- In the seaside resort town of Berdyansk, dozens of protesters chanted angrily in the main square against Russian occupiers, yelling at them to go home and singing the Ukrainian national anthem. They described the soldiers as exhausted young conscripts.
ANNOUNCED BY RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES
-- The Russian military has offered to allow residents to leave Kyiv via a safe corridor, raising fears a further onslaught is coming.
-- For the second day in a row, the Kremlin raised the spectre of nuclear war, announcing that its nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarines and long-range bombers had all been put on high alert, following President Vladimir Putin's orders over the weekend.
ANNOUNCED BY UKRAINIAN AUTHORITIES
-- More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed when Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the head of the region wrote on Telegram. In a later Facebook post, Dmytro Zhyvytskyy said many Russian soldiers and some local residents also were killed during the fighting on Sunday.
-- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least 16 children have been killed and 45 wounded, among hundreds of casualties. The UN human rights chief said 102 civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded -- warning that figure was likely a vast undercount.
-- Ukraine's Emergency Ministry released a video showing damaged buildings and destruction in the northern city of Chernihiv. The ministry claims shelling hit a residential building, a building at the central market and a kindergarten.
-- Zelenskyy said Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov, is "hanging on."
ANNOUNCED BY OFFICIALS ELSEWHERE
-- The UN refugee agency said more than 520,000 refugees had fled Ukraine and that the number "has been rising exponentially, hour after hour." The UN expects the total to reach 4 million in the coming weeks.
Australian Associated Press
