Russian Forces Advance On Ukraine Capital

Below are updates on the Ukraine Russia war.

Officials said the Ukrainian capital was being turned into a "fortress" on Friday, and President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of again targeting humanitarian corridors.

Russian shelling struck civilian targets in central Ukrainian city of Dnipro Friday, killing one civilian, emergency services reported, appearing to be the first direct attack on the city.

2 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in Russian strikes on the Lutsk military airport in northwest Ukraine.

Earlier, Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konachenkov announced that "Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk military airfields had been put out of action".

Russian President said on Friday that he wanted to allow volunteers to fight against Ukrainian forces and approved handing over captured Western missile systems to Russian-backed rebel fighters.

Ukraine has not developed chemical weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction, its president said today, warning Russia that using biological weapons against it will result in "severe sanctions."

This came after Russia on Thursday accused the US of funding research into the development of biological weapons in Ukraine.

As Russia's invasion of the war-torn Ukraine enters its third week, the US Senate passed a massive omnibus spending bill for 2022 that includes almost $14 billion in humanitarian assistance and military aid.

Japan said it would freeze the assets of 3 Belarusian banks, days after EU countries agreed to toughen sanctions on Minsk over its support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

There is a possibility that the United States and its European allies could impose additional sanctions on Moscow because "the atrocities they are committing against civilians seem to be intensifying.".

On Thursday, talks between Ukraine and Russia's foreign ministers failed to bring any respite in the 2-week-old conflict as hundreds of thousands of civilians remained trapped in Ukrainian cities sheltering from Russian air raids and shelling. It was their first face-to-face meeting since Moscow launched its invasion.

Since Russian President Putin declared war on Ukraine on February 24, at least 71 children have been killed and over 100 have been wounded.

According to the UN, 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24.