Russia-Ukraine war Highlights: Putin accuses Ukraine of 'war crimes' in call with Macron

The UN migration agency estimates that nearly 6.5 million people have now been displaced inside Ukraine due to Russia's invasion, on top of the 3.2 million refugees who have already fled the country, reports The Associated Press.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of 'war crimes' in a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, the Kremlin said, as quoted by AFP.

Russian regulators on Friday accused US tech giant Google and its video subsidiary YouTube of "terrorist" activities, the first step towards a possible access ban.

Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor said YouTube users "are sharing adverts with calls to shut down railway communications between Russia and Belarus".

"The YouTube administration's activities are terrorist in nature and threaten the life and health of Russian citizens," Roskomnadzor said, quoted by Interfax news agency.

India attaches high importance to the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) as a key global and non-discriminatory disarmament Convention, prohibiting an entire category of weapons of mass destruction, says R Ravindra, DPR at UNSC briefing.

It's important to ensure full and effective implementation of the BTWC in letter and spirit. We also believe that any matter relating to obligations under the BTWC should be addressed as per the provisions of the Convention and through consultations and cooperation, he adds. Read full story

Body of Naveen Gyandagoudar to be brought to Bengaluru on Monday, Karnataka CM Bommai corrects his tweet. His earlier tweet read that Naveen's body would be brought back to Bengaluru on Sunday.

Ukraine President Zelensky says 130 people saved from Mariupol theatre bombing, 'hundreds' still trapped, reports AFP.

The body of Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudarm, a final year medical student of Kharkiv Medical University who died in a shelling attack in Ukraine, will arrive at the Bengaluru airport on Sunday, March 20, says Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai in a tweet.

US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping began a phone call Friday in which Biden will pressure his counterpart to join Western pressure on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

The two leaders started the call, their first since a video summit in November, at 9:03 am (1303 GMT), the White House said.

Bulgaria expels 10 Russian diplomats, reported news agency AFP quoting official.

A former Russian deputy prime minister who spoke out against the Kremlin's actions in Ukraine has quit as chair of a prestigious foundation after a lawmaker accused him of a "national betrayal" and demanded his dismissal. 

Centre on Friday defended the continued buying of Russian oil, saying European countries were still purchasing hydrocarbons from Moscow and that high crude prices left New Delhi with little choice.

Indian oil refiners have in recent days reportedly purchased several million barrels of discounted Russian oil even as the West seeks to isolate Moscow economically over its invasion of Ukraine.

Putin accuses Ukraine of stalling talks, says Moscow ready to search for 'solutions', reported AFP quoting Kremlin after Putin call with Germany's Scholz.

More than 2 million Ukraine refugees in Poland, news agency AFP reported, quoting border guards.

Russian missiles struck an area near the airport of the western Ukrainian city of Lviv early on Friday, the mayor said, while Japan and Australia imposed new sanctions on Russian entities as punishment for the invasion of Ukraine.

Western sources and Ukrainian officials said Russia's assault has faltered since its troops invaded on February 24, further dashing its expectations of a swift victory and the removal of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's government. (Reuters)

Russian troops and their separatist allies were fighting Friday in the centre of Mariupol, a strategic port city in the southeast of Ukraine, the Russian defence ministry said as per news agency AFP.

"In Mariupol, units of the Donetsk People's Republic, with the support of the Russian armed forces, are squeezing the encirclement and fighting against nationalists in the city centre," the ministry said in Moscow.

Backed by Russian troops, separatists from Lugansk have "liberated more than 90 percent of the republic's territory," the ministry added, referring to the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic, whose independence Moscow recognised on February 21.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a desperate appeal to the US Congress on Wednesday, asking for additional military support to help fight off Russia. Within hours president Joe Biden promised $800 million in weapons to fight 'war criminal' Vladimir Putin.

Here's what we know about the weapons that will be provided (or have already been provided) to Ukraine, not just by the United States but also by other countries. Read more

Russian forces struck an area around Lviv's airport in western Ukraine, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on Friday, with ambulance and police vehicles racing to the scene, AFP reported.

Writing on messaging app Telegram, Sadovyi said he could not give a precise address of the targeted area " but it's definitely not an airport."

At least three blasts were heard in the western city of Lviv on Friday morning, Ukraine 24 television station reported, publishing a short video in which a mushroom-shaped plume of smoke could be seen rising on the horizon.

Rescue workers searched desperately for any survivors buried beneath the rubble of Mariupol's bombed-out theatre Friday, as Russia's forces pounded residential areas across Ukraine, stoking allegations of war crimes, AFP reported.

Twenty-four hours after Mariupol's once-gleaming whitewashed theatre was hollowed out by a Russian strike, the number of dead, injured or trapped is still unclear.

Film icon Arnold Schwarzenegger told Russians in a video posted on social media Thursday they’re being lied to about the war in Ukraine. He also accused Putin of sacrificing Russian soldiers’ lives for his own ambitions. Read more

Japan and Australia on Friday slapped fresh sanctions on Russian entities as punishment for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, which the West says has been stalled by staunch resistance but continues to take a devastating toll on civilians.

Shelling continues in Kyiv, the capital, and other cities. According to the UN, 2,032 civilian casualties have been recorded so far in Ukraine - 780 killed and 1,252 injured. The death toll, however, is expected to be much higher.

Oil extended gains in Asia after the biggest daily surge in 16 months pushed prices back above $100 a barrel as the Kremlin cast doubt on the progress of peace talks with Ukraine, Bloomberg reported.