A hero's salute: Zelensky raises his fist as he acknowledges standing ovation after telling EU politicians 'we are sacrificing our lives for freedom' amid claims Belarus troops have entered Ukraine while huge Russian convoy snakes towards Kyiv
Volodymyr Zelensky has today made an emotional appeal for Ukraine to be admitted to the EU as his country endures an increasingly bloody onslaught by Russia, raising a one-fisted salute and declaring 'glory to Ukraine' as the European parliament gave him a long round of applause.
The Ukrainian president - who has become a symbol of courage, composure and defiance in recent days - addressed parliamentarians in Brussels via video-link from Kyiv, which is currently facing down a 40-mile convoy of Russian tanks and artillery seemingly intent on surrounding and bombing the city into submission.Zelensky urged the EU to recognise Ukraine as a member - a move sure to infuriate Vladimir Putin - saying his nation has 'proved that we are your equals' and it is now time to 'prove that you are at our side'. It came as Ukraine claimed that Belarusian troops have now entered the war, as Russia's close ally helps tighten the noose.
'I can no longer say hello or good evening because every day is the last day,' he added. 'Lives are being sacrificed for values, for rights, for freedom, to have the same equality that you enjoy. We will win, I'm sure. I would like to hear you say that Ukraine's choice to be part of Europe is also your choice. We want to be members of the EU. Without you, Ukraine will be alone.'
His speech came in stark contrast to a pre-recorded message delivered by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva during which he attempted to blame the unfolding carnage on Kyiv - prompting dozens of western diplomats to walk out in a show of solidarity.
There are fears that Russia is about to massively step up its assault on Ukraine including on its major cities using heavy and indiscriminate bombardments, after attempts at using more-sophisticated tactics yielded a series of embarrassing setbacks for Putin's forces in the opening days of the conflict.
Moscow warned today that its forces are preparing to strike what it called sites belonging to Ukraine's security service and a special operations unit in Kyiv, raising fears the city could soon be hit.
Vadym Prystaiko, Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, said Russian forces may also try to spark a food crisis by cutting off supplies to major cities as pictures showed some store shelves already running empty in the capital. He said the military may have to step in to ensure everyone has access to food.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg today said Putin had 'shattered peace in Europe' with an invasion 'enabled by Belarus' while vowing to support Kyiv and defend 'every inch' of allied territory should the Russian strongman's sights wander outside Ukraine's borders.
But, speaking during a visit to the Lask airbase in NATO member Poland, Mr Stoltenberg repeated that the alliance is 'defensive' and that no troops will be sent to assist Ukraine. 'NATO is not going to be part of the conflict,' he said.
Russia already appeared to be employing siege tactics elsewhere in Ukraine today as the city of Mariupol, in the south, came under 'constant shelling' by Russian forces using artillery, Grad rockets, and fighter jets targeting civilians areas such as schools and homes which had left many dead, including women and children.
Power to the city, which is in danger of being surrounded by Russian forces, has been cut - region head Pavlo Kyrylenko said Tuesday - but it remains under Ukrainian control.
Kherson, another key city located in southern Ukraine with a bridge over the Dnieper River, also came under bombardment by Russian forces today as missiles landed near civilian buildings on the outskirts and troops were pictured moving through the streets.
Kharkiv, in the east, continued to be bombed today with a large rocket landing in front of the civilian public administration building, leaving the interior heavily damaged. At least 10 people were killed and more than 20 were injured in the attack, which came just a day after the city was hit by cluster bombs that killed at least 11 people and left dozens more wounded.
Ukraine's ambassador to the UN later said that a thermobaric 'vacuum bomb' was also used on the country, though did not saying exactly when or where.
President Volodymyr Zelensky this morning branded the Kharkiv bombing a 'terrorist' attack and branded Russia a 'terrorist state' while repeating calls for a war crimes investigation. The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at The Hauge has said that a probe will be established 'as soon as possible'.
Philip Reeker, America's Charge d'Affairs to the UK, warned separately that 'medieval tactics are certainly what we can expect' from Moscow's forces going forward. '[That is] exactly what President Putin and the Russian military have in mind,' he added.
Sergey Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, said Tuesday morning that the invasion will continue until 'objectives are met' - which he said was to prevent Russia being threatened by the West.
In a grim sign of the carnage to come, he also warned that Ukraine's army is using civilians as human shields in what looks to be an attempt to justify the deaths of innocents as they ramp up over the coming days. 
'Glory to Ukraine': Volodymyr Zelensky gives a one-fisted salute to the European parliament as he makes an impassioned plea to join the bloc as his country faces down an increasingly bloody Russian invasion
EU Commission President Ursula von Der Leyen applauds the end of Zelensky's speech, after he said that Ukrainians were sacrificing their lives for the freedoms that Europe represents
Meanwhile, in Geneva, western diplomats walked out during a televised address by Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov as he sought to pin the blame for the conflict on Kyiv
A convoy of Russian tanks, artillery pieces, fighting vehicles and support trucks now stretches all the way from Hostomel, on the outskirts of Kyiv, to the village of Prybirs'k some 40 miles away (part of the convoy is seen, right)
There are fears the purpose of the convoy (pictured) is to surround Kyiv, besiege it and bomb it into submission - mirroring tactics Russia used in Syria while fighting alongside the forces of Basahar al-Assad
A line of Russian vehicles is seen snaking its way via the town of Ivankiv towards Kyiv, around 40 miles to the south
Russian vehicles are seen to the southeast of Invankiv and heading towards Kyiv in this satellite image taken on Monday
A handout satellite image made available by Maxar Technologies shows part of a military convoy and burning buildings, northwest of Ivankiv
Kyiv endured another night of bombing on Monday before satellite images revealed the huge column of tanks headed for the city, with Putin's men trying to cut off the capital and bomb it into submission
As Kyiv prepares for a dramatic escalation in bloodshed, Kherson, Kharkiv and Mariupol all came under shelling attack by Russian forces as Putin looks to achieve victory by brute forces after more-sophisticated tactics failed
People walk by a damaged vehicle and an armored car at a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kyiv
A volunteer of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces walks by a damaged armored vehicle at a checkpoint in Brovary, Kyiv
A man reacts inside a vehicle damaged by shelling, in Brovary, outside Kyiv
Members of an Ukrainian civil defense unit pass new assault rifles to the opposite side of a blown up bridge on Kyiv's northern outskirts, where fighting with Russian forces has been taking place
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch both said that Russian forces appeared to have used widely banned cluster munitions, with Amnesty accusing them of attacking a preschool in northeastern Ukraine while civilians took shelter inside.
Oksana Markarova, Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, told reporters after meeting with members of the U.S. Congress that Russia had used a thermobaric weapon, known as a vacuum bomb, in its invasion of her country.
'They used the vacuum bomb today,' Markarova said after a meeting with lawmakers. '...The devastation that Russia is trying to inflict on Ukraine is large.'
A vacuum bomb, or thermobaric weapon, sucks in oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion, typically producing a blast wave of a significantly longer duration than that of a conventional explosive and is capable of vaporizing human bodies.
There has been no official confirmation that thermobaric weapons have been used in the conflict in Ukraine. CNN reported that one of its teams had spotted a Russian thermobaric multiple rocket launcher near the Ukrainian border early on Saturday afternoon.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said she had seen reports but did not have confirmation that Russia had used such weapons. 'If that were true, it would potentially be a war crime,' she told a press briefing, noting that there are international organizations that would assess that and President Joe Biden's administration 'would look to be a part of that conversation.'
The Russian embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Markarova said Ukraine was working actively with the Biden administration and Congress to obtain more weapons and tougher sanctions.
'They should pay, they should pay a heavy price,' she told reporters after leaving the meeting.
One lawmaker who attended the meeting, Democratic Representative Brad Sherman, said the Ukrainians had asked for a U.S.-enforced no-fly zone over Ukraine but that he felt that was too dangerous because it could provoke conflict with Russia.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab has warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin could retaliate with increasingly 'heavy-handed tactics' if his invasion of Ukraine faces further hitches.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We can expect, for every stutter and stumble, him to try and come back for even more heavy-handed tactics, but that is a sign that the initial phase at least - and this is going to be a long haul - has not lived up to his expectations.'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for their support amid the Russian invasion.
'Olena and I are grateful to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge that, at this crucial time, when Ukraine is courageously opposing Russia's invasion, they stand by our country and support our brave citizens,' he tweeted.
'Good will triumph.'
Amnesty International said international humanitarian law prohibits the use of inherently indiscriminate weapons such as cluster munitions. Launching indiscriminate attacks that kill or injure civilians constitutes a war crime.
As the bloodshed ramps up, the Kremlin has found itself increasingly isolated by tough economic sanctions that have sent its currency plummeting.
After a first, five-hour session of talks between Ukraine and Russia yielded no stop in the fighting, both sides agreed to another meeting in coming days. Ukraine's embattled president, however, said he believed the stepped-up shelling was designed to force him into concessions.
'I believe Russia is trying to put pressure (on Ukraine) with this simple method,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday in a video address. He did not offer details of the talks that took place Monday, but he said Kyiv was not prepared to make concessions 'when one side is hitting another with rocket artillery.'
Six days into the invasion, the Russian military's movements have been stalled by fierce resistance on the ground and a surprising inability to dominate the airspace. Many Ukrainian civilians, meanwhile, spent another night huddled in shelters, basements or corridors.
'I sit and pray for these negotiations to end successfully, so that they reach an agreement to end the slaughter,' said Alexandra Mikhailova, weeping as she clutched her cat in a shelter in Mariupol. Around her, parents tried to console children and keep them warm.
The Kremlin has twice in as many days raised the specter of nuclear war and put on high alert an arsenal that includes intercontinental ballistic missiles and long-range bombers. Stepping up his rhetoric, President Vladimir Putin denounced the United States and its allies as an 'empire of lies.'
damaged vehicle in the aftermath of an overnight shelling at the Ukrainian checkpoint in Brovary near Kyiv
Ukrainian policemen stand guard in the aftermath of an overnight shelling at the Ukrainian checkpoint in Brovary
A damaged armored vehicle in the aftermath of an overnight shelling at the Ukrainian checkpoint in Brovary
Civilians try to cross a river on a blown up bridge carrying food and other supplies, to the north of Kyiv
Members of an Ukrainian civil defense unit pass new assault rifles to the opposite side of a blown up bridge in Kyiv
A man pushing a bicycle crosses a destroyed bridge on the outskirts of Kyiv today
Supermarket shelves have started to run empty in Kyiv as the city is slowly encircled and besieged by Putin's forces
A woman looks at empty shelves that typically contain in Kyiv, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues
A view of empty shelves in a local grocery in Kyiv, Ukraine, as Russian tightens the noose around the capital
A photo shows empty shelves at a market due to the problems in food stocks, in Ukrainian capital Kyiv
Houses destroyed as a result of shelling by the Russian army in Bucha, Kyiv
Military equipment destroyed during the hostilities with the Russian army in Bucha
Military equipment destroyed during the hostilities with the Russian army in Bucha, Kyiv
Burned bits of polystyrene litter the road - evidence that homemade Molotov cocktails were used against Russian military vehicles during fighting in Bucha, near Kyiv
Western ambassadors and diplomats walk out while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's pre-recorded video message is played to the UN Human Rights Council in GenevaMeanwhile, an embattled Ukraine moved to solidify its ties to the West by applying to join the European Union - a largely symbolic move for now, but one that won't sit well with Putin, who has long accused the United States of trying to pull Ukraine out of Moscow's orbit.
A top Putin aide and head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said that during the first talks held between the sides since the invasion, the envoys 'found certain points on which common positions could be foreseen.' He said they agreed to continue the discussions in the days ahead.
As the talks along the Belarusian border wrapped up, several blasts could be heard in Kyiv, and Russian troops advanced on the city of nearly 3 million. The convoy of armored vehicles, tanks, artillery and support vehicles was 17 miles (25 kilometers) from the center of the city and stretched about 40 miles, according to satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies.
People in Kyiv lined up for groceries after the end of a weekend curfew, standing beneath a building with a gaping hole blown in its side. Kyiv remained 'a key goal' for the Russians, Zelenskyy said, noting that it was hit by three missile strikes on Monday and that hundreds of saboteurs were roaming the city.
'They want to break our nationhood, that's why the capital is constantly under threat,' Zelenskyy said.
Messages aimed at the advancing Russian soldiers popped up on billboards, bus stops and electronic traffic signs across the capital. Some used profanity to encourage Russians to leave. Others appealed to their humanity.
'Russian soldier - Stop! Remember your family. Go home with a clean conscience,' one read.
Video from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city, with a population of about 1.5 million, showed residential areas being shelled, with apartment buildings shaken by repeated, powerful blasts.
Authorities in Kharkiv said at least seven people had been killed and dozens injured. They warned that casualties could be far higher.
'They wanted to have a blitzkrieg, but it failed, so they act this way,' said 83-year-old Valentin Petrovich, who watched the shelling from his downtown apartment. He gave just his first name and his patronymic, a middle name derived from his father's name, out of fear for his safety.
The Russian military has denied targeting residential areas despite abundant evidence of shelling of homes, schools and hospitals.
Fighting raged in other towns and cities. The strategic port city of Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov, is 'hanging on,' said Zelenskyy adviser Oleksiy Arestovich. An oil depot was reported bombed in the eastern city of Sumy.
Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, and more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed, the head of the region wrote on Telegram. Dmytro Zhyvytskyy posted photographs of the charred shell of a four-story building and rescuers searching rubble.
In a later Facebook post, he said many Russian soldiers and some local residents also were killed during the fighting on Sunday. The report could not immediately be confirmed.
Despite its superior military strength, Russia still lacked control of Ukrainian airspace. This may help explain how Ukraine has so far prevented a rout.
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.
Kharkiv was struck by more Russian rockets on Tuesday morning, with one striking outside the civilian public administration building which was heavily damaged in the blast. The rocket can be seen a split second before it slams into the building, triggering a massive blast
The rocket caused huge damage to the building and threw up a huge plume of smoke in the aftermath of the explosion
This image, posted by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, shows the square outside the administrative building covered in rubble following the rocket attack
A view shows the regional administration building following the Russian rocket attack in central Kharkiv, Ukraine, March 1, 2022
Rescue workers and medics are pictured close to the regional administration building in central Kharkiv, picking their way through the debris following the explosion
The bombardment of Kharkiv continued Tuesday morning with a rocket landing just in front of the civilian public administration building, destroying the road outside and blowing the windows out of the building itself. Footage from inside shows the building was heavily damaged, with ceilings collapsing and rubble strewn around'Frightened kids, frightened looks. They want to eat,' Konstantin Maloletka, who runs a small shop, said by telephone. He said the soldiers went into a supermarket and grabbed canned meat, vodka and cigarettes.
'They ate right in the store,' he said. 'It looked like they haven't been fed in recent days.'
For many, Russia's announcement of a nuclear high alert stirred fears that the West could be drawn into direct conflict with Russia. But a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States had yet to see any appreciable change in Russia's nuclear posture.
As far-reaching Western sanctions on Russian banks and other institutions took hold, the ruble plummeted, and Russia's Central Bank scrambled to shore it up, as did Putin, signing a decree restricting foreign currency.
But that did little to calm Russian fears. In Moscow, people lined up to withdraw cash as the sanctions threatened to drive up prices and reduce the standard of living for millions of ordinary RussiansIn yet another blow to Russia's economy, oil giant Shell said it was pulling out of the country because of the invasion. It announced it will withdraw from its joint ventures with state-owned gas company Gazprom and other entities and end its involvement in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project between Russia and Europe.
The economic sanctions, ordered by the U.S. and other allies, were just one contributor to Russia's growing status as a pariah country.
Russian airliners are banned from European airspace, Russian media is restricted in some countries, and some high-tech products can no longer be exported to the country. On Monday, in a major blow to a soccer-mad nation, Russian teams were suspended from all international soccer.
In other developments:
- The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said he will open an investigation soon into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
- Cyberattacks hit Ukrainian embassies around the world, and Russian media outlets.
- The United States announced it is expelling 12 members of Russia's U.N. mission, accusing them of spying.
The U.N. human rights chief said at least 102 civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded - warning that figure is probably a vast undercount - and Ukraine's president said at least 16 children were among the dead.
More than a half-million people have fled the country since the invasion, another U.N. official said, many of them going to Poland, Romania and Hungary.
Among the refugees in Hungary was Maria Pavlushko, 24, an information technology project manager from a city west of Kyiv. She said her father stayed behind to fight the Russians.
'I am proud about him,' she said, adding that many of her friends were planning to fight, too.
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