Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

Mariupol evacuation

Residents fleeing the besieged region around southern port Mariupol take a convoy of buses and private cars to reach Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia.

The fleet’s arrival comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says over 3,000 people have been rescued from Mariupol, though it is not immediately clear if he is referring to the bus passengers.

The Red Cross says its own Mariupol rescue effort was forced to turn back after “arrangements and conditions made it impossible to proceed”, but adds its team will try again Saturday.

US commits $300 mn in ‘assistance’

The US Defence Department announces it is allotting $300 million in “security assistance” for Ukraine to bolster its defence capabilities, adding to the $1.6 billion Washington has already committed since Russia’s invasion.

The package includes laser-guided rocket systems, drones, ammunition, night-vision devices, tactical secure communications systems, medical supplies and armoured vehicles.

Ukraine accused of Russia attack

Ukrainian helicopters have carried out a strike on a fuel storage facility in Russia’s western town of Belgorod, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the border, according to the local governor.

Vyacheslav Gladkov says on Telegram the air strike was “carried out by two Ukrainian army helicopters, which entered Russian territory at a low altitude”.

Kyiv would not be drawn on whether it was behind the attack, with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba saying he did “not possess all the military information”.

Peace talks resume

Peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials resume via video conference, but Moscow warns that the helicopter attack will hamper negotiations.

Moscow’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky says on Telegram: “Our positions on Crimea and Donbas have not changed”.

UN official to visit Moscow, Kyiv

A top UN official is set to fly to Moscow Sunday, and then on to Kyiv to try and secure a “humanitarian ceasefire” in Ukraine, says the body’s chief Antonio Guterres.

Both Russia and Ukraine have agreed to meet Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Guterres said.

‘Russia preparing powerful strikes’

Zelensky says Russia is preparing “powerful strikes” in the country’s east and south, including Mariupol.

Moscow said in peace talks earlier this week it would scale back attacks on the capital Kyiv and the northern city of Chernigiv.

– Ukrainian troops regaining control – 

Ukraine’s troops begin to regain control including around the capital Kyiv and in the southern region of Kherson – the only significant city that Russia had managed to occupy.

According to AFP, Russian troops “are continuing their partial retreat” from the north of Kyiv towards the Belarusian border, Ukraine’s defence ministry says.

New gas war front

Russian President Vladimir Putin says “unfriendly” countries, including all EU members, must set up ruble accounts to pay for gas deliveries from April, or “existing contracts would be stopped”.

30 countries tap oil reserves

The 31-country International Energy Agency (IEA) agrees to tap national emergency oil reserves again in a bid to calm crude prices that have soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden announced a record release of US oil onto the market.

China warned

The EU’s top officials have warned China’s leaders at a summit not to help Russia wage war on Ukraine or sidestep Western sanctions, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen says.

“It would lead to a major reputational damage for China here in Europe,” Von der Leyen says after video talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Chernobyl radiation

Russian soldiers were likely exposed to radiation while they were occupying the area around the Chernobyl nuclear power station over the past four weeks, Ukraine’s nuclear agency Energoatom says.

The power station, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986, was taken back under the control of Ukrainian forces on Thursday.

Lavrov lauds India

Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov praises India’s refusal to condemn the Ukraine invasion, stressing their “friendship” and saying Moscow and New Delhi will find ways to circumvent “illegal” Western sanctions and continue to trade.

Landmarks damaged

The UN’s cultural agency UNESCO says it has confirmed that at least 53 Ukrainian historical sites, religious buildings and museums have sustained damage during Russia’s invasion of the country.

4.1 million refugees

The number of Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s war in their country has crossed 4.1 million, the United Nations says.

The Star