More images have now emerged of the apartment building near Kyiv's Zhuliany airport that was struck earlier today. The pictures show a hole covering at least five floors that were blasted into the side.

Authorities say the number of casualties is "being specified" while an evacuation is under way.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

A section of the Prospekt Peremohy highway near central Kyiv turned into a warzone last night, with one video showing fires alight along the key road running east-west from the city's centre.

According to media reports the footage was recorded near the capital's Beresteiska metro station, just 4km (2.5 miles) from the building housing Ukraine's Ministry of Defence.

Control of Kyiv 'crucial' for Russian successpublished at 07:41 GMT 26 February 2022

07:41 GMT 26 February 2022

Orla Guerin
BBC News

The convoy was obviously heading for Kyiv to be part of an increasingly urgent defence of the city. It was destroyed about an hour’s drive from the city.

Getting control of the capital is crucial for Moscow, and for the success of the Russian invasion.

But this may involve street to street fighting. Urban warfare like this will mean heavy losses for both sides.

The motorway to Kyiv is eerily quiet, with very few vehicles moving in either direction.

Along the way there is evidence of war.

We have just passed the wreckage of a convoy of four Ukrainian military vehicles - one of them was an air defence missile system. They were hit yesterday by a Russian missile strike. The smoke was still rising.

So far, at around 09:00 on Day Three of the invasion, the city remains firmly in Ukrainian hands.

Ukrainian officials say the situation is “under control” in the city and on the outskirts.

Weapons and equipment are en route from France to Ukraine, as the West supplies aid to Ukraine in their battle with advancing Russian troops.

President Zelensky tweeted that he had spoken to France's President Macron early on Saturday morning as a "new day on the diplomatic frontline began".

"The anti-war coalition is working!" Mr Zelensky tweeted.

On Saturday, Mr Macron posted a video of himself declaring: "The war will last - we must prepare for it!"

Russia's defence ministry has confirmed they have captured the city of Melitopol - in what has been described by news wire Reuters as the first significant population centre to be taken over since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine began on Thursday.

Melitopol is a mid-size city located near the key Ukrainian port of Mariupol, in Ukraine's southern region of Zaporizhzhya.

An estimated 150,000 Ukrainians live in Melitopol.

Image source, Reuters

Reuters is reporting that the area southwest of Kyiv has been struck this morning by two missiles. It's unclear right now what the targets were.

According to the Kyiv's city government, one of the missiles struck a residential building.

Reuters is reporting that one of the missiles landed in the area close to the capital's Zhuliany airport.

As Ukraine wakes up, an unverified image has been circulating on social media appearing to show a partially-destroyed apartment building in Kyiv.

There are unconfirmed reports that the building, apparently located near the capital's Zhuliany Airport, was struck by a missile.

Reuters is also reporting a missile strike targeting the area near the Kyiv's airport, according to a local witness. It's currently unclear if the reports are linked, but we'll update you when we have more on this.

Russian troops have captured the city of Melitopol in Ukraine's southern region of Zaporizhzhya, say Russian news outlets Interfax and Sputnik quoting the country's defence ministry.

Melitopol is a mid-size city near the key Ukrainian port of Mariupol.

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp has announced that it will bar Russian state media from running ads or monetising on its platforms anywhere in the world, the parent company of social media company Facebook said on Friday.

"We also continue to apply labels to additional Russian state media," Facebook's head of security policy, Nathaniel Gleicher posted on Twitter.

He added that these new measures had already been implemented and would continue into the weekend.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has posted a self-shot video of himself on Twitter walking around the streets of Kyiv in an apparent effort to combat rumours that he has called on the army to surrender to Russian troops.

"There's a lot of fake information online that I call on our army to lay down arms, and that there's evacuation," he said against a backdrop of Kyiv's Gorodetsky House.

"I'm here. We won't lay down our arms. We will defend our state."

Image source, Getty Images

Thousands of Russian people took to the streets in multiple cities across Russia in condemnation of the nation's attack on Ukraine in recent days.

Photos showed protesters in Moscow and St Petersburg - two of Russia's largest cities - marching down the streets while holding up banners that said "No to war".

The protests were reported in cities as far as the snowy city of Novosibirsk, in the southern Russian region of Siberia.

However, demonstrators were met with heavy police presence, and more than 1,800 people were rounded up and arrested.

Here are some images from the demonstrations:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The Ukrainian military has published what they claim is a breakout of Russia's losses.

According to a post on its Facebook page, more than 3,500 Russian soldiers involved in the invasion have been killed and almost 200 taken prisoner.

They add that Russia has also lost 14 aircraft, eight helicopters, and 102 tanks so far. The BBC is unable to independently verify any of these claims.

Russia has so far not acknowledged any casualties.

After a frenetic night filled with air raid sirens and gunfire, people in Kyiv are speaking of an eerily quiet morning - so silent that the sound of birds chirping can be heard in the distance.

Olexander Scherba, Ukraine's ambassador to Austria, said the sunrise this morning marked the end of a night of shooting.

"Sun is up in Kyiv. The shooting in my neighbourhood stopped. Feels like the end of a vampire movie," he said.

The BBC's Paul Adams and James Waterhouse, who are also in Kyiv, reported a similar "eerie" silence.

"Silent [but] everyone knows it could change in an instant," said Adams.

Image source, Paul Adams

Reports are coming in that missiles are being launched at Ukraine from the Black Sea.

Air strikes are also being reported across a number of areas, in an apparent escalation of violence.

We will bring you more detail as soon as we have it.

Image source, Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky turned down an offer by Washington to help evacuate him from Ukraine, US media outlets say.

Mr Zelensky said "the fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride", the Associated Press reported, citing a senior intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation.

The Washington Post had also quoted US and Ukrainian officials who said that the US government was prepared to help Mr Zelensky.

Mr Zelensky has been widely praised on social media for his response to the Russian invasion. The former comedian and actor had earlier given a moving speech in which he vowed to keep fighting, saying: "When you attack us, you will see our faces. Not our backs."

He had also posted a self-shot video earlier on Friday showing him and his key aides in the capital, rebuffing reports that he had fled Kyiv.

"We're all here," he said. "And it will stay this way."

Paul Adams
BBC diplomatic correspondent

Western officials say that Ukraine’s military has been effective in slowing the Russian advance overnight in the capital Kyiv.

But they worry that the Russians, impatient to inflict a rapid victory, could resort to drastic measures.

“My fear would be that if they don’t meet the timescales and objectives… they will be indiscriminate in the use of violence,” one said.

“The problem is that [Vladimir Putin] having committed himself in the way that he has, this is now not a war of choice for him, but a war of necessity.”

It's nearing 07:00 in Ukraine this morning - the third day of Russia's invasion of the country.

It will have been a long sleepless night for many in their homes or underground shelters as air raid sirens blared warnings across the night.

Overnight, we've been hearing reports of heavy fighting and explosions across the capital Kyiv.

Here's what else you need to know to bring you quickly up to speed:

• Ukrainian troops have been trying to push back Russian attacks. An army unit in Kyiv reportedly repelled Russian forces on a major city avenue, the military said in a Facebook post

• Earlier this morning, the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in another Facebook post that there were "heavy battles ongoing" in one part of the city, adding that "active combat" was taking place in some streets. This came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia would try to "storm" Kyiv
• More than 50 explosions and heavy machine gunfire have been reported in the capital, according to Kyiv Independent
• However, the Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council Oleksiy Danilov said the army was in "control" of the situation in Kyiv, saying "we are stopping the horde using all means available", according to a report by Ukrainian news site Lb.ua
• The US administration has asked Congress for $6.4bn (£4.8bn) worth of aid to help Ukraine
• UN aid agencies predict that up to five million Ukrainians could flee to surrounding countries.

As the morning approaches, there are reports of intense fighting in Kyiv.

According to a post on the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Facebook page, "heavy battles are ongoing" in the Vasylkiv area of the city.

It adds that "active combat" is now taking place on the streets of the capital. The Kyiv government also confirmed the fighting in a statement earlier and warned residents to stay in shelters and not approach windows or balconies.

Reports by Kyiv-based journalists on social media also suggest that fighting has indeed broken out on the streets. Many are describing loud bangs and gunfire much nearer to the centre of the city.

Meanwhile, the Ukraine armed forces added that its troops had shot down a number of Russian "enemy targets" during the day, and had also stopped Russian troops from taking any of Ukraine's cities.

Sarah Rainsford
BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent

I'm writing this in a bomb shelter several storeys below ground in the central city of Dnipro with a crowd of people, four dogs and a pet rabbit.

Hotel staff ran around banging on doors soon after midnight before herding us down multiple flights of stairs at high speed.

Earlier in the evening, we visited Hanna Syva and her family in a giant apartment block across the road.

Her husband brought out his gun. It now lies beside a big stuffed toy on their window ledge.

The mother-of-two seems upbeat, but she admits she's putting on a smile not to worry her children.

"They cried yesterday, they're very nervous, so I can't afford to be scared," Hanna says.

Read more about Hanna and her family here.

Fighting has broken out on the streets of Kyiv, the capital city's government says in a statement quoted by Ukrainian news agency Interfax.

"There is fighting on the streets of our city at the moment," it says.

It warns residents to stay in shelters and not to approach windows or balconies.