Ukraine morning briefing: Five developments as Royal family 'providing accommodation to refugee families'
The Royal family are reportedly providing accommodation to Ukrainian families who have been forced to flee their homeland.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Azov regiment commander Denys Prokopenko has said only the dead remain in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol: "I now hope that soon, the families and all of Ukraine will be able to bury their fighters with honours."
The brutal war is taking its toll financially, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying his government needs $7 billion a month to keep its economy afloat.
Here's what happened overnight – and you can follow the latest updates in our live blog.
1. Royal family reportedly providing accommodation to Ukrainian families
Members of the royals have vowed to "do their bit" and are housing refugees but the family has "no wish" for publicity, according to reports.
About 53,800 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in the UK under visa schemes, including the Homes for Ukraine programme, which amounts to just more than half the number of visas granted.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman told the Express: "We are assisting in a number of ways but will not be commenting further."
It is not known which royals are housing refugees or where the accommodation is being provided.
The palace was used to house royal refugees during the Second World War, with Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands as well as Norway's King Haalon and his son Prince Olaf staying there after fleeing the Nazis in 1940.
The Prince of Wales said last month he hoped Britain was welcoming to Ukrainians, in an "emotional" meeting with families who had fled Putin's invasion.
2. International fears for Azovstal fighters taken prisoner
Russia claimed to have captured Mariupol on Friday in what would be its biggest victory yet in its attack on Ukraine, after a nearly three-month siege that reduced much of the strategic port city to a smoking ruin, with more than 20,000 civilians feared dead.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin the "complete liberation" of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol – the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance – and the city as a whole, spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. There was no immediate confirmation from Ukraine.
Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti quoted the ministry as saying a total of 2,439 Ukrainian fighters who had been holed up at the steelworks had surrendered since Monday, including more than 500 on Friday.
As they surrendered, the troops were taken prisoner by the Russians, and at least some were taken to a former penal colony. Others were said to be hospitalised.
Russian authorities have threatened to investigate some of the steel mill's defenders for war crimes and put them on trial, branding them "Nazis" and criminals. That has stirred international fears about their fate.
3. Kyiv proposes formal deal on compensation from Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has proposed a formal deal with the country's allies to secure Russian compensation for the damage its forces have caused during the war.
Mr Zelensky, who says Russia is trying to destroy as much of Ukraine's infrastructure as it can, said such a deal would show nations planning aggressive acts that they would have to pay for their actions.
"We invite partner countries to sign a multilateral agreement and create a mechanism ensuring that everybody who suffered from Russian actions can receive compensation for all losses incurred," he said in a video address.
Mr Zelensky said that under such a deal, Russian funds and property in signatory nations would be confiscated. They would then be directed to a special compensation fund: "That would be fair. And Russia will feel the weight of every missile, every bomb, every shell which it has fired at us."
4. Zelensky reveals secret operation to support Azovstal
Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed a weeks-long mystery about the siege of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol: How were supplies delivered to the steel mill's defenders?
Ukrainian pilots risked Russian anti-aircraft fire to fly medicine, food and water to the steel mill on helicopters, suffering a large amount of casualties, Mr Zelensky said in an interview published on Friday on the third anniversary of his inauguration as president. He said the effort also included retrieval of bodies and picking up the wounded.
To save what he called "heroes" holed up in the massive, ruined remains of the steel mill, "a very large number of people, our pilots, were killed" flying in on the operation.
"They are absolutely heroic people, who knew that it would be difficult, knew that to fly would be almost impossible," Mr Zelensky said.
He said the airlift couldn't be reported earlier because no safe air corridor to the plant had been established, and that powerful anti-aircraft weapons were in place.
"A great many weeks, pilots flew helicopters, knowing that there was a 90 per cent chance they wouldn't return," he said.
5. Truss: We’ll give Moldova weapons to stop Putin invading
Liz Truss has revealed that she wants to send modern weaponry to Moldova to protect it from the threat of invasion by Russia.
In an interview with The Telegraph, the Foreign Secretary said Vladimir Putin was determined to create a “greater Russia” despite defeat in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.
Moldova, to the south-west of Ukraine, is not a Nato member and there are fears it could be Putin’s next target after Ukraine as he seeks territorial expansion.
Ms Truss said talks were taking place about making sure that not only Ukraine but also Moldova’s defences were “Nato standard” to deter any future attack.
Liz Truss: We’ll give Moldova weapons to stop an invasion by Vladimir Putin
