Ukraine conflict: Zelenskyy appeals for talks with Putin, as Russia takes control of Kherson

The humanitarian crisis is growing with alarming speed. Only eight days into the conflict, more than a million people have fled.

Many of those who have stayed are without food and water and Ukraine’s president has appealed for one-to-one talks with Vladimir Putin.

For the first time Russian forces have taken control of a city. The mayor of the southern port of Kherson said Russians are in charge there.

Russian naval forces appear ready to attack Ukraine’s third largest city of Odessa with landing craft and missile boats said to be approaching from the Crimean peninsula.

Residents in Mariupol say their city is surrounded with power and water supplies cut off.

There were huge explosions in Kyiv overnight, but the vast convoy of Russian military vehicles north of the city appears not to have advanced.