Firefighter dies after further shelling in Ukraine

1News' latest developments from Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

- Russia's advances in Ukraine are continuing to largely stall despite over 22 days of fighting so far, according to the UK's Defence Ministry.

- Biden will speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping after concerns China may supply military aid to Russia.

- Putin has laid out his demands for peace with Ukraine on a phone call with the Turkish president.

- Ukraine is in urgent need of medical supplies after 43 hospitals and health centres have been bombed.

- Cities like Mariupol, in Ukraine's south, are under heavy air bombardment. Authorities estimated up to 90% of the city has been destroyed.

- In New Zealand, the first tranche of sanctions under the recently passed Russia Sanctions Act have now been enacted by the Government.

8.30pm: That concludes 1News' live updates for today. For more, tune in to Breakfast on TVNZ1 and on TVNZ on Demand on Monday.

7.29pm: A firefighter has died of their injuries while working to extinguish a fire caused by shelling at a mall in Kharkiv, according to Ukraine's emergency services.

"During firefighting, the enemy fired again. Two rescuers received shrapnel wounds," an update read.

5.42pm: One person has died and several others have been injured after a bus carrying around 50 Ukrainian refugees overturned on a major highway in northern Italy.

The full story can be found here.

5.32pm: And here's a video of a soldier's interview getting interrupted by a furry friend.

5.30pm: Here's a video of a Ukrainian soldier playing the violin for his fellow soldiers.

5.24pm: Russia has attacked medical institutions in Ukraine 43 times since the war began, the World Health Organisation says.

5.14pm: More than 3.1 million refugees have fled Ukraine since the war began on February 24, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

5.11pm: US President Joe Biden has branded Russian President Vladimir Putin a “murderous dictator” and “pure thug” in a St Patrick’s Day address.

"Putin is paying a big price for his aggression."

4:20pm: Ukrainian President Zelensky has allowed businesses in Ukraine to take out a 0% interest loan The Kyiv Independent has reported.

4:00pm: From Associated Press

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he will not be sharing what military aid they received from the US as he did not want to tip off Russia.

“This is our defense... When the enemy doesn’t know what to expect from us. As they didn’t know what awaited them after Feb. 24,” in his nighttime video address to the nation.

“They didn’t know what we had for defense or how we prepared to meet the blow.”

Zelensky said Russia expected to find Ukraine much as it did in 2014, when it seized Crimea without a fight and backed separatists as they took control of the eastern Donbas region. But Ukraine is now a different country, with much stronger defenses, he said.

He said it also was not the time to reveal Ukraine’s tactics in the ongoing negotiations with Russia. “Working more in silence than on television, radio or on Facebook,” Zelensky said.

“I consider it the right way.”

3:20pm: From Associated Press

As Russian troops appeared to stall in their advance on Ukrainian cities, the United States voiced concern that China might assist Moscow with military equipment as the war entered its fourth week.

President Joe Biden will speak Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Russia's invasion has largely stalled on all fronts in recent days amid heavy losses, British military intelligence and the Ukrainian armed forces said.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced the upcoming phone call in a Friday statement that said it's “part of our ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication" between the United States and China.

The call follows an intense seven-hour meeting in Rome on Monday between White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi.

US officials have warned that China has amplified Russian disinformation that could be a pretext for Putin’s forces to attack Ukraine with chemical or biological weapons. There are also reports —denied by the Kremlin — that Russia has reached out to China for aid as it faces sanctions and an invasion that faces stiff resistance by Ukrainians.

At the meeting, Sullivan wanted more transparency on Beijing’s posture regarding Russia and repeated that any attempts by China to help Russia avoid sanctions would be costly for Xi's government.

2:25pm: Ukraine strikes at Russia sending 15 targets down.

1:35pm: The Kyiv Independent reported US will punish China if they decide to provide military aid to Russia

1:27pm: Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs can now check all Ukrainian citizens living in Moscow and are also offering Russian citizenship to Ukrainians.

1:25pm: People are clearing through rouble outside a medical centre after it was damaged from part of a Russian missile The Associated Press has reported.

There has been a total of 43 hospitals and health centres bombed.

1:10pm: The Associated Press reported a Russian airstrike killed 21 people and destroyed a school and community centre yesterday before dawn in Merefa, near the northeast city of Kharkiv, officials said.

There has now been more then 3 million people flee Ukraine, the UN estimates.

The death toll remains unknown, though Ukraine has said thousands of civilians have died.

Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven leading economies said in a joint statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin is conducting an “unprovoked and shameful war.”

12:20pm: Today Ukraine's humanitarian corridors were successful and evacuated nearly 4000 people.

The humanitarian corridors haven't always operated successfully after Russia has previously agreed to allow citizens to evacuate and have continued shelling.

11:55am: Putin laid out his demands for peace with Ukraine.

BBC is reporting the Russian President Vladimir Putin rang the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and told him what Russia's precise demands were for a peace deal with Ukraine.

His demands include:

- Ukraine should say be neutral and should not apply to join Nato

- Ukraine would undergo a disarmament process to ensure it was not a threat to Russia

- Protect Russian language in Ukraine

- Ukraine to de-Nazification.

Other points were less clear and would need face-to-face negotiations between him and President Zelensky.

11:30am: From Associated Press

Ukraine is in need of more medical supplies after 43 hospitals have been bombed.

The UN health chief described the devastating consequences of war on the Ukrainian people and said, “the life-saving medicine we need right now is peace.”

The Ukrainian people have faced severe disruption to services and medication The UN health chief said.

World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the U.N. Security Council Thursday that WHO has verified 43 attacks on hospitals and health facilities with 12 people killed and 34 injured.

The main risk is towards the people with, “cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV and TB, which are among the leading causes of mortality in Ukraine.”

The WHO chief said displacement and overcrowding caused by people fleeing fighting are likely to increase the risks of diseases such as COVID-19, measles, pneumonia and polio.

In addition, more than 35,000 mental health patients in Ukrainian psychiatric hospitals and long-term care facilities face severe shortages of medicine, food, health and blankets, he said.

So far, WHO has sent about 100 metric tonnes of medical supplies, enough for 4,500 trauma patients and 450,000 primary health care patients for a month, to Ukraine along with other equipment. Tedros said the agency is preparing a further 108 metric tonnes for delivery.

Tedros urged donors to support the immense and escalating humanitarian needs in Ukraine and fully fund the UN’s $1.1 billion humanitarian appeal.

11:05am: 10 people were killed in a bread line in Chernihiv, Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials reported yesterday about the shooting and an American man was among those killed.

"His body was found in the street by the local police," his sister, Cheryl Hill Gordon wrote on Facebook.

His sister said he was there to seek medical treatment with his partner.

Associated Press reported Jimmy Hill was at least the second US citizen to be killed in the conflict, after the killing of journalist and filmmaker Brent Renaud last week.

10:42am: Biden lashed out a Putin again, he has now called him a 'murderous dictator.'

10:35am: PayPal has enabled people to send money to Ukraine.

PayPal said it's users can now send money to Ukrainians both amongst the war and refugees around Europe.

The decision came after the Ukrainian government requested PayPal to open up its services to its citizens.

10:10am: From Associated Press

There are talks between Russia and Ukraine towards a possible cease-fire after three weeks of intense fighting.

Negotiators are exploring prospects of possible “neutrality” for Ukraine, a former Soviet republic that has been moving closer to NATO in hopes of membership — infuriating Moscow.

The discussions this week have brought a glimmer of hope to a possible way out of the crisis in Ukraine.

An official in Zelensky’s office said the talks have centred on whether Russian troops would remain in separatist regions in eastern Ukraine after the war and where borders would be.

Ukraine also wants at least one Western nuclear power involved in the talks, and a legally binding document on security guarantee

In exchange, Ukraine was ready to discuss a neutral military status, the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

9:50am: Italy has offered to rebuild the Drama Theatre destroyed yesterday, The Kyiv Independent is reporting.

9:35am: From Associated Press

Rescue workers are continuing to search for survivors from the ruins of the Drama Theatre in Mariupol.

There have been no reports deaths so far.

Communications across the city was disrupted because of movement difficulty with the shelling, it created conflicting reports on whether anyone had emerged from the rubble.

“We hope and we think that some people who stayed in the shelter under the theatre could survive,” Petro Andrushchenko, an official with the mayor’s office, told The Associated Press.

He said the building had a relatively modern basement bomb shelter designed to withstand airstrikes.

9:20am: CNN reported over 1000 people were sheltering in the Drama Theatre in Mariupol when it was bombed.

Yesterday a Ukrainian theatre was blown apart by a Russian airstrike with reportedly hundreds inside but that number has now reached around 1,300 people.

The theatre had 'children' written on both sides of the church before it was bombed.

One hundred and 30 people have been rescued so far.

9.02am: The UK's Defence Ministry said on Thursday night that Russia's advance in Ukraine had "largely stalled on all fronts".

It said Russian forces had made "minimal advances" in recent days and that Ukraine continued to hold most major cities.

The Government has announced an additional 364 Russians have been added to New Zealand's travel ban list. It described it as a "significant widening" of the pre-existing travel ban.

Alongside that, 13 individuals and 19 entities have been added to the targeted sanctions list which was enabled by the passing of the Russia Sanctions Act last Wednesday.

"This is just the start with more sanctions coming over the next few weeks," Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said in a statement.

"This first tranche of sanctions designates an additional 364 political and military individuals to our travel ban list, and places sanctions on Russian Leader Vladimir Putin and the 12 members of his Security Council, one bank and 18 other entities.

"We expect to progressively announce more substantive sanctions as officials work through the appropriate process required under legislation.

"Officials are working around the clock to produce designations under our legal thresholds, and the Government intends to roll out regulations as swiftly as possible. This includes looking into Russian people with notable investments in New Zealand."

8.29am: Rescue workers are searching for survivors in the ruins of a theatre blown apart by a Russian airstrike in the besieged city of Mariupol.

8.15am: Kia ora and welcome to live coverage of the fighting in Ukraine from 1News.