A giant hammer and sickle have been removed from the iconic Motherland Monument in Kiev as part of a campaign to remove Soviet symbols that has intensified since the beginning of the war

The Ukrainian parliament passed a bill allowing the voluntary mobilisation of certain categories of prisoners; some 15-20 thousand prisoners could then join the Ukrainian defence forces

Over the past week, the Ukrainian army has reportedly carried out a number of attacks against Russian military targets using a new long-range missile system that the US would have secretly shipped in recent weeks

In recent weeks Russia has reportedly hit "up to 80%" of conventional power plants and half of Ukraine's hydropower plants "in the heaviest attacks since the war began"