Russia launches multiple rocket attacks in Kharkiv and renews Kyiv assault

Widespread use of indiscriminate weapons such as multiple rocket launchers against civilian areas, as used on Monday in the city of Kharkiv, suggested that the Kremlin, having failed to land a knockout blow in the first days of the war, was prepared to unleash more desperate methods.

The prosecutor of the international criminal court said he would launch an investigation into possible war crimes or crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

Satellite photos showed long Russian columns heading towards Kyiv. The satellite imaging company Maxar published a picture of a 17-mile (27km) convoy of forces about 30 miles from the capital. Inside Kyiv, air raid sirens sounded as evening fell and several detonations were reported. Blasts were also heard in Mariupol on the coast of the Sea of Azov. However, Russian forces have yet to take any major Ukrainian city. Turkey said it would ban all warships from crossing the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits leading to the Black Sea, blocking the route for at least four Russian vessels which are waiting to cross from the Mediterranean.

The talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations near the Belarus-Ukraine border ended inconclusively, with national news agencies quoting officials as saying the negotiators would return to their respective capitals for consultations before embarking on a second round of talks in the coming days.

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, urged Russian troops to abandon their equipment and leave the battlefield to save their lives, claiming 4,500 were already dead.

Terrified Ukrainian families huddled in shelters, basements or corridors, with millions thought to have fled their homes and more than 500,000 having left Ukraine to escape the biggest invasion of a European country since the second world war.

Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor said he would open an investigation into possible war crimes or crimes against humanity in Ukraine, based both on a prior report by his predecessor in 2020, and on current military operations. Khan said he had already instructed his team to take steps to preserve evidence.

Panicked Russians withdrew savings and sought to exchange roubles for dollars and euros, while Russian businesses scrambled to protect their finances as the rouble lost nearly 30% of its value against the dollar on Monday.

The EU has also shut all Russian planes out of its airspace, forcing the Russian airline Aeroflot to cancel all flights to European destinations until further notice. The Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik have also been banned in the EU.

On Monday, Shell announced it would follow BP in divesting from its joint ventures in Russia, withdrawing from projects with the Russian gas corporation, Gazprom.

In addition to sanctions, the US and several EU countries have announced they will send Stinger missiles and other military supplies to Ukraine. Germany has said it will increase defence spending massively, casting off decades of reluctance, while in a similarly radical change of policy Finland said it would send weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, the prime minister, Sanna Marin, said.

Rolling protests have been held around the world against the invasion, including in Russia, where almost 6,000 people have been detained at anti-war protests since Thursday, the OVD-Info protest monitoring group said.