Ukraine's Zelenskyy calls for global protests one month since Russia's invasion — live updates

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged citizens around the world to protest against Russia one month into the invasion, as Russian forces reportedly stall outside Kyiv. 

Australia voices objection to Russian attendance of G20 summit

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has expressed his objection to Russian President Vladimir Putin's attendance at this year's G20 summit.

Host country Indonesia has already invited Putin, and Russia's ambassador has indicated he is expected to attend.

"Russia has invaded Ukraine. This is a violent and aggressive act that shatters the international rule of law," Morrison said.

"I think we need to have people in the room that aren't invading other countries."

Australia's prime minister added that he had been in direct contact with Indonesian President Joko Widodo about Putin's attendance of the summit.

Biden to meet with NATO, EU leaders

US President Joe Biden is set to meet NATO and EU leaders on Thursday in a number of international summits.

Biden will attend a special meeting of NATO leaders, a G7 summit and an EU leaders' summit for talks on how to support Ukraine and punish Russia.

A proposal to strengthen NATO's eastern flank with permanent troop deployments is expected to be discussed.

Such a move would constitute a violation of the NATO-Russia Founding Act signed in 1997, which said that NATO has no intention to station permanent military forces in Eastern Europe.

Ukraine's Zelenskyy urges global protests against Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged citizens around the world to protest Russia's invasion of Ukraine in a Wednesday video address in English.

"Come with Ukrainian symbols to support Ukraine, to support freedom, to support life," Zelenskyy said. "Come to your squares, to your streets, make yourselves visible and heard."

"Show your standing, come from your offices, your homes, your schools and your universities, come in the name of peace," he added.

"The world must stop the war."

The call to action comes one month after Russia's invasion, which has sparked condemnation around the world.

Russian convoy stalls outside Kyiv — Western intelligence

The AP news agency cited a senior US defence official as saying that Russian forces appeared to be setting up defensive positions 15 - 20 kilometers outside Kyiv.

The official told AP that Russian forces were no longer trying to advance toward Kyiv, adding that Russian troops were now exerting more pressure in the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

UK defence official Jim Hockenhull said on Wednesday that Russia was now waging a war of "attrition" in Ukraine after Moscow "failed to achieve its original objectives."

Hockenhull said that Russia was surprised by the scale of resistance by Ukrainian forces.

Hockenhull warned that the war of attrition will involve "reckless and indiscriminate use of firepower (and) result in increased civilian casualties, destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure, and intensify the humanitarian crisis."

4,500 people evacuate from areas under siege

Ukrainian officials said 4,500 people managed to get out of areas under siege from Russian forces on Wednesday.

Around 3,000 people left the southeastern port city of Mariupol for Zaporizhzhia by private transport,  deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said.

Tymoshenko said that that civilians were also evacuated from the town of Hulyaipolye in the Zaporizhzhia region, from the Luhansk region, and from three villages in the Kyiv region.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, seven of nine planned evacuation corridors worked. Vereshschuk said that buses were stopped by Russian units along two of the corridors.

UK to send Ukraine thousands more missiles

The United Kingdom will send 6,000 more missiles to Ukraine's government, including anti-tank and high-explosive weaponry.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is travelling to Brussels on Thursday for talks with NATO, where he is expected to provide further details on new British aid to Ukraine.

The UK has already sent more than 4,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.

"The United Kingdom will work with our allies to step up military and economic support to Ukraine, strengthening their defenses as they turn the tide in this fight," Johnson said.

Summary of events in Ukraine-Russia crisis on Wednesday

The United States issued a warning to China, telling it not to take advantage of business opportunities created by western sanctions on Russia.

The head of Russian space agency Roscosmos warned that Russia's nuclear arsenal has the capability to wipe out any enemies.

A Russian journalist died in a residential neighborhood of Kyiv when it was hit by Russian shelling, according to her employer. Oksana Baulina was reporting for news outlet The Insider when she was killed, the outlet said.

Russia moved to expel an unspecified number of US diplomats. This came in retaliation for the United States expelling 12 of Moscow's delegates to the United Nations in New York in March.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Russia had committed war crimes in Ukraine.

 The 27 EU member states have approved an additional €500 million ($550 million) in military aid to Ukraine, on top of a previous package worth €500 million issued in February.

NATO has estimated that between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers have died in the invasion of Ukraine, according to figures released to the Associated Press.

Russia will demand nations it considers "unfriendly" pay in rubles for its gas supplies, President Vladimir Putin said.