Officials in the south-eastern city of Mariupol, near the border with Russia, say they fear large numbers of people may be dead after many hours of continuous shelling on the city.
Deputy Mayor Sergiy Orlov says a riverside district, normally home to 1,30,000 people including his father, has been "nearly totally destroyed", reported BBC.
“We cannot count the number of victims there, but we believe at least hundreds of people are dead. We cannot go in to retrieve the bodies," he said.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday accused Russia, which has launched an invasion of his country, of seeking to "erase" Ukrainians, their country and their history, reports AFP.
In a video address, the Ukrainian leader said a missile strike on a target at the site of a Holocaust massacre shows that "for many people in Russia our Kyiv is completely foreign.
"They know nothing about our capital and our history. But they have an order to erase our history. Erase our country. Erase us all," he said.
"They know nothing about our capital. About our history. But they have an order to erase our history. Erase our country. Erase us all," he said of President Vladimir Putin's invasion force.
Ukraine on Wednesday invited the worried mothers of Russian troops captured on the battlefield to come and collect their sons, in an apparent attempt to embarrass Moscow.
"A decision has been taken to hand over captured Russian troops to their mothers if they come to collect them in Ukraine, in Kyiv," the defence ministry said in a statement.
Four people have been killed and another nine wounded during shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the emergencies services said on Wednesday.
"Four dead, nine injured," the services said, citing preliminary information.
Russian airborne troops landed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Wednesday, the Ukrainian army said, adding that there were immediate clashes, reports AFP.
"Russian airborne troops landed in Kharkiv... and attacked a local hospital," the army said in a statement on messaging app Telegram. "There is an ongoing fight between the invaders and the Ukrainians."
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the world's Jews to speak out Wednesday after a Russian missile strike on a Kyiv television tower built on the site of a Holocaust massacre, reports AFP.
"I am now addressing all the Jews of the world. Don't you see what is happening? That is why it is very important that millions of Jews around the world not remain silent right now," he said.
"Nazism is born in silence. So shout about killings of civilians. Shout about the murders of Ukrainians."
The Russian army claimed on Wednesday it had taken control of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson as Moscow's invasion of the pro-Western country entered its seventh day.
"The Russian divisions of the armed forces have taken the regional centre of Kherson under full control," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in televised remarks.
He claimed that public services and transport were operating as usual.
"The city is not experiencing shortages of food and essential goods," he added.
He said talks were underway between the Russian army and local authorities on maintaining order, protecting the population and keeping public services functioning.
Over 450,000 people entered Poland from Ukraine since a Russian invasion of the country started last Thursday, Deputy Interior Minister Pawel Szefernaker told private Radio Zet on Wednesday.
He added that the number of people entering Poland fell slightly on Tuesday to 98,000 from a record number of over 100,000 on Monday, reports Reuters.
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday, in a speech to Congress, said that Vladimir Putin underestimated the West's response to the Ukraine war.
"Putin’s war was premeditated and unprovoked," he said - but NATO was ready and the world was united in its response.
Biden made the comment following the Russian military intensified their attacks on Ukrainian cities.
An apparent Russian airstrike aimed at Kyiv's main television tower killed five people on Tuesday, officials said, knocking out some broadcasts but leaving the structure intact, reports AFP.
After a blast sounded around the city and smoke was seen rising in the Babi Yar district, the emergencies service said five people were also injured in the attack.
The US government on Tuesday announced a ban on Russian flights from American airspace following similar moves by the European Union and Canada after Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, reports Reuters.
"I am announcing that we will join our allies in closing off American airspace to all Russian flights, further isolating Russia and adding an additional squeeze on their economy," Biden said in his State of the Union address.
At least 21 people were killed and 112 wounded in the shelling of Ukraine's second most populous city Kharkiv, the city’s mayor has said.
However, the governor of Kharkiv Regional State Administration said all Russian attacks "were repulsed" and positions held, despite the heavy bombardment of Kharkiv on Tuesday and overnight, reports BBC.
Governor Oleh Synegubov said, "the Russian enemy suffered significant losses".
It is understood Russian troops entered the northeastern and northern sectors of the city as Kharkiv was pummelled overhead by jet artillery.
The United Nations says at least 136 civilians have been killed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began last Thursday.
Thirteen children are believed to be among the dead, reports BBC.
But Liz Throssell, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the real death toll is likely to be much higher.
