Ukraine: what we know on day six of Russia’s invasion

A Russian armoured column an estimated 40 miles (64km) long is about 17 miles from Kyiv, satellite pictures show, but US officials say it appears to have stalled due to fierce resistance and logistical and other problems.

Missile strikes on Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, killed at least 18 civilians and wounded dozens more when they struck the regional government headquarters and a residential bloc.

Another Russian missile strike hit the Ukrainian capital’s TV tower, killing five people and wounding five more near the site of the Babyn Yar memorial to second world war Nazi massacres.

Russia’s defence ministry urged Kyiv’s inhabitants to leave, saying it planned to strike communications and intelligence sites in the capital.

More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed after Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the head of the region wrote on Telegram.

The southern Ukraine city of Kherson is “surrounded” by Russian soldiers, according to the city’s mayor.

Russia’s missile strikes amounted to state terrorism and a war crime that nobody would forgive or forget, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said.

In an emotional address to the European parliament Zelenskiy reiterated Ukraine’s wish to join the EU, saying the country was “fighting for survival” and to be “equal members of Europe”.

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, described Vladimir Putin’s invasion as a battle between “the rule of law and the rule of the gun”.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said “reports of Russia’s human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law are mounting by the hour”.

The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, said Russia’s attack on Kharkiv was “sickening” and reminiscent of massacres of civilians in Sarajevo in the 1990s.

The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, claimed allegations of Russian strikes on civilian targets and the use of cluster and vacuum bombs were fakes.

At least 136 civilians have been killed, including 13 children, and 400 have been injured since the start of the invasion last week, the UN human rights office said.

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have abandoned their homes to escape the Russian advance and more than 660,000 have fled the country, the UN said.

Ukraine’s general staff claimed Russian losses since the attack included 5,710 personnel, 29 destroyed and damaged aircraft and 198 tanks.

Shell became the latest western firm to announce it was pulling out of Russia, with multiple major banks, airlines, carmakers and shipping companies suspending business with the country.

The EU is seeking to cut Russia’s second largest bank, VTB, from the Swift bank payments system, along with six others vital role in the Russian economy.

Sony, Disney and Warner Bros said they were pausing cinema releases in Russia and YouTube is blocking Russia’s state-backed news channels RT and Sputnik in Europe. Russia has also been barred from most major sporting competitions.