ABC journalists have come across a "trail of brutality" on the main highway into the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, as international pressure over alleged Russian war crimes grows.
Catch up on Tuesday's updates as they happened on our blog.
Key events
Live updates
By Michael Doyle
That is all for the blog today
We are closing the blog for today.
You can stay up-to-date with the war in Ukraine online or on the ABC News app.
Goodbye for now.
By Michael Doyle
Images from outside Kyiv
ABC photographer Phil Hemingway is covering the war in Ukraine.
His most recent images show a trail of destruction on a highway outside Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.
By Michael Doyle
Ukraine and China hold their first reported high-level talks since March 1
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in a phone call on Monday, with Beijing again calling for talks to end the war in Ukraine.
The call, which Beijing said was made at Ukraine's request, was the first reported high-level conversation between the countries since March 1, when Kuleba asked Beijing to use its ties with Moscow to stop Russia's invasion, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said at the time.
"Wars end eventually. The key is how to reflect on the pain, to maintain lasting security in Europe and establish a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism," Mr Wang said.
"China stands ready to play a constructive role in this regard in an objective position."
By Michael Doyle
Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address UN Security Council
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will address the UN Security Council on Tuesday, and predicts more mass killings of civilians by Russian troops will be discovered.
The Security Council session will consider Ukrainian allegations of the murder of civilians by Russian soldiers in Bucha, following the discovery of hundreds of bodies.
Russia has categorically denied the accusations, calling them "criminal provocations" and says it will present "empirical evidence" to the UN Security Council that its forces have not been involved in atrocities.
By Michael Doyle
By Michael Doyle
Devastation left across Ukraine
Reporting from Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop and images from Phil Hemingway reporting from Ukraine
The road to Kyiv is a trail of brutality.
As we drove into the capital from western Ukraine today, we witnessed evidence of potential war crimes on a highway that stood for weeks between Russian forces and the capital.
Entire villages have been destroyed along the E40 (highway), which was the scene of five weeks of fierce fighting until many Russian troops retreated to regroup in recent days.
The Ukrainian army has been clearing the road of unexploded ordnance and leaving behind the ruins of the Russian invasion for the world to see.
We found an ambulance riddled with bullets – yet more evidence of what the World Health Organization describes as a Russian campaign to target Ukrainian medical workers and facilities.
Smears of blood and red bandages inside the ambulance suggested a patient was inside at the time of the attack.
On the road were also cars in which civilians had been shot.
With US President Joe Biden calling for Vladimir Putin to face a war crimes trial, this 50-kilometre stretch of highway is just one portion of a vast crime scene.
By Michael Doyle
By Michael Doyle
Russia says it will retaliate diplomatically over expulsions
Russia will respond proportionately to the expulsion of its diplomats from a number of Western countries, Russian ex-president and deputy head of the country's security council Dmitry Medvedev says.
"Everyone knows the answer: it will be symmetrical and destructive for bilateral relations," Mr Medvedev said in a post on his Telegram channel.
"Who have they punished? First of all, themselves."
On Monday, France said it would expel 35 Russian diplomats over Moscow's actions in Ukraine and Germany declared a "significant number" of Russian diplomats as undesirable.
"If this continues, it will be fitting, as I wrote back on 26th February — to slam shut the door on Western embassies," Mr Medvedev said.
"It will be cheaper for everyone. And then we will end up just looking at each other in no other way than through gunsights."
By Michael Doyle
Foreign Minister says she will emphasise Australian support for NATO
Australia's Foreign Minister, Marise Payne, will travel to Brussels this evening for a meeting of NATO and its allies.
The Foreign Minister says Australia will reaffirm its support for NATO and for Ukraine.
By Michael Doyle
Bushmaster armoured vehicles headed for Ukraine
Four Bushmaster armoured vehicles have been repainted and will be flown from Australia to Ukraine.
They will be loaded onto a C70 Globemaster, a huge military freight aircraft, and flown to Europe for use by the Ukrainian armed forces.
The vehicles were requested by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his address to the Australian parliament last week.
By Michael Doyle
By Michael Doyle
Marise Payne says Australia constantly reviews the presence of a Russian ambassador
The Foreign Minister says she understands why many Australians would like to see the Russian ambassador kicked out of the country.
Marise Payne has supported calls for a war crimes investigation after hundreds of dead Ukrainian civilians were found on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Senator Payne says rape has been used as a weapon of war and has described the scene as horrific and obscene.
The Foreign Minister told Channel Nine that Australia is continually reviewing the ambassador's presence in Australia.
"The Russian ambassador was called into the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade last week to ensure that we are able to say directly to Russia's representative that their actions are unacceptable and a wholesale breach of the UN charter."
By Michael Doyle
US wants Russia suspended from UN's Human Rights Council
The United States will ask the United Nations General Assembly to suspend Russia from its Human Rights Council, the US ambassador to the UN says.
A two-thirds majority vote by the 193-member assembly in New York can suspend a state for persistently committing gross and systematic violations of human rights.
"Russia's participation on the Human Rights Council is a farce," US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on a visit to Romania.
"And it is wrong, which is why we believe it is time the UN General Assembly vote to remove them."
Ukraine said that it would use all "available UN mechanisms" to collect evidence on Russia's crimes in the country.
"No place for Russia on the UN Human Rights Council," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
Ms Thomas-Greenfield said she wants to have the vote this week.
By Michael Doyle
Australia bans luxury goods to Russia
The Australian federal government has banned the export of luxury goods to Russia, including wine, cosmetics and luxury vehicles.
Meanwhile, the EU and the US have already taken similar action to pressure the Kremlin and wealthy Russian citizens.
US President Joe Biden called for tougher sanctions overnight after reports of mass civilian deaths on the outskirts of Kyiv, in the town of Bucha.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne says Australia is committed to imposing a cost for the invasion of Ukraine.
By Michael Doyle
By Michael Doyle
Australia labels Russian President Vladimir Putin a ‘war criminal’
Australia will support any war crimes investigation into Russian President Vladimir Putin after the discovery of hundreds of dead civilians on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton has described Russian military action in Ukraine more broadly as "straight up and down the act of a war criminal" who must be held accountable.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne has also supported US President Joe Biden's call for an investigation, prompted by Ukrainian reports of 300 residents killed by Russian forces while Chechen fighters controlled the area.
Read more on this story from political reporter Henry Belot by clicking here.
Warning: This article contains graphic content that may disturb some readers.
By Michael Doyle
By Michael Doyle
How Vladimir Putin could be prosecuted for war crimes in Ukraine
US President Joe Biden has called for the prosecution of Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes after the discovery in Bucha, Ukraine, of mass graves and bodies of bound civilians shot at close range, but various challenges stand in the way.
Find out everything you need to know about how a prosecution could happen by clicking this link.
Reuters
By Michael Doyle
Retired army general says Russia is withdrawing because they have been 'beaten'
Russian forces have withdrawn away from Ukraine's capital Kyiv, with retired Australian Army major general Mick Ryan telling ABC News Breakfast this is a sign the initial invasion has been thawted.
"What it means is they've been beaten by the Ukrainians," he said.
"About two-thirds of the Russian forces who had previously attempted to encircle or capture Ukraine have withdrawn up into Belarus.
"The Russians are withdrawing because their plan failed, their fast, cheap and easy invasion of Ukraine to capture Kyiv failed. They've been beaten by the Ukrainians."
