Prime Minister Boris Johnson has travelled to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a “show of solidarity”.
“Right now a visit of Boris Johnson in Kyiv started from one-on-one meeting with President Zelenskiy,” Andriy Sybiha,
deputy head of Ukraine’s president office, said on Facebook.
A Downing Street spokesperson said the PM was making the trip “in a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people”.
“They will discuss the UK’s long term support to Ukraine and the PM will set out a new package of financial and military aid,” the spokesperson added.
Mr Johnson’s surprise trip comes soon after the UK pledged to send armoured vehicles to Ukraine for the first time as part of a new £100m package.
It also comes a day after at least 50 people were killed in an attack on civilians at Kramatorsk rail station in eastern Ukraine – something Mr Zelenskyy said was a war crime.
Key developments:
• Ammo depot destroyed at air base in central Ukraine, says Russia’s Interfax news agency
• General responsible for atrocities in Syria reportedly now in charge of Ukraine invasion.
• Curfew in Black Sea port of Odesa from Saturday night until Monday amid fears of attack
• More than 6,600 people evacuated through humanitarian corridors on Friday
• EU promises to “accelerate” Ukraine’s membership
• Russia has lost 19,000 troops, Ukraine claims, after Kremlin admits ‘significant’ losses
Live updates as Russian forces abandon tanks in ‘possible sign of collapse’
Ukraine’s railway operator said on Saturday that services out of Kramatorsk were still disrupted but that evacuations would continue at other stations in the country’s east.
The start to the weekend also saw Russia claim to have destroyed an ammunition depot at the Myrhorod Air Base in central Ukraine, according to the country’s Interfax news agency.
The Black Sea port of Odesa also imposed a curfew from Saturday night until Monday morning amid fears of an attack on the city.
There are also unconfirmed reports that Alexander Dvornikov, a Russian general responsible for atrocities in Syria, has been put in charge of the Ukraine invasion.