Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin has condemned the "fake" and "very despicable" suggestion that Beijing asked Russia to delay its invasion of Ukraine until after the 2022 Winter Olympics had finished. ....

Five people are in critical condition after an explosion in an apartment complex in the US state of Maryland's Montgomery County, according to authorites. ....

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Friday warned against Russian troops firing at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is the largest in Europe, saying that if it blows up then the catastrophe would be "10 times larger" than the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. ....

Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhaylo Podolyak has tweeted that he and other officials have started talks with Russian representatives in Belarus. ....

In a new video address to the nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said that his country's defence lines were holding, but Russia has continued shelling major cities since midnight. ....

Russian forces were on Thursday trying to encircle Kiev amid intense fighting currently underway within 20-40 km of the Ukrainian capital, a non-profit think tank said. ....

A Western intelligence report indicated that Chinese officials in early February requested senior Russian officials to wait until after the Beijing Olympics had finished before beginning an invasion of Ukraine, CNN reported citing US officials as saying. ....

The UN General Assembly on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to censure Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while India abstained on the vote "in view the totality of the evolving situation". ....

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that a Third World War 'will be nuclear and destructive' as the fallout of his nation's invasion of neighbour Ukraine intensifies, Daily Mail reported. ....

Fugitive former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych is currently in Minsk, and the Kremlin is currently preparing him for a special operation, according to Ukrainian intelligence. ....