The UN refugee agency on Tuesday said more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion of the country on February 24, passing yet another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War II. 

11:40 am: Ten Ukrainian hospitals destroyed since Russia invaded

Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said on Tuesday that 10 hospitals had been completely destroyed since Russia invaded Ukraine, and others could not be restocked with medicines and supplies because of fighting nearby.

11:15 am: Russian newspaper hacked, false story on military deaths posted – Kremlin correspondent

Russia’s mass-market Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper was hacked on Monday and a false story on Russian military deaths in Ukraine was posted on its site, its Kremlin correspondent Alexander Gamov said on Tuesday.

The story – which said nearly 10,000 Russian troops had been killed – was deleted after only a few minutes, but had already been picked up by some Western media.

11:27 am: Half a million Ukrainian refugees in Poland need mental health support

About half a million refugees from Ukraine who have fled to Poland need support for mental health disorders, and 30,000 have severe mental health problems, the representative for the World Health Organization in Poland said on Tuesday.

Refugees arriving in Poland are suffering from a range of health problems, including diarrhea and dehydration, but the main need is for support due to trauma, Paloma Cuchi, WHO representative in Poland, told a briefing in Geneva.

11:25 am: Refugees from Mariupol describe city’s devastation

Victoria and Oleksii Kazantsev had been sheltering in Mariupol before leaving the port city in their car, which had been protected from Russian forces' bombardment in an underground garage. Now in Lviv with their daughter, they tell FRANCE 24 about the devastation they witnessed as they fled.

10:54 am: Russia, North Korea discuss developing relations

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov has met with North Korea’s ambassador to Moscow and discussed developing bilateral relations “in the context of changes happening on the international arena”, the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday.

North Korea last month blamed the Ukraine crisis on the “hegemonic policy” and “high-handedness” of the United States and the West.

11:08 am: Russian Nobel winner says he will donate medal to Ukrainian refugee fund

Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, a co-winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize, said on Tuesday he would donate his Nobel medal to be auctioned to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees.

The Novaya Gazeta newspaper, where Muratov is editor-in-chief, in early March said it would remove material on Russia's invasion of Ukraine from its website because of censorship, in response to threats of criminal prosecution of journalists and citizens who veer from Moscow's official line that the war it began is a "special military operation".

10:44 am: Kyiv theatre director says rehearsals keep spirits high amid attacks

Kyiv theatre director Tetiana Shelepko tells FRANCE 24 that holding rehearsals at night after helping to transport humanitarian supplies during the day keeps her company's spirits up amid Russian attacks on Ukraine's capital.

9:58 am: More than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine

The number of Ukrainians who have fled abroad has now surpassed 3.5 million, the UN Refugee Agency said on Tuesday, with more than 2 million having crossed the border into Poland.

9:48 am: Ukrainian forces retake key Kyiv suburb of Makariv

Ukrainian forces forced Russian troops out of the strategically important Kyiv suburb of Makariv early Tuesday after a fierce battle, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said. The regained territory has allowed Ukrainian forces to retake control of a key highway and block Russian troops from surrounding Kyiv from the northwest.

9:43 am: Boryspil mayor urges civilians to flee

The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Boryspil, just east of Kyiv and close to the Boryspil International Airport, is urging civilians to leave the city because of fighting nearby.

“There is no need to be in the city now as there is already fighting going on in the area around it. I call on the civilian population to be smart, reach out to our call centre and leave town as soon as an opportunity arises,” Mayor Volodymyr Borysenko said in a video address.

8:44 am: ‘Fewer and fewer civilians getting evacuated from Kyiv’

Kyiv on Monday night entered a new, longer curfew that is scheduled to last until Wednesday morning because authorities expect the Ukrainian capital to come under further shelling by Russian forces.

6:30 am: Zelensky renews offer of direct peace talks with Putin

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed an offer of direct peace talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin overnight to Tuesday, declaring the status of Russia-occupied Crimea and two self-declared pro-Moscow republics in Donbas could be up for debate and a possible referendum.

Zelensky told local media that he was ready to meet Putin “in any format” to discuss ending the almost one-month-old war that has shattered several Ukrainian cities.

France 24