Russia’s defence ministry confirmed that missile strikes hit Ukraine’s strategic Black Sea port of Odesa early Sunday morning. The retreat of Russian forces from the town of Bucha in the Kyiv region revealed evidence of civilian killings. All times are Paris time [GMT+2].

11:03 am: Russia says oil refinery, fuel storage facilities destroyed in Odesa strike

The Russian defence ministry confirmed that missile strikes hit Ukraine’s strategic Black Sea port of Odesa on Sunday. "This morning, high-precision sea- and air-based missiles destroyed an oil refinery and three storage facilities for fuel and lubricants near the city of Odesa, from which fuel was supplied to a group of Ukrainian troops in the direction of Mykolaiv," it said.

9:47 am: Russian withdrawal from Kyiv region reveals evidence of civilian killings

Ukraine said it had regained control of the Kyiv region, with Russian troops retreating from around the capital and the city of Chernihiv, as evidence emerged of civilian killings in areas the invading forces had been occupying.

8:39 am: Russia says peace talks not advanced enough for Putin-Zelensky meeting

Russia said on Sunday that peace talks had not progressed enough for a leaders' meeting and that Moscow's position on the status of the Crimea peninsula and the eastern Donbas region remained unchanged.

"The draft agreement is not ready for submission to a meeting at the top," Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said on Telegram. "I repeat again and again: Russia's position on Crimea and Donbas remains UNCHANGED."

7:45 am: Loud explosions heard in Odesa

"Odesa was attacked from the air," Ukraine interior minister advisor Anton Herashchenko wrote on his Telegram account. "Fires were reported in some areas. Some of the missiles were shot down by air defence."

An AFP reporter heard explosions in the southwestern city at around 6:00 am local time (0300 GMT). The blasts sent up at least three columns of black smoke with flames apparently visible in an industrial area. A soldier near the site of one of the strikes said it was likely a rocket or a missile. 

The attack comes as Russian forces appeared to be withdrawing from the country's north. On Friday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russia was consolidating its forces and preparing "powerful strikes" in the south, joining a chorus of Western assessments that Moscow's troops were regrouping.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)