150,000 people remain in the besieged city of Chernihiv - as it happened

Western countries will warn Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that his government will bear the "catastrophic" costs of the unprecedented three-day invasion of Ukraine from the NATO, G-7, and European Union summits that US president Joe Biden attended. In Brussels.

Zelenski said he hoped for a "meaningful move" in the summit round, noting that they would reveal "who are friends, partners, and scamming us for money."

The Ukrainian president also called for global protests against Russia's war against Ukraine and publicly urged the world's citizens to oppose the war publicly.

Russian troops have been accused of holding residents of the besieged Ukrainian city of Chernihiv hostage when local authorities imposed drinking water standards on trapped civilians. About 150,000 people have been stranded in the northern town with no hope of aid after Russia snatched them from the capital Kyiv when a key bridge was bombed on Wednesday.

Ukraine is increasing pressure on Russian troops in northeastern Kyiv as they successfully counterattack Russian positions in towns on the capital's outskirts, Britain's Ministry of Defence says.

NATO has announced plans to double its forces on the alliance's eastern flank. "The first step is deploying four new NATO combat groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, along with our existing troops in the Baltic states and Poland," said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

NATO countries are also expected to agree at Thursday's meeting to provide special kits to protect Ukraine from Russia's chemical, biological or nuclear attacks.