Many towns in Ukraine are under heavy Russian fire. Once again, Kyiv is under missile attack. Pressure is worst in the Southern part of the country which is on the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, the Russian forces have declared a “regime of silence” as of 9 AM Bulgarian time, the Ministry of Defence has announced. Russia’s TASS news agency reports, that Russia is opening humanitarian corridors for the withdrawal of civilians from the towns of Mariupol and Volnovakha in Donetsk region.

The port city of Mariupol in the Southeast, which has been under siege since Thursday, is besieged and under fire. The city’s mayor Vadim Boychenko called for a humanitarian corridor. The city’s electricity, water, food and heating have been cut off, with food running out. Mariupol is of strategic importance because control of the city would create a land corridor between Crimea and the Russia-supported regions Luhansk and Donetsk.

Meanwhile, foreign media outlets, among them the BBC and CNN, stated they are stopping their reporting from Russia, after Vladimir Putin endorsed a draft law criminalizing, and introducing up to 15 years of imprisonment for spreading “false news” about Russia’s military operations. Russia banned the social network Facebook and blocked access to Twitter and YouTube. A number of Western companies, among them Microsoft, Samsung, Chanel have stopped sales in Russia.

Tens of thousands of people came out into the streets of Tbilisi and Prague in support of Ukraine, and President Zelensky made an address by video link. “All of you are Ukrainians today,” he said, addressing Europe. Anti-war protests took place in Frankfurt, Vilnius, Lyon, Bratislava, Lisbon, London, Seoul, Jakarta and many other towns and cities. Today. Volodymyr Zelensky is to address the US Senate by video link.

• 100,000+ Ukrainian refugees expected to arrive in Bulgaria
  

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi stated that the number of Ukrainian refugees is close to 1.5 million, and is quickly growing.