LATEST HEADLINES

• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed Kyiv and the key areas of the country are still under Ukrainian control. "The occupiers wanted to set up their puppet in our capital, they didn't succeed," he said in a video message.

• An all-day curfew lasting until Monday has been announced by Kyiv authorities.

• Kyiv is under attack from Russian missile strikes as the conflict has so far killed 198 Ukrainians, including three children, according to Ukraine's Ministry for Health.

• Ukraine's president remains defiant, saying: "We won't lay down our arms," although Russia says it has captured the city of Melitopol in the south and it is bombarding Ukraine's military infrastructure with cruise missiles.

• The UK's Ministry of Defence published an intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine, claiming that Russian troops are continuing to move towards Kyiv, with the majority of their military now 30 kilometers from the center of the city.

• Fighting in the cities of Kherson, Mariupol, Mykolaiv and Odesa has been reported.

• A Russian cargo ship has been seized in The Channel between the UK and France, according to Russian news agency TASS.

• Turkey says it is yet to decide whether to close the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits to Russian ships.

• 115,000 people have crossed the Ukrainian border into Poland, according to a Polish minister.

• Poland has called for Ukraine to be admitted to the European Union and given access to EU reconstruction funds.

• Sweden and Poland will not play their soccer World Cup qualifiers against Russia in March, following the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine.

Russia "paused" advance on Ukraine

Russian troops started advancing into Ukraine again on Saturday after President Vladimir Putin paused the offensive in anticipation of talks with Kyiv that never happened, the Kremlin said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitriy Peskov said, "President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian army to stop advancing yesterday, but the Ukrainian side refused to negotiate, the Russian army resumed its military action plan, and the main force of the Russian army continued to advance during the day today."

Peskov told a briefing Russia had expected the international sanctions imposed by the West in response to the invasion and was taking measures to minimize their impact on the economy.

Three-shutdown of Kyiv ordered

Kyiv authorities announced imposing a day-and-night curfew until Monday morning, after reports that some Russian forces had entered the Ukrainian capital.

"The curfew in Kyiv will start on Saturday at 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) and end at 8:00 (0600 GMT) on Monday," city authorities said on Telegram.

NATO deploys rapid response force

NATO is deploying its rapid response force for the first time since it was formed to bolster its eastern flank following the onset of the conflict in Ukraine.

Member states contribute forces annually on a rotating basis, with overall command held by the Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, currently U.S. General Tod D. Wolters, who called the force's activation a "historic moment."

NATO Response Force is made up of 40,000 troops and is designed to be ready to respond within two or three days when a security crisis is declared. All 30 members of NATO agreed to activate the force on Thursday, though it will not be deployed to Ukraine as it is not a member of the alliance. 

Poland calls for Ukraine's EU entry

The European Union should speed Ukraine's path to membership, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Saturday, adding that Ukraine should also have access to EU funds for reconstruction.

"Poland supports an express path for Ukraine membership in the European Union," Duda wrote on Twitter. "Candidate status should be granted immediately and membership talks initiated immediately thereafter."

Poland's Deputy Interior Minister Pawel Szefernaker said 115,000 people had crossed the border into Poland from Ukraine this week. The head of the Polish border guard, Tomasz Praga, said nearly 50,000 people had crossed into Poland from Ukraine on Friday alone.

Poland, which was already home to an estimated 1.5 million Ukrainians and which has expressed steadfast support for Ukraine, has so far seen the bulk of those fleeing Ukraine cross into its territory.

Civil aviation and shipping bans

Russia has closed its airspace to flights from Bulgaria, Czechia and Poland. "Air carriers of these states and/or registered in them are subject to restrictions on flights to destinations on the territory of the Russian Federation, including transit flights through the airspace of the Russian Federation," the federal air transport agency Rosaviation said.

The measure came into effect at 1200 GMT on Saturday.

British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced an immediate ban on Russian private jets from UK airspace in response to the situation in Ukraine.

"I've strengthened our ban in the UK so that no Russian private jet can fly in UK airspace, or touchdown –- effective immediately," Shapps tweeted.

Turkey has not made a decision to close the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits to Russian ships, a Turkish official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked President Tayyip Erdogan for Turkey's humanitarian and military support, saying a "ban on the passage of (Russian) warships to the Black Sea" was very important for his country. 

Soccer boycott grows

The football federations of Poland and Sweden are refusing to play their soccer World Cup qualifiers against Russia.

The playoff matches are set to be held in March to fill a slot for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and several Poland players including captain Robert Lewandowski backed the decision with statements on social media.

"In light of the escalation of the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine, the Polish national team is not going to play a match against Russian Republic," Poland's Football Association chief Cezary Kulesza wrote on Twitter.

The Swedish FA later said that its team would not face the Russians regardless of where the match is played.