TOP HEADLINES

• Three school buses filled with evacuees from the devastated Ukrainian city of Mariupol arrived in Zaporizhzhia on Thursday.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces control most of Mariupol, but Ukrainian troops remain in a part of it. Around 120,000 civilians were blocked from leaving the besieged city, he added.

• Ukraine said it had received 19 military personnel and civilians captured by Russia, in the the latest prisoner swap after two months of fighting.

• U.S. President Joe Biden authorized a further $800 million in military aid for Ukraine including heavy artillery, citing a "critical window" in the conflict as it enters a new phase.

• Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned the "atrocities" allegedly committed by Russian forces in the town of Borodyanka outside Kyiv.

• The bodies of 1,020 civilians have been collected from the streets and buildings in the wider Kyiv region since Russian forces withdrew from the area late last month, Ukraine's deputy prime minister for European integration told AFP news agency.

• A European ban on Russian oil and gas imports could have unintended economic consequences, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday.

• Denmark and Spain's prime ministers pledged to send more weapons to Ukraine during a trip to Kyiv. Spain has shipped 200 tonnes of military equipment, including heavy transport vehicles and ammunition, to Ukraine, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.

• The U.S. will provide Ukraine with a new $500 million infusion of aid to help the government in Kyiv continue paying salaries, pensions and providing services, a Treasury official said.

• Russia expanded an entry ban on U.S. officials to include U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris and 28 other officials, business people and journalists.

• Zelenskyy said Russia's leadership had made a "catastrophic mistake" by attacking his country. He ruled out going to Moscow for direct talks on ending the war, telling Russian media outlet Mediazona, "That is simply out of the question."

• The Kremlin said Moscow was still waiting for Ukraine's response to Russia's latest written proposal in peace talks between the two sides. Zelenskyy said he had not seen it.

• Russia's economic outlook has worsened as a central bank survey on Thursday showed a deeper contraction than previously expected and inflation soaring to 22 percent this year.

• Russia announced a travel ban on 61 Canadian citizens, including a number of officials and journalists, in response to sanctions imposed over Moscow's military operation in Ukraine. 

• Prague said that nine Central and Eastern European countries would ask the EU this month for financial aid to offset their costs of hosting Ukrainian refugees.

• A meeting of the UN cultural agency's World Heritage Committee which Russia was to host in June has been postponed indefinitely, a source said on Thursday.

• President Joe Biden vowed that Russian President Vladimir Putin would never take control of Ukraine.

• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has faced fierce criticism for refusing to condemn Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, said he had talked with Zelenskyy.

• More than 7.7 million people are estimated to have been displaced within Ukraine the conflict, the United Nations said on Thursday.

• Five allied countries including the U.S. warned that "evolving intelligence" indicated Russia was poised to launch powerful cyberattacks against rivals supporting Ukraine.

• Russia and Belarus will respond to the strengthening of NATO forces on the borders of their countries, TASS news agency reported on Thursday, citing a Russian diplomat.

• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in India touting job-creating investment but facing long odds to get his reluctant counterpart Narendra Modi to back western action against Russia.

• Italy signed a deal with Angola to ramp up gas supplies from the southern African country as it urgently scrambles to break away from Russian gas.

IN DETAIL

Ukraine-Russia prisoner exchange

Ukraine said on Thursday it had received 19 military personnel and civilians captured by Russia, in the the latest prisoner swap after two months of fighting.

"Today we are returning home 19 people, including 10 military personnel – two of whom are officers – and nine civilians," Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a statement on social media.

She did not give details of the exchange, including where or when the swap occurred or whether Ukraine returned detainees to Moscow.

"This time, there are wounded among the released, and this is very important. After all, now they will be able to receive full treatment and undergo rehabilitation," Vereshchuk added.

The exchange is the latest that Ukraine says it has conducted with the Russian side since Moscow's launched its military offensive on February 24. 

There was no confirmation from Moscow of the swap or how many Russian prisoners had been exchanged.

Vereshchuk said the swap was made possible by the personal involvement of President Volodymyr Zelenksyy.   

It comes as both sides have shown videos of high-profile detainees. 

Ukraine earlier this week aired video showing Viktor Medvedchuk, a detained pro-Russia tycoon and ally of President Vladimir Putin, saying he wanted to be exchanged for civilians and troops from the besieged port city of Mariupol.

Russia, at the same time, broadcast footage of a British national and another man it identified as a UK citizen captured fighting for Ukraine demanding that Prime Minister Boris Johnson negotiate their release.

U.S. and allies say 'evolving intelligence' indicates possible Russian cyberattack

Five allied countries including the United States warned that "evolving intelligence" indicated Russia was poised to launch powerful cyberattacks against rivals supporting Ukraine.

The members of the "Five Eyes" intelligence sharing network – the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – said Moscow could also involve existing cybercrime groups in launching attacks on governments, institutions and businesses.

"Evolving intelligence indicates that the Russian government is exploring options for potential cyberattacks," they said in an official cyber threat alert.

"Russia's invasion of Ukraine could expose organizations both within and beyond the region to increased malicious cyber activity. This activity may occur as a response to the unprecedented economic costs imposed on Russia as well as materiel support provided by the United States and U.S. allies and partners," it said.

In addition, it said, "some cybercrime groups have recently publicly pledged support for the Russian government. Some groups have also threatened to conduct cyber operations against countries and organizations providing materiel support to Ukraine."

Washington has warned since Russia began military operations in Ukraine on February 24 that a part of its campaign could involve hefty cyberattacks against Kyiv and its Western supporters.

But such threats have yet to materialize in a substantial way.

In recent weeks, as Moscow pulled back troops from northern Ukraine where they failed to seize Kyiv, warnings have picked up of possible cyberattacks against NATO allies supplying the country with weapons and increasing sanctions on Russia.

Wednesday's alert said Russian state-sponsored cyber actors have the ability to compromise IT networks, to steal large amounts of data from them while remaining hidden, to deploy destructive malware and to lock down networks with "distributed denial of service" attacks.

The alert identified more than a dozen hacking groups, both parts of Russian intelligence and military bodies and privately operated, which present threats.

It warned that infrastructure could be particularly targeted in countries Moscow might want to take action against.

"U.S., Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, and UK cybersecurity authorities urge critical infrastructure network defenders to prepare for and mitigate potential cyber threats – including destructive malware, ransomware, DDoS attacks, and cyber espionage – by hardening their cyber defenses and performing due diligence in identifying indicators of malicious activity," the alert said.