TOP HEADLINES

· At least five people were killed and 18 injured in a missile strike on Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa on Saturday, the president's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said in an online post.

· Russia's top state investigative body said on Saturday it was looking into a Russian media report alleging that sabotage experts from Britain's SAS special forces have been deployed to western Ukraine.

· Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said that Russia's conflict with the region is "just the beginning". He claims Moscow has designs on countries beyond Ukraine, after a Russian commander said his country wants control of the country's south and east.

· A new attempt to evacuate Ukrainian civilians from war-torn Mariupol failed on Saturday, an aide to the city's mayor said on his Telegram channel, blaming Russian forces. 

· Russia's defense ministry said on Saturday that its forces had shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet and destroyed three MI-8 helicopters at an airfield in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine regarding the Russian claims.

· Russia plans to deploy the first military unit armed with nuclear-capable ballistic Sarmat missiles no later than this autumn, TASS news agency reports. Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency, made the statement during a state television interview.

· One third of gas exports from Russia to the European Union via Ukraine could be lost if Russian forces continue disrupting operations in newly occupied areas, the head of Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz said on Saturday.

· U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday. He will also meet with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. 

· Russia's defense ministry claims one sailor has died and 27 are missing following the Moskva missile cruiser sinking last week. Reports claim Russia previously stated all aboard were rescued. 

· Russian forces have made no major gains over the last 24 hours, according to UK intelligence. Ukraine says shelling of eastern Luhansk has been intensifying. 

· The Polish border guard says nearly three million Ukrainian refugees have fled to the country since the conflict began. More than 900,000 Ukrainians have applied for a Polish national identity number.

· Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says that he "absolutely" expects the United States to reopen its embassy in Ukraine. The UK announced on Friday it would reopen its embassy in Kyiv next week.

· An estimated 20,000 civilians have been killed in Mariupol over the past two months, according to Ukrainian authorities. Latest figures show the scale of the escalating fighting in the city. 

· Air strikes by Russian forces on Azovstal steel works - where Ukraine's remaining military in Mariupol are holding out - have resumed. Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych confirmed troops are trying to storm the building. 

· Moldova's foreign ministry has expressed "deep concern" about Russia's hopes to take control of Southern Ukraine. There are fears that this will make access to the separatist region of Transnistria in neighboring Moldova easier.

· Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, sent an appeal to refugees to be "careful and vigilant" on their travels. She also said the Ukrainian corridor from Mariupol would lead exclusively towards the city Zaporizhzhia. 

IN DETAIL

Odesa missile strike 

At least five people were killed and 18 injured in a missile strike on Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa on Saturday, the president's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said in an online post.

Ukraine's southern air command had earlier said that two missiles struck a military facility and two residential buildings in Odesa.

UK elite forces

Russia's top state investigative body said on Saturday it was looking into a Russian media report alleging that sabotage experts from Britain's SAS special forces have been deployed to western Ukraine.

The Special Air Service is an elite military force trained to conduct special operations, surveillance and counter-terrorism. Russia's RIA Novosti news agency on Saturday quoted a Russian security source as saying about 20 SAS members had been sent to the Lviv region.

In a statement, the Investigative Committee said it would follow up the report that they had been sent in "to assist the Ukrainian special services in organizing sabotage on the territory of Ukraine."

A spokesperson for the British Ministry of Defence said: "We do not comment on Special Forces."

Sarmat ballistic missile deployment

Russia said on Saturday it plans to deploy its newly tested Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of mounting nuclear strikes against the United States, by autumn.

The target stated by Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Roscosmos space agency, is an ambitious one as Russia reported its first test-launch only on Wednesday and Western military experts say more will be needed before the missile can be deployed.

Rogozin said in an interview with Russian state TV that the launch of the "super-weapon" was an historic event that would guarantee the security of Russia's children and grandchildren for the next "30-40 years."