That brings today's coverage of the war in Ukraine to an end. Thank you for joining us today, and do not forget to come back tomorrow as CNBC-TV resumes live coverage of the hostilities. Good night, readers.

Mar 17, 2022 11:43 PM

Two-year-old killed, four people wounded in shelling

A two-year-old child has died and four people wounded after Russian troops shelled the Ukrainian village of Novi Petrivtsi, to the north of Kyiv, regional police said.

In a statement on Facebook, the police said Russian forces fired heavy artillery at residential houses in the Vyshhorod district. An apartment building was destroyed and neighbouring residential buildings were damaged in today’s attack, it said.

Mar 17, 2022 11:40 PM

130 people rescued from Mariupol theatre: Former governor

Rescue efforts to find survivors of the Russian bombing of a theatre in the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol have been hindered by the complete breakdown of social services in the city, according to the former Donetsk region head, Sergiy Taruta.

Speaking in an interview on Ukrainian television, Taruta said he believed 1,300 people were in the building when it was bombed and 130 have so far been rescued.

Taruta said: "People are doing everything themselves. My friends went to help, but due to constant shelling it was not safe. People are clearing away the rubble themselves.There is no rescue operation, because all the services that are supposed to rescue people, to treat them, to bury them, these services no longer exist."

Mar 17, 2022 11:33 PM

30,000 people have fled Mariupol; over 350,000 remain

Around 30,000 civilians have fled the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, local authorities said. Mariupol’s city hall said on Telegram that “around 30,000 people have left on their transport”, adding that “80 percent of residential housing was destroyed”, AFP reports.

Mar 17, 2022 10:51 PM

Ferrari pauses F1 partnership with Russian-based software maker Kaspersky

Ferrari has decided to remove the logo of Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab from its Formula One cars and the luxury sports car maker is assessing its supply ties with the security software maker, a spokesman said on Thursday. The Ferrari spokesman said the Kaspersky logo had been removed from Formula One cars, drivers' helmets and on online platforms "as the partnership is paused for the time being due to a joint decision taken by the two companies".

He said Kaspersky was one of Ferrari's suppliers for antivirus software. "We are assessing the situation," he said, replying to a question about possible developments of the supply ties between the two companies.

Mar 17, 2022 10:44 PM

Russia struggles to make progress in Kyiv

Russia is struggling to make military progress in and around Kyiv, Western officials said on Thursday afternoon, and “there is a question as to whether Moscow now intends to try to assault Kyiv or not”, the Guardian reports. An estimated 7,000 Russian troops have died in the fighting so far and 10% of the invading army’s equipment has also been destroyed, prompting questions as to whether the army on the ground has the will to continue fighting.

Mar 17, 2022 10:38 PM

Here's a quick recap of the day's events

Survivors have begun to emerge from the basement of a theatre hit by a Russian airstrike in the besieged southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, officials said. Hundreds of people were hiding beneath the theatre, which was designated as a shelter for displaced civilians, when it was struck on Wednesday. Authorities said it was not known if there were injuries or deaths among those inside, the Guardian reported.

More than 20 people were killed and 25 injured when a Russian airstrike destroyed a school and community centre in Merefa, close to the north-east Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, local officials said. The attack took place at 3.30am local time (1.30am GMT) on Thursday morning, the Kharkiv prosecutor’s office said. Ten people are in critical condition, it said.

Losses are mounting in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, with 53 people killed by Russian forces on Wednesday alone, the regional governor said on Thursday. “We are suffering heavy losses - 53 citizens were killed yesterday,” governor Viacheslav Chaus said.

The mayor of the besieged Ukrainian city of Melitopol, who was allegedly abducted by Russian forces, was freed in exchange for nine captured Russian conscripts, according to the head of Ukraine’s presidential office. Ukraine had accused Russia of kidnapping Fedorov last Friday, with surveillance footage appearing to show him being marched across a square in the city centre, apparently surrounded by Russian soldiers.

Lawyers are drafting a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow but a breakthrough depends on the Kremlin accepting a ceasefire, Ukraine’s defence minister has said. Oleksii Reznikov, who has been leading the Ukrainian delegation in the negotiations, said technical work was progressing but that Russia had to stop its shelling for any compromise to be possible.

The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, said “we have stronger hopes for a ceasefire” after meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, in Lviv. The meeting follows Çavuşoğlu’s visit to Moscow yesterday, where he declared: “We have not lost our belief in diplomacy.”

But western officials have warned there remains a “very big gap” between Ukraine and Russia in peace talks between the two nations. Reuters quotes an unnamed official as saying that both sides are taking peace talks seriously but that there was little sign of an imminent breakthrough.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy invoked the fall of the Berlin Wall in an attempt to persuade German MPs to do everything possible to halt Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Speaking to the German parliament via video, the Ukrainian president upbraided Germany for having persisted in the past in its insistence that the gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2 and other business projects with Russia, were “purely economic” and not political.

The US president, Joe Biden, will speak with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, on Friday to discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine “and other issues of mutual concern”, the White House said. Earlier, a Chinese official criticised the Nato secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, for his comments that China had an obligation as a member of the UN security council to help bring an end to the war in Ukraine.

A Russian court has extended the arrest of US basketball star Brittney Griner for at least two more months, according to Russian state news agency Tass. Griner, a two-time Olympic champion, has been detained by Russian customs authorities, who claim they discovered vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow.

Uzbekistan’s foreign minister has called for a diplomatic resolution of the conflict in Ukraine and said it would not recognise Moscow-backed separatists in the self-proclaimed republics in Luhansk and Donetsk, Reuters reports. His remarks signalled the strongest anti-war statement to come from Russia’s former Soviet allies so far.

The UK’s defence minister, Ben Wallace, said an imposter claiming to be the Ukrainian prime minister contacted him today and asked several “misleading questions”. Wallace said he terminated the call after becoming suspicious, adding that “no amount of Russian disinformation” can distract from its human rights abuses.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has suspended a joint mission with Russia to land a rover on Mars, because of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The venture had been planned to launch in September using a Russian launcher and lander in order to drill into the surface of Mars in search of signs of life.

Mar 17, 2022 10:37 PM

Kremlin tells Biden: US has no right to lecture Russia on war crimes

The Kremlin said on Wednesday Joe Biden's claim that President Vladimir Putin was a "war criminal" for invading Ukraine was an unforgivable remark by the leader of a country which had killed civilians in conflicts across the world. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has killed thousands, displaced more than 3 million and raised fears of a wider confrontation between Russia and the United States, the world's two biggest nuclear powers.

In an exchange with a reporter on Wednesday, Biden said, "Oh I think he is a war criminal," after initially responding with a "no" to a question about whether he was ready to call Putin that. "Our president is a very wise, prescient and cultured international figure and head of the Russian Federation, our head of state," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked about Biden's remark.

"Such statements by Mr Biden are absolutely impermissible, unacceptable and unforgivable," Peskov said. "The main thing is that the head of a state which has for many years bombed people across the world... the president of such a country has no right to make such statements." Peskov said the United States had bombed defeated Japan in 1945, destroying the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrendered six days later, ending World War Two.

Mar 17, 2022 10:35 PM

Russia-Ukraine talks continue but no deal yet: Kremlin

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia was putting "colossal" energy into talks on a possible peace deal with Ukraine but did not see such "zeal" from Kyiv, and agreement had yet to be reached. President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said talks were continuing and Russian negotiators were ready to work around the clock. "Our delegation is putting in colossal effort," Peskov told reporters. "I repeat again, our delegation...is ready to work around the clock and has demonstrated such readiness - but unfortunately we don't see such zeal from the Ukrainian side."

Mar 17, 2022 10:27 PM

UK gives Ukrainian refugees access to NHS healthcare, education and other benefits

All Ukrainian refugees arriving in England will be able to access National Health Service health care for free, the Department of Health and Social Care said Thursday. Any treatment that took place since the start of the Russian invasion will be also covered for Ukrainians who fled their country to the United Kingdom.

“As part of the UK’s offer to those Ukrainians coming to the UK, we have committed to providing full access to a range of public services, including doctors, schools and full local authority support,” the department said in a statement.

Mar 17, 2022 10:25 PM

Schwarzenegger tells Russian people: 'You are not being told the truth'

Arnold Schwarzenegger has posted a video message to Twitter urging Russians to push back against the pro-war narrative being presented by the Russian government. In a clip which runs for over nine minutes - which has been viewed over a million times in little more than two hours - Schwarzenegger speaks of his love for Russia and recalls trips to the country during his career as a bodybuilder. The film star and former California governor tells Russians that they are "not being told the truth about the consequences of this war" and informs them that "bombs are raining down on innocent civilians".

Mar 17, 2022 10:23 PM

Influx of Ukrainians will become big challenge for Germany: Scholz

The growing number of Ukrainians seeking refuge in Germany will become a "big, big challenge," Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday.

Speaking after talks with the leaders of Germany's 16 states to discuss the coronavirus pandemic, Scholz said that despite the challenge it should be relatively easy to help Ukrainians settle in given that they don't need visas to enter Germany and they have automatic access to healthcare and education as well as language and integration courses. German police have so far registered just under 190,000 Ukrainians who have fled Russia's invasion of their country.

Mar 17, 2022 10:13 PM

Abducted Melitopol mayor freed

The mayor of the besieged Ukrainian city of Melitopol who was allegedly abducted by Russian forces was freed in exchange for nine captured Russian conscripts, according to the head of Ukraine’s presidential office.

Dariya Zarivna, a press aide to President Zelenskiy, was quoted by Ukraine’s Interfax news agency on Wednesday as saying: "Ivan Fedorov was released from Russian captivity. For him, Russia received nine captured soldiers who were born in 2002 and 2003. These are actually children."

Ukraine had accused Russia of kidnapping Fedorov last Friday. Surveillance footage appeared to show the Melitopol mayor being marched across a square in the city centre, apparently surrounded by Russian soldiers. Zelenskiy confirmed Fedorov had been freed in an address on Wednesday night.

Mar 17, 2022 10:11 PM

Russia-Ukraine war: Death toll, refugees, economic impact and more, in numbers

Latest figures of the death toll, migrants and economic impact due to Russia Ukraine war.

Mar 17, 2022 10:04 PM

Ukrainian city of Mariupol says number of possible casualties at theatre is unclear

Authorities in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol said on Thursday it was still not possible to estimate the number of possible casualties from what they said was an airstrike on a theatre where hundreds of people were believed to have been sheltering. "Yesterday and today, despite continuous shelling, rubble is being cleared as much as is possible and people are being rescued. Information about victims is still being clarified," the city council said in an online statement about Wednesday's incident. It provided no figures on the number of people rescued. Russia has denied bombing the theatre.

Mar 17, 2022 9:54 PM

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