Russia and Ukraine were set to hold a fresh round of talks in Turkey on Tuesday, as the conflict between the two neighbours entered its fifth week. The negotiation process was expected to begin on Monday, but Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that was unlikely as the negotiators of both sides would only be arriving in Turkey during the day.

Regarding possibilities of a face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy for bringing an end to the war, Lavrov said it could only happen after key issues of a potential peace deal were settled.

Here are some of the top updates on the Russia-Ukraine war that has killed hundreds and injured thousands, while triggering one of the worst refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War.

1. Mayor of Ukraine’s besieged city Mariupol Vadym Boychenko said as many as 5,000 people, including 200 children, had been killed in the region since Russia’s siege. The port city has borne the brunt of Russia’s heavy shelling, which began on March 1. Boychenko added that 90 per cent of the city’s residential houses and hospitals, including maternity wards, have been completely destroyed by Russian shelling or missile attacks.

2. Ukraine said it has paused evacuations from the besieged city due to fear of Russian attacks on humanitarian corridors. Turkey, Greece and France are now trying to organise a mass evacuation of civilians from Mariupol.

3. Leading Ukrainian newspaper, The Kyiv Post, said a second attempt to assassinate Zelenskyy has been foiled. It alleged that a group of 25 people led by the Russian special services was captured near the Slovakia-Hungary border.

4. Ukraine said it has taken full control of Irpin, located near Kyiv. “We have good news today – Irpin has been liberated,” mayor Oleksandr Markushyn said in a video post on Telegram.

5. Russia’s leading independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose chief editor was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, suspended publication earlier in the day until the end of the Ukraine war. The paper said the decision was made “to save us for each other”. According to AFP, the paper had fallen foul of Russian censors for its coverage of the war.

6. The European Union, according to a Bloomberg report, has sent aside $1.9billion to help Ukrainian refugees find work, get access to schools and healthcare and also pay those who lost their homes due to the war.

7. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began last month, which Putin has termed a “special military operation”, there has been a massive refugee influx in the neighbouring countries of Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland, among others. The highest influx has been reported in Poland with the country welcoming nearly 2.3 million Ukrainian refugees.

8. According to Bloomberg, the population of Polish capital Warsaw has soared by 300,000 (or about 20 per cent) alone in four weeks, with accommodations falling short. The United Nations’ refugee agency, UNHCR, said that 3,862,797 Ukrainians have so far fled the country, with around 90 per cent of them being women and children.