The 97th day of the war saw Ukrainian and Russian forces battling for control of the eastern city of Severodonetsk, which is said to be divided between the two sides.

Up to 15,000 people may still be trapped there, Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said.

Both sides are suffering heavy casualties and the Ukrainian command may decide a tactical retreat would better serve their medium-term interests.

“As soon as we can get more weapons, particularly those artillery weapons which are being shipped right now from the West, we can go to counter-offensive,” Ukrainian former Defence Minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk told the BBC.

There can be few stories more harrowing than that of Hlib Stryzhko, an injured Ukrainian prisoner-of-war who somehow survived his ordeal, released in a prisoner exchange.

As the BBC’s James Waterhouse reports, after his capture he endured psychological torture and was denied medical treatment for a broken pelvis and jaw.

He said he could not believe he was back in Ukraine, “a place where you can breathe freely”.

A Ukrainian refugee in the UK says she got a surprise when her husband showed her a photo of a Russian tank – with some of her household items sitting on top.

Alina Koreniuk says the box in the photo contains a new boiler she planned to install before the war started – along with some new sheets.

She and her children left Ukraine on 8 April and are staying with a British couple in Nottinghamshire.

Many residents of occupied areas of Ukraine have complained of looting by Russian troops and, as the BBC’s Robert Greenall reports, the prospect of looting was not unexpected for Ms Koreniuk.

The European Union agreed a deal to block all Russian oil imports arriving by sea, and cut overall imports by 90% by the end of the year.

Weeks of wrangling failed to get that number to 100%, with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban holding out against a complete ban – because Hungary still relies on Russian pipelines for its oil.

Oil prices hit fresh highs in response, with Brent crude rising above $123 a barrel, the highest it had been for two months.

And, as the BBC’s Reality Check points out, the EU will still use Russian gas (rather than oil) because other countries like Germany depend on it. Read their piece on the world’s reliance on Russian oil and gas here.

Kvitka Perehinets, a Ukrainian student at the University of Edinburgh, has been anxiously following the war in her home country from a distance.

Most of her family are there – some of them fighting – and she told the BBC she was distressed by recent tweets by a politics professor, which appeared to cast doubt on the bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol by the Russians.

The professor, though, argues that the pursuit of knowledge involves hearing both sides.

Read our in-depth story about the row here.

Wednesday night sees the Ukrainian national football team take its latest step on the road to the World Cup in Qatar.

They go to Glasgow to play Scotland, and the winners will face Wales next Sunday for a place in the finals.

Andriy Smondulak will be among those Ukrainians supporting their national side. He expects an “extremely emotional” occasion.

“I think goose bumps will be felt around the world,” he told BBC.

Fellow fan Martyn Chymera, who was travelling from Manchester for the match, suggested football fans across the globe would be backing the away team.

“I am sure everyone, apart from Scotland, will be behind Ukraine on Wednesday,” he said.