What you need to know right now about the Ukraine-Russia conflict

Russia's invasion of Ukraine entered its second week on Thursday with its main assault force halted north of the capital Kyiv and several cities enduring heavy Russian bombing.

The invasion of Ukraine was denounced by the United Nations in a historic vote, as global brands exited Russia and the ruble hit record lows.

Here are some of the latest headlines

* The Ukrainian delegation of negotiators has arrived by helicopter for talks with the Russian side in Belarus, Russian state news agency TASS said, citing its reporter on the ground. read more

* Russian President Vladimir Putin told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that the goals of Russia's operation in Ukraine - its demilitarisation and neutral status - will be achieved in any case, the Kremlin said. read more

* Macron told Putin he was making a "major mistake" in Ukraine, that he was deluding himself about the government in Kyiv and that the war would cost Russia dearly over the long term, a French official said.

* Ukraine's defense lines were holding against the Russian attack, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his latest video, adding there had been no respite in Moscow's shelling of Ukraine since midnight.

* At least nine people have been killed and four wounded after a Russian airstrike hit two schools and private houses in Ukraine's Chernihiv region on Thursday, governor Viacheslav Chaus said in an online post.

* Ukraine fears Russia may be preparing to stage a so-called false flag operation near the Ukraine-Russia border to suggest Ukraine has attacked a Russian village, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.

* Tens of millions of people in Ukraine are in "potentially mortal danger" as military operations escalate with bombings of major cities and reports of cluster weapons striking civilian targets, the top U.N. human rights official said. 

* An Estonian-owned cargo ship sank off Ukraine's major Black Sea port of Odessa, hours after a Bangladeshi vessel was hit by a missile or bomb at another port, underlining the growing peril to merchant shipping following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

* Mariupol city council said Russia was constantly and deliberately shelling critical civilian infrastructure in the Ukrainian southern port, leaving it without water, heating or power and preventing bringing supplies or evacuating people.

* France and Germany have seized two superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs, according to French authorities and Forbes magazine, taking concrete steps to hit Russia's super-rich under sweeping sanctions imposed on Moscow.

* An advance team left the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for the Ukraine region on Thursday to start investigating possible war crimes, its top prosecutor told Reuters in an interview.

* French bank Societe Generale said it was working to cut its risks in Russia, fearing Moscow's tit-for-tat response to Western sanctions, while Brazilian planemaker Embraer joined Airbus and Boeing in halting parts supplies to Russian airlines. read more

* Over 1 million refugees have fled Ukraine since Putin's onslaught one week ago.  The exodos is deemed to have been one of the most rapid in history.

*Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov held a news conference today answering questions from reporters from around the world.  He claimed that Zelensky is the first Ukrainian President of Jewish descent heading a neo nazi regime he also claimed that neo nazis influences Zelensky.