Russia-Ukraine war: what we know on day 14 of the Russian invasion

The US government has dismissed as “untenable” a suggestion by Poland that it could make 29 of its Soviet-era MIG fighter jets available to the Americans to help defend Ukraine.

Russia claimed it was opening humanitarian corridors from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol from 7am GMT so civilians could be evacuated.Several previous ceasefire promises have not been kept, however.

Some Sumy residents, including Nigerian and Indian students, have now left the city on buses.

Two million people have fled Ukraine since the war began less than two weeks ago, the UN refugee agency reported.

Russia’s military is solving some of its logistical problems and could launch an attack on Kyiv within days, according to experts.

UK Ministry of Defence says in its latest update that Russia is struggling to break through to the north of Kyiv while Ukrainian defence forces continue to shoot down Russian aircraft.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has lost contact with safeguard monitoring systems at Chernobyl and has expressed concern about the welfare of more than 200 workers and guards at the facility.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates reportedly declined to arrange calls with Joe Biden in recent weeks as the US seeks to increase oil supply after formally banning Russian oil imports on Tuesday, pushing oil prices to $130 a barrel, the highest level in 14 years.

Venezuela released at least two jailed US citizens on Tuesday, according to multiple sources, in an apparent goodwill gesture. It follows a visit to Caracas by a high-level US delegation that focused not only on the fate of Americans held in Venezuela, but on the possibility of easing US oil sanctions on the Opec member, which is a close Russian ally.

Ukraine’s government accused Russia of breaking a ceasefire agreement, by shelling a route intended to allow civilians to escape the besieged city of Mariupol. Not only are residents of the port city suffering Russian bombardment, they are also living without heat, water, sanitary systems or phones.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, echoed Winston Churchill and invoked the fight against Nazism as he made a direct plea to British MPs in an impassioned video address to do more to help protect his country in the fight against the Russian invasion.

Biden announced that the US will ban imports of Russian oil “to inflict further pain on Vladimir Putin”. The European Union has not joined the ban, but the European Commission said it was possible to reduce the EU’s use of fossil fuels by two thirds this year. The British government promised to phase out Russian oil imports by the end of the year.

McDonald’s became the latest western company to announce it was pausing its operations in Russia, after facing a backlash from social media users for not taking a stand on the war in Ukraine.

The World Health Organization said attacks on Ukrainian hospitals, ambulances and other healthcare facilities had increased “rapidly” in recent days and vital medical supplies were running low.

The European Commission has prepared a new sanctions package against Russia and Belarus that will hit additional Russian oligarchs and politicians as well as three Belarusian banks, Reuters reported.

Ukraine’s ministry of foreign affairs has said that 12,000 Russian personnel have been killed in its latest assessment of their losses to date.

Zelenskiy has been described as a hero by the British press after he invoked the fight against Nazism in an impassioned video address to MPs to do more to help protect his country.