Russia's advance on Kyiv has made scant progress and Ukrainian forces still held Kharkiv and several other cities under attack, British military intelligence said on Thursday, a day after Moscow claimed to have captured the Black Sea port of Kherson.

Russian forces have yet to overthrow the government in Kyiv but thousands are reported to have died or been injured and more than a million people have fled Ukraine in the week since President Vladimir Putin ordered the biggest attack on a European state since 1945.

"The main body of the large Russian column advancing on Kyiv remains over 30 km (19 miles) from the centre of the city having been delayed by staunch Ukrainian resistance, mechanical breakdown and congestion," Britain's defence ministry said in an intelligence update.

"The column has made little discernible progress in over three days," it said. "Despite heavy Russian shelling, the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol remain in Ukrainian hands."

At Borodyanka, a town 58 km (36 miles) northwest of Kyiv, a resident gave a breathless account of their encounter with the enemy, as Reuters Television footage showed shell damaged buildings, fires burning in the streets and destroyed military vehicles.

"They (Russian military) started shooting from their BMP (military vehicle), towards the park in front of the post office in the centre of Borodyanka," said a Ukrainian man, who did not give his name.

BARRAGE OF SANCTIONS

Russia's attack has led to a barrage of international sanctions that threaten the global economic recovery from the COVID pandemic, and stoked fears of wider conflict as Western countries send arms to help the Ukrainian military.

The capture of Kherson, strategically located at the mouth of the Dnipro River, would be the first significant urban centre to fall since Moscow launched its invasion on Feb. 24.

Kherson's Mayor Igor Kolykhayev said late on Wednesday that Russian troops were in the streets and had entered the council building.

"I didn't make any promises to them ... I just asked them not to shoot people," he said in a statement.

The U.S. State Department called on Putin and the Russian government to "immediately cease this bloodshed" and withdraw forces from Ukraine. It also accused Moscow of launching a "full war on media freedom and the truth" by blocking independent news outlets and social media to prevent Russians from hearing news of the invasion of Ukraine.

A second round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials on a ceasefire was expected after initial talks on Monday ended without agreement.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.

It denies targeting civilians although there have been widespread reports of civilian casualties and the shelling of residential areas.

Bombing in Kharkiv, a city of 1.5 million people, has left its centre a wasteland of ruined buildings and debris.

Russian forces have captured the town of Balakliya near the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, the Interfax news agency quoted Russia's defence ministry as saying on Thursday.

It also reported a strike on a radio and television centre in Kyiv, where Russian missiles hit a TV tower earlier this week.

Russian shelling killed six adults and two children in the city of Izyum, about 120 km (75 miles) southeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine's parliament said. Reuters was unable to verify either sides' claims.

The U.N. Human Rights Office has confirmed the deaths of 227 civilians and 525 injuries during the conflict as of midnight on March 1, cautioning that the real toll would be much higher due to reporting delays.

An explosion also rocked the Kyiv railway station where thousands of women and children were being evacuated. The blast was caused by wreckage from a downed Russian cruise missile, a Ukrainian interior ministry adviser said, and there were no immediate reports of casualties.

An investigation into possible war crimes will immediately be opened by the International Criminal Court, following requests by 39 of the court's member states, an unprecedented number. read more

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

A U.N. resolution reprimanding Moscow was supported by 141 of the assembly's 193 members, a symbolic victory for Ukraine that increases Moscow's international isolation. read more

"More is at stake even than the conflict in Ukraine itself. This is a threat to the security of Europe and the entire rules-based order," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow still sought Ukraine's "demilitarisation" and that there should be a list of specified weapons that could never be deployed on Ukrainian territory. Moscow opposes Kyiv's bid to join NATO.

Oil and commodity prices spiralled ever higher on Thursday in a grim omen for global inflation.

Japanese automakers including Toyota were forced to halt production in Russia as sanctions scrambled logistics and cut off supply chains.

Russia's central bank, itself under sanctions, has doubled interest rates to 20% and Fitch and Moody's rating agencies downgraded Russia's sovereign credit rating to 'junk' status.

At least five superyachts owned by billionaires were anchored or cruising in Maldives, an Indian Ocean island nation that does not have an extradition treaty with the United States, data showed.

Russian businessman Roman Abramovich said he would sell London's Chelsea Football Club and donate money to help victims of the war in Ukraine.