Kyiv, Mar. 12: In two separate incidents, Russian rocket attacks destroyed an airfield in Vasylkiv in Kyiv region and a mosque housing 80 civilians was shelled in Mariupol, news agencies Reuters and AFP reported Saturday. This comes as British intelligence agencies warned Ukraine of the intensifying Russian offensive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the war had reached a “strategic turning point” as air raid sirens blared across most Ukrainian cities on Saturday morning urging people to seek shelters.

As Russia called for a Security Council meeting on the issue of biological laboratories in Ukraine, India said any matters relating to obligations under the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention should be addressed through consultation and cooperation between the parties concerned.

Meanwhile, three flights carrying 674 people, mostly students, evacuated from the conflict-ridden city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine landed in New Delhi on Friday. Although there was no official word from the government about the completion of the evacuation process from Ukraine, these three flights from Poland’s Rzeszow were considered among the last ones.

Russian forces expanded their offensive in Ukraine on Friday as they conducted airstrikes in new areas in the country's west, while Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the recruitment of "volunteers" from Syria and elsewhere to join the fight.

The West ramped up economic pressure on Russia, as the US and its allies downgraded Russian's trade status — the latest in efforts to further isolate Russia for the invasion. The war has forced more than 2.5 million people to flee Ukraine, while others seek refuge in basements, subway stations and underground shelters. More evacuations were expected, though repeated attempts to allow people to flee the besieged port city of Mariupol in the south have failed under continued Russian shelling.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said via video from Kyiv: "It's impossible to say how many days we will still need to free our land, but it is possible to say that we will do it."

In the besieged southern city of Mariupol, the city council said at least 1,582 civilians had been killed as a result of Russian shelling and a 12-day blockade that has left hundreds of thousands trapped with no food, water, heat or power.

Russia's defence ministry said the Black Sea port was now completely surrounded and Ukrainian officials accused Russia of deliberately preventing civilians getting out and humanitarian convoys getting in. A new effort to evacuate civilians along a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol appeared to have failed, with Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk saying Russian shelling prevented them from leaving. "The situation is critical," Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko said.-Agencies