- Roma stroll past Udinese as fans protest De Rossi sacking
- Horschel outduels McIlroy to win PGA Championship play-off
- Audiences summon 'Beetlejuice' to top of N. America box office for third week
- Stones salvages point for Man City against 10-man Arsenal
- Egypt fears 'all out' regional war: foreign minister to AFP
- Last-gasp Boniface gives Leverkusen victory, Stuttgart outclass Dortmund
- Scholz's party beats far-right AfD in east German state vote: projections
- Olympic champion Evenepoel retains world title in 'toughest time trial'
- Horschel's eagle beats McIlroy in PGA Championship play-off
- Mourners at commander's funeral express loyalty to Hezbollah
- Norris hails his 'mega' McLaren after dominant win at Singapore
- Monaco beat Le Havre to join PSG at the top of Ligue 1
- Scholz's party narrowly leads far-right AfD in east German state vote: exit polls
- New leftist president vows to 'rewrite Sri Lankan history'
- UN adopts pact to tackle volatile future for mankind
- Leclerc hails Ferrari fightback from torrid Singapore GP qualifying
- Belgian Evenepoel retains world title in 'toughest time trial'
- Sosa rescues point for Forest against Brighton
- Last-gasp Boniface gives Leverkusen victory over Wolfsburg in seven-goal thriller
- Swiss voters reject environment, pensions reforms: official results
- No fairytale ending for Ricciardo after 13 years in Formula One
- Israel and Hezbollah urged to step back from the brink
- What is the UN's 'Pact for the Future'?
- Norris dominates Singapore Grand Prix to cut Verstappen's title lead
- From bullets to ballots: Sri Lanka's comrade president-elect
- McLaren's Lando Norris wins Singapore GP to narrow F1 title race
- UN adopts pact promising to build 'brighter future' for humanity
- Military escalation not in Israel's 'best interest': White House
- Marxist leader declared Sri Lanka's president-elect
- Classes resume at Bangladesh university at heart of protests
- 'Barely anyone left': Sudan's El-Fasher devastated by fighting
- 'Warrior' Joshua vows to fight on despite Dubois mauling
- Martin extends MotoGP lead as Bastianini wins at Misano and Bagnaia crashes out
- New French government instantly under pressure on multiple fronts
- Australia's Brown adds world title to Olympic time trial gold
- Russian strike on Ukraine's Kharkiv wounds 21
- UK's Starmer rules out austerity as Labour conference opens
- Swiss voters reject environment, pensions reforms: projected results
- Israel says 'landed blows' on Hezbollah as Lebanon violence intensifies
- Roma CEO steps down amid anger over club icon De Rossi's sacking
- Incoming French government under pressure on multiple fronts
- Hezbollah rockets strike near Israel's Haifa as UN warns of 'catastrophe'
- Haddad Maia roars back to beat Kasatkina in Korea Open final
- All-rounder Ashwin powers India to 280-run Test win over Bangladesh
- Failed Springbok 'gamble' sets up rugby championship decider
- Lebanon strikes send Israelis to shelters as UN warns of 'catastrophe'
- Far-right AfD eyes new win in east German state vote
- Tony Popovic set to become new Socceroos coach - reports
- All-round Ashwin powers India to big Test win over Bangladesh
- NZ chase 275 to win first Sri Lanka Test after Patel bags six
Ukraine's biggest zoo caught in the crossfire
The Mykolaiv Zoo bills itself as the best in Ukraine, but now the 4,000 wild animals it holds are trapped in a whole new sense, with Russian rockets landing among them.
As air raid sirens wail across the city, which holds a key river crossing Russian troops need to pursue their push towards Ukraine's top Black Sea port of Odessa, a leopard brushes nervously against the bars of his cage.
It is difficult to tell whether the Amur leopard, "the rarest subspecies" of the big cat, is rattled by the piercing sound or the unusual sight of strangers, more than three weeks after the zoo was closed to visitors, said zoologist Viktor Dyakonov.
The first rocket that landed on the zoo, on February 27, tore up the walkway between the tiger and polar bear enclosures, and is now on display in the museum of the zoo founded more than 120 years ago.
No one was wounded, neither among the staff nor the animals.
But the episode was "very stressful", with a tank battle 600 metres (650 yards) from the zoo, said the museum's director, Volodymyr Topchyi.
Since then, three more rockets have landed in the zoo, including one in an aviary.
The other two landed near the zoo's administrative offices and staff said they were cluster munitions the Russians call the Uragan or "Hurricane".
The United Nations, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned the use of cluster munitions by Russian forces, particularly in northeastern Ukraine, a type of weapon that is banned by the 2008 Oslo Convention which Moscow never signed.
Cluster munitions spread explosive bomblets over a wide area, making them an imprecise weapon that can cause extensive injuries among civilians.
As many of the bomblets don't explode upon impact, they can cause death and mutilation among civilians long after hostilities are over.
- Too risky to evacuate -
Of the some 400 species present in the zoo, nearly half are on the international red list of threatened species, according to Topchyi, the zoo's director.
But their evacuation via the bridge across the Buh river to territory held by Ukrainian forces is not feasible, he said.
"There aren't enough vehicles to transport the animals and the only road towards Odessa is clogged with traffic," said Topchyi.
"And it's still very cold. If we take the giraffes, the elephants and the hippopotamuses ... there's a risk they won't survive," he added.
Topchyi ruled out abandoning the animals, and praised the "heroic" work of about 100 staff members who continue to take care of their charges, even sleeping at the zoo to reduce the number of dangerous trips across the city.
That is the case for zoologist Dyakonov, along with his wife, a veterinarian.
"To come from where I live I have to cross a bridge that is raised and lowered at random times, so there is no certainty that I'll be able to make it to work," he said.
"That's why my wife and I decided to say at the zoo for a while, while the situation is so unstable," he added.
Overall, the zoo's animals are "leading a quiet life" said Olga, a caretaker, as she watched a female hippopotamus, Rikky, snort as she lazily swam around her pool.
"Our animals are eating and reproducing, they're doing fine," said Topchyi.
On March 8, despite intense bombardments, a female leopard gave birth.
"It's springtime, births will begin," he said.
Even though closed to visitors, the public has continued to buy tickets, with people posting on Facebook about their support for the zoo.
A.Gasser--BTB