Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, referenced alleged US biological sites in the country, prompting suggestions Russia may be readying to use chemical weapons in its war in Ukraine. 

The threat was flagged after Mr Lavrov claimed the US was “worried that it would lose control” over what he claimed were chemical weapons sites in the country. 

Pictures from Ukraine continue to show the human cost but, as Henry Bodkin writes from Poland, many refugees are now making a return journey out of love for their country, a desire to protect it, or in some cases, “to kill as many Russians as I can”. In other developments:

Brace for rationing

Boris Johnson does not want Russians to assassinate Putin, his spokesman has said, despite a US senator inviting a ‘Brutus’ to deal with the Russian president. 

Republican Lindsey Graham called for “somebody in Russia” to assassinate the Russian leader in a televised interview. 

The Prime Minister does not share that view, his spokesman said. 

Former foreign secretary David Owen has told our Chopper’s Politics podcast he has seen a shift in the Russian President. Listen to find out why. 

The invasion has sparked soaring commodity prices, at a time when the global market for grains, vegetable oil, and fertilisers was already tight. 

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard analyses why Putin’s energy shock is broadening into a world food crisis, so brace for rationing.

Putin loses control

A week ago, President Putin seemed unstoppable. Russian troops had crossed into Ukraine in overwhelming numbers, and it seemed it was a matter of days until resistance was crushed. 

The West looked powerless to do anything about it. The courage of President Zelensky and the Ukrainians was already clear, but they looked doomed to a hopeless last stand. 

But a week can be a long time in war. Mr Putin cut a diminished figure as he met with the same National Security Council by video link on Thursday. 

A Western official said senior Russian commanders are being killed on the frontline as they tried to “impose their personality” on the stalled advance. 

Justin Huggler reviews the week the Russian President lost control of the war. 

Jade McGlynn analyses how the the economic myth that has sustained Putin in power is now in tatters.

Invasion of Ukraine: Comment and analysis

Friday big-read

Why so many African nations are quietly standing by Putin