A ninth Russian colonel has been killed in Ukraine, my colleague Colin Drury reports.

Colonel Alexander Bespalov – who led the 59th Guards Tank Regiment – was given a funeral in the central city of Ozersk on Friday.

No details have been given about his death after it was revealed in a now-deleted post on a local messaging board - but the commander’s demise follows the killing of eight other senior officers in the conflict.

Ukraine estimates that a further 19,000 rank and file Russian soldiers have been slain, compared with Nato’s estimate in March of between 7,000 and 15,000. For context, the Soviet Union lost just five generals and 15,000 soldiers during a decade of fighting in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

The European Commission will pledge €1bn to support Ukraine and countries receiving refugees fleeing Russia’s war, Ursula von der Leyen has said.

Speaking at a fund-raising event Warsaw, the Commission’s president said: “Six hundred million of those will go to Ukraine, to the Ukrainian authorities and partially to the United Nations.

“And 400 million euros will go to the frontline states that are doing such an outstanding job and helping the refugees that are coming.”

Boris Johnson’s visit to Kyiv was preceded by a matter of hours by the Austrian chancellor, Karl Nehammer.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Volodymyr Zelensky is reported by Interfax to have said he is “still ready” to negotiate with Russia, with peace talks having stalled since the discovery of bodies in mass graves Bucha.

Warning of a “decisive battle” in eastern Ukraine, where he said “a large number of troops, equipment, armed people who are going to occupy another part of our territories” were amassing, Mr Zelensky was quoted as saying: “We believe in our struggle and victory.

“Therefore, we are ready to fight and simultaneously look for certain ways in diplomacy that can stop this war. For now. So far, we are talking about a parallel dialogue.”

Andrij Sybiha, a presidential aide to Volodymyr Zelensky, appears effusive in his praise of Boris Johnson.

Sharing a picture of the prime minister’s “tete-a-tete” with the Ukrainian president, he wrote on Facebook: “Great Britain leader in defense support of Ukraine. The leader in the anti-war coalition. Leader in sanctions on Russian aggressor.”

Downing Street has confirmed that Boris Johnson is visiting Kyiv, and said that the prime minister will set out a new package of financial and military aid.

A No 10 spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister has travelled to Ukraine to meet President Zelenskyy in person, in a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

“They will discuss the UK’s long term support to Ukraine and the PM will set out a new package of financial and military aid.”

Boris Johnson has been pictured with Volodymyr Zelensky at a surprise meeting in Kyiv.

Ukraine’s embassy in the UK posted the image on Twitter, with the caption: “Surprise.”

My colleague Zoe Tidman has the breaking story here, which you can refresh for updates:

YouTube has banned the channel of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma.

The Duma TV channel reported the ban Telegram, noting that it had 145,000 subscribers and over 100,000 million total views.

In comments to the Russian news agency Interfax, Google didn’t give an exact reason for the move, but said the company follows “all applicable sanction and trade compliance laws”.

Russia’s communications watchdog Roskomnadzor demanded that YouTube unblock the channel, while foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Youtube “has sealed its fate” and urged its users to urgently “download content, transfer it onto Russian platforms”.

State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin called the ban “another proof of violations of the rights and freedoms of citizens by Washington”.

Italy’s foreign minister has reportedly told staff that the country will reopen its embassy in Kyiv after Easter.

News agency ANSA quoted Luigi Di Maio as telling his ministry’s crisis unit that Italy “will be among the first to return” to the Ukrainian capital, in what he called “another gesture to demonstrate support for the Ukrainian population, a concrete way to affirm that diplomacy must prevail”.

It comes after the EU announced the return of its ambassador Matti Maasikas on Friday, who this afternoon posted an image from Kyiv:

Germany’s interior minister has said the country will strengthen its bunker and basement infrastructure and build up new crisis stocks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, my colleague Colin Drury reports.

“There are currently 599 public shelters in Germany,” Nancy Faeser told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper on Saturday. “We will check whether we could upgrade more of such systems. In any case, the dismantling has stopped.

Ms Faeser said that civil servants had been ordered to work up new concepts for strengthening underground car parks, subway stations and basements to become possible sanctuaries in the case of conflict, while 88 million euros have been given to the federal stats to install new air raid sirens.

Emergency supplies of medical equipment, protective clothing, masks and medication will be improved and stocked in all major population centres, she added, but admitted that more needed to be done, saying: “As far as nationwide coverage is concerned, we’re not even close.”

You can watch live here as EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen holds a Ukraine fundraising event in the Polish capital, fresh from her visit to Bucha and Kyiv yesterday.