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Missiles have struck near Ukraine's southern port of Odessa, with Russia saying it had destroyed an oil refinery used by the Ukrainian military, while attempts to evacuate people from the devastated city of Mariupol are due to continue.

There was little sign of a breakthrough in efforts to negotiate an end to the five-week war, although Russia's chief negotiator said talks were due to resume on Monday.

In Odessa, the city council said "critical infrastructure facilities" were hit by missiles. No casualties were reported.

Russia's defence ministry said strikes by its military had destroyed an oil refinery and three fuel storage facilities. It said the facilities were used to supply Ukrainian troops near the city of Mykolaiv.

Odessa, on the Black Sea, is the main base for Ukraine's navy. It has been targeted by Russian forces seeking a land corridor to Transdniestria, a Russian-speaking breakaway province of Moldova which hosts Russian troops.

"Smoke is visible in some areas of the city. All relevant systems and structures are working ... No casualties reported," Vladyslav Nazarov, an officer of Ukraine's South Operational Command, said on Telegram.

Evacuation efforts in Mariupol and nearby Berdyansk, both also on Ukraine's southern shores, were due to continue with a convoy of buses being prepared for the operation with help from the Red Cross.

Mariupol is Russia's main target in Ukraine's southeastern region of Donbas, and tens of thousands of civilians there are trapped with scant access to food and water.

Russia's chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said a draft deal was not ready for any meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

On Saturday, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia had raised hope for negotiations, saying enough progress had been made for direct talks.

Medinsky said that while Ukraine was showing more realism by agreeing to be neutral, renouncing nuclear weapons, not joining a military bloc and refusing to host military bases, there had been no progress on other key Russian demands.

"I repeat again and again: Russia's position on Crimea and Donbas remains UNCHANGED," he said on Telegram, adding talks via videoconference would continue on Monday.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has recognised declarations of independence by the self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk in the Donbas area of eastern Ukraine which rose up against Kyiv's rule.

Ukraine said on Saturday its forces had retaken all areas around Kyiv, claiming complete control of the capital region for the first time since Russia launched its invasion on February 24.

There was no Russian comment on the claim, which Reuters could not immediately verify.

The mayor of Bucha, a liberated town 37km northwest of the capital, said 300 residents had been killed during a month-long occupation by the Russian army, and victims were seen in a mass grave and still lying on the streets.

The Kremlin and the Russian defence ministry in Moscow did not immediately reply to requests for comment when asked about the bodies.

Moscow denies targeting civilians and rejects war crimes allegations.

Among those killed near Kyiv was Maksim Levin, a Ukrainian photographer and videographer who was working for a news website.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she was appalled by atrocities in Bucha and voiced support for the International Criminal Court's inquiry into potential war crimes.

Ukraine's emergency service said more than 1500 explosives had been found in one day during a search of the village of Dmytrivka, west of the capital.

Zelenskiy warned in a video address: "They are mining all this territory. Houses are mined, equipment is mined, even the bodies of dead people". He did not cite evidence.

British military intelligence said Russian naval forces were maintaining a blockade along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, but the option of amphibious landings were becoming increasingly high-risk for Russia.

The British said reported mines, the origin of which remained unclear and disputed, posed a serious risk to shipping in the Black Sea.

© DPA 2022

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Estelle Harris, who hollered her way into TV history as George Costanza's short-fused mother on Seinfeld and voiced Mrs Potato Head in the Toy Story franchise, has died. She was 93.

As middle-class matron Estelle Costanza, Harris put a memorable stamp on her recurring role in the smash 1990s sitcom. With her high-pitched voice and humorously overbearing attitude, she was an archetype of maternal indignation.

Trading insults and absurdities with her on-screen husband, played by Jerry Stiller, Harris helped create a parental pair that would leave even a psychiatrist helpless to do anything but hope they'd move to Florida as their son, played by Jason Alexander, fruitlessly encouraged them to do.

Harris' agent Michael Eisenstadt confirmed the actor's death in Palm Desert, California, on Saturday evening.

Viewers of all backgrounds would tell her she was just like their own mothers, Harris often said.

"She is the mother that everybody loves, even though she's a pain in the neck," she told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1998.

The career-defining role came after decades on stage and screen. Born April 22, 1928, in New York City, Harris grew up in the city and later in the Pittsburgh suburb of Tarentum, Pennsylvania, where her father owned a candy store.

She started tapping her comedic talents in high school productions where she realised she "could make the audience get hysterical", as she told People magazine in 1995.

After the nine-season run of Seinfeld ended in 1998, Harris continued to appear on stage and screen.

She voiced Mrs Potato Head in the 1999 animated blockbuster Toy Story 2 and played the recurring character Muriel in the popular Disney Channel sitcom The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, among other roles.

She had stopped pursuing show business when she married in the early 1950s but resumed acting in amateur groups, dinner theatre and commercials as her three children grew.

Eventually, she began appearing in guest roles on TV shows including the legal comedy Night Court, and in films including director Sergio Leone's 1984 gangland epic Once Upon a Time in America.

Her Seinfeld debut came in one of the show's most celebrated episodes: the Emmy Award-winning 1992 'The Contest'.

She is survived by her three children, three grandsons, and a great grandson.

© AP 2022

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The Grammys will return with "the biggest night in music" taking place in Las Vegas after suffering pandemic delays.

The 64th annual ceremony will be hosted by The Daily Show presenter Trevor Noah at the 17,000-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday (Monday, Australian time) and feature an array of live performances and surprise guests.

The event was originally scheduled to take place on January 31 in Los Angeles but was postponed as the Omicron variant spread in the US.

Multi-genre performer Jon Batiste has the most nominations with 11 but faces competition from the likes of Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo.

Elsewhere, The Weeknd claimed three nominations despite saying last year he would not allow his label to submit his music in protest at the event's controversial voting system.

In response to widespread criticism, the Recording Academy has made several major changes to the awards process, including the removal of controversial review committees.

The body said nominations for the general and genre fields would now be voted on by a majority of members rather than anonymous groups of experts from within the academy.

Critics had argued it left too much power in the hands of faceless and unaccountable committees.

Artists of colour have long said the system resulted in them missing out on the more prestigious categories.

The ceremony will feature a tribute to Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, organisers have confirmed, following his death aged 50 last weekend.

The band were due to perform at the Grammys but pulled out after also scrapping all their upcoming tour dates "in light of the staggering loss".

Among other acts that are scheduled to perform at this year's event are Oscar-winner Eilish, Lil Nas X and Rodrigo.

K-pop megastars BTS, Jack Harlowe, Brandi Carlile and award-winning country band Brothers Osbourne are also on the bill.

An unannounced performance by Kanye West was reportedly scrapped due to his "concerning online behaviour", according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The rapper is nominated for five Grammy awards this year, including best rap album for Donda, best rap song and most popular artist.

© PAA 2022

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A Sydney freight worker will face court accused of involvement in the attempted importation of 100 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden inside a dough mixer.

Australian Federal Police will allege the 39-year-old from Beecroft used his role at a freight forwarding company to facilitate importing the drugs from Canada.

He is the third Sydney man charged after a transnational drug trafficking investigation, which began when 100kg of meth was found inside a commercial dough mixer by Canadian border police.

The shipment was seized and the drugs replaced with a harmless substance before being sent to NSW and delivered to a property in Wentworthville.

A Punchbowl man, 37, who allegedly organised the importation, has been charged and will face Sydney Central Local Court on April 13.

The Beecroft man will face Hornsby Local Court on April 13.

AFP officers found a second consignment of 40 plastic bags, which contained about one tonne of a precursor used to manufacture methamphetamine and MDMA.

A Liverpool man, 28, has been charged with providing material assistance to a criminal group and will face Campbelltown Local Court on April 20.

© AAP 2022