Red Cross staff load bodies onto a lorry bound for the morgue of the hospital in the north of Goma.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), is deeply concerned about the hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced over the last few days in Goma, North Kivu Province, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Ukraine is deeply concerned about the escalation of hostilities in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Rebels, supported by Rwanda, have entered the largest city in the eastern region, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

President of the Democratic Republic of Congo said on Thursday that his troopers are fighting an insurgence by the Rwandan-backed militant group M23 which recently captured swaths of land in the east.

Ukraine said on Wednesday it had struck a big Russian oil refinery in an overnight drone attack, and a Russian official said an attempted Ukrainian drone strike on a nuclear power plant had been thwarted.

Ukraine's government has sacked a deputy defence minister in charge of weapons purchases amid infighting over procurement that is complicating its attempt to

On the shores of Lake Kivu, Goma residents were busy filling up plastic jerrycans with lake water. Less than a week since Rwanda-backed rebels claimed control of the city, basic services like water, internet and electricity were completely cut off.

Missiles are flying above civilians' homes as fighters fire heavy artillery in Goma's city centre, an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokesperson tells the BBC. "It is a very densely populated area... there are lots of victims in terms of civilians, Myriam Favier says.

Vladimir Putin grabbed much of Donbas, an eastern region of Ukraine, and pretended he had not. As a figleaf he used supposedly local separatists, whom Russia armed, supplied and directed. These forces,

The Rwanda-backed M23 group is one of about 100 armed factions vying for a foothold in eastern Congo in one of Africa’s longest conflicts, displacing 4.5 million people and creating what the U.N. called “one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on Earth."

Rwanda is accused of backing M23 rebels in Congo, using Putin-style tactics to seize land while denying involvement. As Goma falls under rebel control, 400,000 people flee the chaos. The U.S., struggling to contain Russia in Ukraine,