A bridge in Reading was lit up with the colours of the Ukrainian flag yesterday (Thursday).

Reading Borough Council took the decision in response to a request from Reading’s Ukrainian Community Centre.

"We are lighting Christchurch Bridge in the colours of the Ukrainian flag as a symbol of our support for the people of Ukraine and our local Ukrainian community," a spokesperson for Reading Borough Council said.

The news comes a week after more than 300 people took part in a peace vigil outside Reading Town Hall.

Reading Chronicle: Christchurch Bridge in the colours of the Ukrainian flagChristchurch Bridge in the colours of the Ukrainian flag

Large banners and flags were on display, as were tea-lights and candles as the Reading community came together in support for Ukraine.

The latest from Ukraine

A massive convoy outside the Ukrainian capital has split up and fanned out into towns and forests near Kyiv, with artillery pieces raised into firing position in a potentially ominous movement of the Russian military, new satellite photos appeared to show.

The photos emerged amid more international efforts to isolate and sanction Russia, particularly after a deadly airstrike on a maternity hospital in the port city of Mariupol that Western and Ukrainian officials decried as a war crime.

The US and other nations were poised on Friday to announce the revocation of Russia’s “most favoured nation” trade status, which would allow tariffs to be imposed on Russian imports.

Unbowed by the sanctions, Russia kept up its bombardment of Mariupol while Kyiv braced for an onslaught, its mayor boasting that the capital had become practically a fortress protected by armed civilians.