March 2, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Jessie and Jacob Boeckmann.

Jessie and Jacob Boeckmann, an American couple, traveled to Kyiv last month for the birth of their daughter through a Ukrainian surrogate. But two days after the birth, Jessie woke to the sound of shelling as Russia’s invasion began.

They tried driving to the western city of Lviv to reach a temporary US Embassy there, but a massive gridlock turned what is normally a six-hour drive into a 27-hour crawl.

Jessie Boeckmann with daughter Vivian.

En route, they learned the embassy was closed — so they changed direction for the Polish border, as combat vehicles rolled past outside their windows.

About 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the border, traffic came to a standstill. On a cold day, after hours sitting in the car with barely any movement, they had to make a choice: wait or walk.

Jessie Boeckmann crossed from Ukraine into Poland on foot with her newborn.

So they wrapped up baby Vivian tight and started walking. When they finally got to the border, it was chaos, with “thousands and thousands of people, all kind of packed on top of one another trying to exit the country,” Jacob said.

Since women and children are being prioritized, Jessie and the baby were able to get to the front of the line and enter Poland, with Jacob crossing separately hours later.

The family is now safely home in California, but they’re aware how lucky their escape was.

They’ve lost touch with their Ukrainian surrogate, who until then had been in continuous contact. And though they walked 8 miles with a newborn, many people across Ukraine are “walking so much further than that in order to get to the border,” Jessie said.

A bridge across the Stryzhen River appears to have been destroyed.

New satellite images of areas in Ukraine hit by Russian military strikes show the extent of the damage in the first five days of the invasion.

The images were captured on February 28 by Maxar Technologies. Since then, dense cloud cover has prevented most satellites from observing anything on the ground across the country. 

Homes on fire in the village of Rivnopillya.

The images show homes on fire in the village of Rivnopillya in the Chernhiv region, roughly 80 kilometers (about 50 miles) north of the capital, Kyiv. Dozens of impact craters can be seen dotting the fields surrounding the village.

In Chernihiv, a bridge across the Stryzhen River appears to have been destroyed, while residential buildings and a factory nearby seem to have sustained damage. A Russian military convoy was also seen on a nearby roadway.

Burned remains of Russian military vehicles in a residential area in Bucha.

The satellite images also show the burned remains of Russian military vehicles in a residential area in Bucha, a town outside of Kyiv. On Sunday, Ukrainian officials claimed they had thwarted the advance of a Russian column in Bucha. 

A large impact crater is seen in Sukachi.

In Sukachi, a small town 70 kilometers (about 43.5 miles) northwest of Kyiv, a large impact crater is seen in the middle of a roadway, with houses nearby appearing significantly damaged.

A line of people is seen outside a grocery store in Kyiv.

The images also captured scenes of daily life amid the war in both Chernihiv and Kyiv, with dozens of people lining up outside supermarkets.

Olena Gnes is sheltering with her children in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.

Olena Gnes has been hiding in a basement in Kyiv with her three children, the youngest only a few months old, since the Russian invasion began, while her husband fights to defend Ukraine.

On Wednesday, she took advantage of the relative quiet to bring her children home for a quick shower and to stock up on supplies before returning to the shelter. “I thought maybe the children will play a little bit over there … but they were afraid to stay at home. They were asking all the time, are bombs flying?” she told CNN late Wednesday.

This is the new reality for Gnes, her family and millions of Ukrainians — an unrelenting and exhausting fear as they watch the war unfold, and hear news from relatives in other cities of the destruction there.

She added that she had hoped Western countries — specifically the United States and NATO members — would come to their defense. “They are so powerful and so cool,” she said. “But it looks like this is our problem … Maybe I watch too much Hollywood movies.”

“We’ve been in the Soviet Union, there was nothing good for us Ukrainians in the Soviet Union — and we will not want to come back,” she said.

But, she added, as Ukraine’s forces push back hard against Russian troops, people’s spirits have risen with the resistance.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, during which he expressed solidarity and offered further support for the Ukrainian people, according to a statement from Trudeau’s office.

In a tweet, Zelensky thanked Trudeau for his leadership in imposing sanctions on Russia, adding he “stressed the need to expand restrictive measures.”

Canada began providing lethal military aid to Ukraine last month, reversing its prior policy. 

Trudeau said he commended Zelensky’s bravery and frontline leadership, calling it inspirational for Canadians and people around the world.

According to the statement, the two leaders discussed ways in which Canada could continue to support Ukraine in the immediate future.

People fleeing war-torn Ukraine get food, clothing and toiletries at Hauptbahnhof main railway station in Berlin, Germany, on March 2.

One million refugees have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a tweet Wednesday evening.

“For many millions more, inside Ukraine, it’s time for guns to fall silent, so that life-saving humanitarian assistance can be provided,” he added.

Want to help? You can learn how to support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine here. 

South Korea is relocating its embassy in Ukraine from Kyiv to a “safe area,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday as Russian troops step up their assault on the Ukrainian capital.

The ministry did not disclose the embassy’s destination, citing safety reasons. The embassy will resume operations once it settles down in the new location, the ministry said.

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba by phone on Wednesday, according to the ministry. 

Aid to Ukraine: Following Ukraine’s request, South Korea will deliver emergency medical supplies including PPE, first aid kits, gloves, masks, and blankets. This is in addition to the $10 million of humanitarian support already pledged, the ministry said.

The ministers agreed to ensure the safety of nationals of both countries in Ukraine and South Korea. Seoul has granted stay extensions for Ukrainians in the East Asian country.

Ukrainian forces captured several Russian troops on Wednesday in the southern city of Mykolaiv, where fierce fighting broke out in recent days, according to the region’s governor and a member of Ukraine’s Parliament pictured with the captured soldiers.

Roman Kostenko, a lawmaker and secretary of the Parliament’s Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, told CNN that a reconnaissance unit of the Russian GRU’s 10th brigade had been intercepted on the outskirts of Mykolaiv.

CNN cannot independently verify the circumstances of the capture or the status of the prisoners. CNN has observed clashes in the past days as Russian troops tried to enter the city.

“They are attacking Mykolaiv occasionally, but the fight is on the outskirts and they try to go around us to close the loop on us,” Kostenko said.

Mykolaiv is close to the Black Sea, located about an hour away from Kherson, a strategically important city that has seen heavy fighting between Russian and Ukrainian troops this week.

Russian soldier calls home: One of the captured Russian soldiers was filmed while being allowed to call his mother on the telephone, according to a video posted on Telegram by the region’s governor, Vitaliy Kim.

A Ukrainian soldier took over the call and said, “You know what your son does? He fights and kills our civilians.”

The Ukrainian soldier added, “We will not touch him because I am half Russian and Ukrainian.” 

Earlier this week, the Canadian Embassy in Beijing put up at least two banners outside its building in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, bearing the words “We support Ukraine.”

The embassy tweeted a photo of the banners on Tuesday, with the caption, “Stand with Ukraine.”

By Wednesday night, one of the banners had been vandalized by graffiti using expletive language against NATO, as seen by a CNN producer in Beijing. 

It’s unknown if any arrests have been made in connection with the incident. 

Some context: China has found itself in a complex position regarding Ukraine, juggling its close strategic partnership with Moscow with growing international outrage over President Vladimir Putin’s invasion and Beijing’s own seemingly contradictory policy of supporting state sovereignty.

Beijing has avoided condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine, with Chinese officials instead blaming the invasion on “NATO expansion eastward all the way to Russia’s doorstep.”

Read more about the China-Russia relationship:

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet in Beijing on February 4, 2022.

Related article As war breaks out in Europe, China blames the US | CNN

Canada announced new sanctions Wednesday against 10 individuals from two Russian energy companies, Rosneft and Gazprom, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

The measures aim to put more pressure on Russia’s leadership to stop the war, according to a news release from Canada’s Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

As the conflict in Ukraine escalates, concerns are growing that the financial impact will be felt in the United States — especially in higher gas prices.

According to Daleep Singh, President Joe Biden’s deputy national security adviser for international economics, the White House does not “have a strategic interest in reducing global energy supplies,” a maneuver which would “only increase prices at the pump for Americans, and pad [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s profits.”

Instead, Singh told CNN’s Erin Burnett, the plan is in “degrading and downgrading Russia’s status as a leading energy supplier.”

Asked how the current sanctions — which limit the availability of oil and drive prices up — hurts Russia and not the US, Singh said the administration aimed to cut US consumption of Russian oil while maintaining global energy supplies.

Biden’s State of the Union speech Tuesday clearly laid out the administration’s position, Singh said.

“The President was clear last night: when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos, and the cost and the threats to the American people and people all over the world continue to go up,” he said.

Singh added the US is trying to paralyze the Russian economy as Putin continues to act aggressively in Ukraine.

At least three schools in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, were hit by Russian military strikes on Tuesday, according to videos and photos posted to social media.

CNN has geolocated, and confirmed the authenticity of the videos and photos.

One of the schools is in the northern neighborhood of Saltivka; the other two just over a kilometer (about 0.6 miles) apart in the industrial district in the southeast of the city.

Classes have been suspended since the Russian invasion began. It’s unclear at this time whether there were any injuries or casualties as a result of the strikes.

Cathedral and shops hit: Other videos and photos show damage to a cathedral and a row of shops in the city.

A number of framed art and other objects inside Kharkiv’s Assumption Cathedral were broken by blasts from a strike on the nearby City Council building, photos show. The floor is covered with broken glass from the windows.

In Saltivka, video obtained by a local news outlet shows a row of shops in front of an apartment building destroyed by military strikes. A nearby building is also seen on fire.

In recent days, a number of apartment complexes, government buildings and residential areas have been damaged during the attacks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose during their meeting in Beijing, on February 4.

A Western intelligence report indicated that Chinese officials, in early February, requested that senior Russian officials wait until after the Beijing Olympics had finished before beginning an invasion into Ukraine, US officials said Wednesday.  

US officials broadly view the report as credible, but its particulars are open to interpretation, according to one source familiar with the intelligence. Although the request was made around the time that President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing for the opening ceremony of the Olympics — where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping — it is not clear from the report whether Putin addressed the matter with Xi directly, the source said. 

Western intelligence officials warily watching Putin’s buildup on the Ukrainian border at the time had anticipated that Putin might delay any military action until after the Olympics to avoid angering China.

After Putin and Xi’s meeting, Moscow and Beijing issued a joint statement declaring that their partnership had “no limits” and condemning NATO expansion — a key pillar of Putin’s justification for attacking Ukraine.

That statement has elevated Western concerns about a burgeoning alliance between China and Russia. 

Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said, “The claims mentioned in the relevant reports are speculations without any basis, and are intended to blame-shift and smear China.”

CNN has reached out to the Russian embassy in Washington for comment.

The New York Times first reported the existence of the report. 

The results of a General Assembly vote on a resolution is shown on a screen during a special session of the General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters on Wednesday, March 02, in New York City.

As Russia trends closer toward pariah status in many countries worldwide, it appears that it can still count on the support of a small group of countries in the West — Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela — and perhaps the burgeoning backing of another central American country.

The latest proof of such support came at Wednesday’s emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Bolivia joined several dozen other countries in abstaining during a vote to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and to demand Moscow withdraw its troops “immediately, completely and unconditionally.”

While Venezuela could not formally vote at the session because it has not paid its dues to the UN for several years, it almost assuredly would have voted against the resolution or abstained if given the chance.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week and has said multiple times that Putin has his “total support.” After the phone call, Maduro tweeted an old photo of himself and Putin shaking hands, and has blamed the conflict on “destabilizing actions of NATO.”

While the countries did not vote against the resolution, the abstention votes were notable. It meant each country chose not to declare illegal — and immoral — an invasion that the vast majority of the rest of the world agrees is a flagrant violation of international norms and laws.

Cuba and Nicaragua are long-time allies of Russias, with the bond between Cuba and Russia going back decades. Cuba’s government has blamed the current conflict on the United States and NATO’s “increasingly offensive military doctrine that threatens peace.”

Meanwhile, Nicaragua was one of the first countries in the world to formally recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine — two pro-Russian areas that Russia formally recognized shortly before it invaded Ukraine.

El Salvador’s abstention was telling, as well, mirroring the silence from the country’s leadership about the conflict since it began.

The country’s president, Nayib Bukele, was extremely vocal in the days leading up to Russia’s invasion, mocking US assertions that an invasion was imminent.

“The boy who cried wolf,” Bukele tweeted on Feb. 18, responding to US President Joe Biden, who said he believed Russia would invade in the next several days.

Since Russia has invaded, however, Bukele has remained silent on the matter.

Meanwhile, Latin America’s heavyweights, including Mexico and Brazil, have drawn fire from critics who have accused the two countries of giving Russia a free pass.

Although both countries’ UN delegations voted in favor to condemn Russian invasion and for a military withdrawal, Mexican President López Obrador and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have stopped short of criticizing Putin or imposing any sanctions.

“We’re not going to take any kind of economic reprisal because we want to have good relations with all the governments in the world,” said López Obrador. “We do not consider that [the war] concerns us, and we think that the best thing is to promote dialogue to achieve peace.”

Bolsonaro, who visited Moscow a few weeks ago, has said that his country was, “not going to take sides.” 

“We are going to continue to be neutral and help however possible to find a solution,” said the president currently up for reelection later this year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed the morale of Russian forces is crumbling.

“We are a nation that broke the enemy’s plans in a week — plans those have been built for years, vile, calculated, with hate for our country, for our people, for any people who have 2 things: freedom and heart. But we stopped them and beat them.”

Zelensky added, “Our military, our border guards, our territorial defense, even ordinary farmers capture the Russian military every day. And all the captives say only one thing: they do not know why they are here. Despite the fact that there are dozens of times more of them, the morale of the enemy is constantly deteriorating.” 

He also mentioned the opposition to Russian forces of ordinary Ukrainians. “Blocking roads, people come out in front of enemy vehicles - it’s extremely dangerous, but how courageous. It is also salvation.”

Zelensky accused Russian troops of looting.

“Let’s throw them away with shame, as do those people who drive the occupiers out of grocery stores when the Russian military is trying to find food. These are not warriors of the superpower, these are confused children who were used. “

“They will not have peace here, they will not have food here, they will not have a single quiet moment here. The occupiers will receive only one thing from Ukraine — a rebuff, a worthy rebuff. They will always remember that we do not give up.”

“Our army is doing everything to break the enemy completely. 9,000 Russians killed in one week,” Zelensky said. 

CNN cannot confirm Ukrainian estimates of how many casualties Russian forces have suffered.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in an interview, “any rhetoric about the employment of nuclear weapons is dangerous.”  

Austin was asked if he has seen any actions backing up President Vladimir Putin’s recent statements regarding Russia’s nuclear weapons. 

Putin placed his strategic forces, including nuclear weapons, on a heightened state of alert over the weekend.

Austin said he is “comfortable” with the US’s nuclear posture, adding “I’m confident that we can defend not only ourselves, but our allies and partners.” 

Earlier Wednesday, Austin canceled a planned test of the Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile that was initially scheduled to occur this week to avoid “any actions that could be misunderstood or misconstrued” during heightened tensions with Russia, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon. 

Law enforcement officers detain participants in an unauthorized rally against the Russian military operation in Ukraine, in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday, March 2.

Police in Russia’s second biggest city St. Petersburg have arrested at least 350 anti-war protesters on Wednesday, according to local monitor site OVD-Info. 

Multiple videos show that police arrested an elderly woman holding anti-war and anti-nuclear signs while protesters cheered and applauded for the woman. 

At least 7,615 people have been detained in anti-war protests in Russia since last Thursday according to OVD-info.

The European Union approved new sanctions against Belarus on Tuesday for its involvement in the “unacceptable and illegal Russian military aggression against Ukraine,” notably prohibiting the sale of a wide ranging type of machinery, including nuclear reactors.

The new sanctions aim not only at Belarus’ exports to the European Union, but also the Union’s exports of machinery to Belarus.

Sectors and products ranging from iron and steel, tobacco, wood, cement and rubber are targeted by the new restrictions. “It also prohibits the export to Belarus or for use in Belarus of dual-use goods and technology, exports of goods and technology which might contribute to Belarus’s military, technological, defence and security development, and exports of machinery”, the official release said.

Some sanctions also target 22 Belarusian military personnel and officials.

 No Belarusian banks were targeted with fresh sanctions for now.

The mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kherson Ihor Kolykhaiev has said that the Ukrainian military is no longer in the city and that its inhabitants must now carry out the instructions of “armed people who came to the city’s administration” — indicating that the city has now fallen under Russian control. 

The announcement on his Facebook page follows several days of pressure on Kherson by Russian forces who had surrounded the city.  

Kherson is a strategically important city on an inlet from the Black Sea with a population of nearly 300,000. On Wednesday in Kyiv, the mayor had disputed Russian claims of control saying Ukrainian forces were still fighting in parts of the city. The new posting said Ukrainian forces had left.   

The mayor also told the New York Times in an interview that a group of about 10 armed Russian officers, including the commander of forces attacking the city, entered the city hall building Wednesday. He said he was informed by the Russian officers that they were planning to set up a new administration similar to those in two Russian-backed separatist enclaves in eastern Ukraine, according to the NY Times interview.

What this means: If Kherson is now under Russian control, it would be a significant moment in the conflict, as it would mark the first major city seized by Russian forces. 

Late Wednesday, Hennady Lahuta, the head of Kherson regional administration, issued a message saying: “I ask everyone who is not at home now, or who is planning to go outside, not to do so. The occupiers are in all areas of the city and are very dangerous.” 

Without saying explicitly that the Russians controlled the city, mayor Kolykhaiev said on Wednesday night that “there were armed visitors in the city executive committee today.” 

“The team and I are peaceful people, we had no weapons, there was no aggression from our side.”   

“I didn’t make any promises to them. I just have nothing to promise. I’m only interested in the normal life of our city! I just asked not to shoot people.”  

In his Facebook message, he went on to say, “We do not have Armed Forces in the city, only civilians and people who want to LIVE here!”  

Kolykhaiev said that there were now new rules in the city, which included a curfew and restrictions on transport in and out of the city.  

He said that another rule was that “Pedestrians walk one by one, maximum two. Don’t provoke the military.” 

He finished: “Let it be for now. The flag above us is Ukrainian. And in order to keep it the same, these requirements will have to be met. I can’t offer anything else.”

Rep. Jason Crow

Dem. Rep. Jason Crow says it’s “disappointing” to witness the events unfolding in Kherson, Ukraine, a city currently under siege.

Though Ukraine denies that the city has in fact fallen to Russia, it’s undeniable that the situation there is dangerous and frightening. Crow, however, maintained a tone of optimism during a live conversation with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

“Let’s also not forget that there were cities that fell to the Russians and then were retaken by the Ukrainians over the last couple of days, so let’s not count the Ukrainians out,” he said.

Meanwhile, said Crow, the Russian armed forces continue to struggle.

“They’re having logistical problems, re-supply problems, fuel problems. Their morale is extremely low, they’re encountering some desertions,” he explained.

However, though Russia maintains “an overwhelming combat advantage on paper,” Crow notes that conflicts aren’t settled on paper.

“Odds don’t fight and win wars, people do. So we have to continue to get the flow of weapons and equipment as fast as possible and get the things in the hands of the Ukrainians that they need to win this,” he said.

Meanwhile, said Crow, this conflict is likely to continue for some time, with Russian President Vladimir Putin not likely to move away from his primary goal.

“This is going to be a long slog. I think if we expect Putin to take an off-ramp here or to de-escalate this because of the toll on his own army, I think we’re not thinking about this in the way that Putin is thinking about this,” Crow detailed.

“He views this as an existential threat to him and his legacy and frankly, he does not care about his own soldiers, so he’s willing to just throw as much combat power at the problem as he needs to do to win this,” said Crow.

“This is going to get worse and worse for the Ukrainians,” Crow predicted, adding “time is on the Russian’s side right now.”

The Hague, The Netherlands

The International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands said on Wednesday it would immediately proceed with an active investigation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan said in a statement 39 of the court’s member states had requested for the investigation to proceed. 

Khan said his office “had already found a reasonable basis to believe crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court had been committed, and had identified potential cases that would be admissible.”

The ICC’s chief prosecutor implored all parties engaged in conflict to adhere to international humanitarian law.

The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said that it has recorded 752 civilian casualties in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

It said that until midnight on March 1, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 227 killed, including 15 under the age of 18, and 525 injured.

A member of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was killed during a shelling in Kharkiv on Tuesday, March 1, an OSCE spokesperson said in a statement. 

The member, Mayna Fenina, was a part of the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM).

She was killed while getting supplies for her family in Kharkiv, the OSCE statement said.  

“Despite repeated calls from across the international community, and from across the OSCE, the unprovoked military operation against Ukraine continues. We strongly condemn the increased shelling in urban areas centres causing death and injury to civilians and reiterate our call on the Russian Federation for an immediate cessation of hostilities and to engage in a meaningful dialogue,” Rau and Schmid said.

People take shelter in a Kyiv subway station on Wednesday.

As the city of Kyiv braces for a major Russian attack, many residents are hunkering down in bomb shelters, basements and subway stations.

These photos, taken on Wednesday by Timothy Fadek, show life inside one of those subway stations in the capital. 

Blankets and sleeping beds stretch down the corridor. Some people have tents or air mattresses.

People use their phones or read books to pass the time. Many of them are women and children. 

There were also dogs and cats seen in the station as people brought their pets with them.

Displaced Ukrainians take shelter in an auditorium in Lviv, Ukraine, on March 2.

Despite the vast challenges and brutal violence facing the people of Ukraine, Senator Bob Menendez says he doesn’t believe the situation is hopeless.

“I don’t come to that conclusion, although they are facing what could be considered overwhelming odds,” Menendez told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Meanwhile, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues. Menendez noted that “Russia has a 40-mile caravan of critical equipment that it logistically [does] not seem to be able to deal with.” As such, says Menendez, “they have turned to the indiscriminate bombing that we have seen in the last few days and that is condemnable.”

The bombing of civilian buildings and hospitals, says Menendez, “[amounts] to war crimes.”

The Democratic from New Jersey is part of a group of bipartisan senators asking for temporary protected status (TPS) for Ukrainians in the US.

Continuing his live conversation with Tapper, Menendez explained why such a cause is so important.

“You can’t take Ukrainians who legally enter the United States and happen to be here, to then send them back to a war zone. You can’t tell Europe and our allies … that are doing the right thing by accepting hundreds of thousands of refugees, and then [have them] send back people from Ukraine back to Ukraine,” Menendez said, concluding that he “would expect the administration to ultimately grant TPS. I don’t see how they do not.”

The European Union has sanctioned 22 Belarusian officials and military personnel for their involvement in supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

The bloc also announced further restrictions on Minsk, banning certain imports from Belarus into the EU, and EU’s exports of machinery to Belarus.  

“Certain sectors of the Belarusian economy in particular the wood, steel and potash sectors” are also set to be impacted by the measures, the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union announced in a tweet on Wednesday. 

A VTB Bank branch is seen in Moscow on February 28.

Seven Russian banks have been removed from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a messaging service that connects financial institutions around the world.

The statement went on to say, “To this end, in compliance with the legal instruction in EU Council Regulation (EU) 2022/345 of 1 March 2022, we will disconnect seven designated Russian entities (and their designated Russia based subsidiaries) from the SWIFT network. This Regulation requires us to disconnect the identified entities on 12 March 2022, and we will do so accordingly. The SWIFT community will be kept regularly updated across multiple channels, including in the customer section on swift.com.”

On Wednesday in a statement the Council of the EU said the Russian banks removed from SWIFT are Bank Otkritie, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Rossiya Bank, Sovcombank, VNESHECONOMBANK (VEB), and VTB BANK.

The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada said in a joint statement on Saturday warned they would disconnect “selected” Russian banks from SWIFT in order to punish Russia for invading its neighbor.

The House overwhelmingly voted 426-3 to approve a resolution declaring their support for Ukraine as the country continues to fend off a week-long Russian invasion.

Three Republican members, Rep. Tom Massie of Kentucky, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, and Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana, voted against the resolution. 

The US has given more than $1 billion in total security assistance to Ukraine over the past year including an additional aid package of $350 million authorized last week after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Feb. 26. 

The 17-point resolution also affirms the United States’ “ironclad commitment” to Article 5 of the NATO charter, which states that an attack on one NATO nation is an attack on all, with a mutual pledge to defend all other NATO nations, and warns Russian President Vladimir Putin that “it will never recognize or support any illegitimate Russian-controlled leader or government installed through the use of force.”

The move by the House follows a similar tack taken by the Senate in mid-February, when they unanimously approved a symbolic resolution condemning Russia for its aggressive actions towards Ukraine. That resolution was agreed to by a voice vote after the Senate failed to move a binding package of sanctions against Russia and its interests.

Biden administration officials have said they will continue to provide aid to Ukraine, and some lawmakers have called for additional humanitarian, lethal and non-lethal assistance to be sent amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country.

The US has delivered hundreds of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine for the first time over the last few days, including over 200 on Monday, according to a US official and a congressional source briefed on the matter.  

Earlier this year the US gave the green light to Baltic countries including Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to send American-made weaponry that they have to Ukraine, including Stingers. But until now the Biden administration had held off on the US providing the Stingers directly to Ukraine, while they have provided other lethal weaponry.

Some members of Congress have been pushing for additional Stinger missiles to be sent to Ukraine for months. The Ukrainians have repeatedly made pleas more weaponry from the US, including anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons. 

US Secretary of State Tony Blinken told reporters on Wednesday that at this time Ukraine is still able to receive “vital defensive military equipment” that it needs.

More background: There are different generations of Stingers that the US produces and US officials have been cognizant of not providing the newest model to the Ukrainians in case they fall into the hands of the Russians who could steal the US technology.  

Earlier this week German announced that they would deliver 1,000 antitank weapons and 500 Stinger missiles to Ukraine, marking a change in its previous stance of not sending weaponry to Ukraine amid this crisis.

NBC News was first to report on the delivery of US Stingers to Ukraine.

Four Russian fighter jets violated Swedish airspace on Wednesday, according to a statement by the Swedish Armed Forces. 

Two Russian Su-27s and two Russian Su-24s violated Swedish airspace east of the island of Gotland, across the sea. The Swedish Air Force carried out an operation using its Jas 39 Gripen fighter aircrafts “out of emergency preparedness.” 

“We were on site to secure territorial integrity and Sweden’s borders,” said Air Force Chief Carl-Johan Edström. “We have full control of the situation.”

Sweden banned Russian aviation in its airspace on Monday, Feb. 28.

The mayor of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, has said that preliminary reports suggest there were no casualties in a blast that shattered windows at the city’s railway station Wednesday evening. 

But he added: “We are clarifying the details.” 

“The enemy was trying to breakthrough to our city, but Ukrainian defenders are repulsing the occupiers and defending our capital,” he continued.

It’s unclear what caused the blast near the station.

An Interior Ministry adviser said the damage was caused by the falling wreckage of a cruise missile after it had been intercepted by Ukrainian air defense systems.  

Russian forces moving toward Kyiv in the northern part of Ukraine, including a large Russian military convoy, “remain stalled,” Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said during a briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

“They haven’t from our best estimates made any appreciable progress in the last 24-36 hours,” Kirby said of the Russian forces moving towards Kyiv. “Nothing very significant.”

In the southern part of Ukraine, Russian forces “appear to be experiencing in general less resistance than they are up in the north,” Kirby said. Kherson and Mariupol, two major population centers in the south, are still contested, Kirby said.

“Our assessment is, as they get closer to these two population centers down in the south, we believe they are facing more resistance,” Kirby said.

Video posted online, which CNN has geolocated and verified its authenticity, shows a damaged train platform just outside of Kyiv’s central train station following a strike Wednesday evening. 

The damage seen in the video is at the Pivnichna train station, which is located just over 700 feet from Kyiv’s central station. Hundreds of refugees attempting to flee the conflict in Ukraine are at the central train station in Kyiv.  

In the video, the damaged building appears to be a ticket station on the train platform. 

The sound of the blast could be heard across the city, according to CNN’s team on the ground. 

According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, a major heating pipeline in Kyiv was damaged in the strike.  

Britain on Wednesday said it was “gravely concerned” by “reports of the use of cluster munitions” by Russia during its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. 

The UK, which is also the President of the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), said in a statement that it condemns “any use of cluster munitions by any actor, remaining steadfast in our determination to achieve a world entirely free of any use of these weapons.”

The convention “was born out of a collective determination to address the humanitarian consequences of these weapons, which have had a devastating impact on civilians in many conflict areas,” it added.

The UK called on “all those that continue to use such weapons to cease immediately” and also urged all states that have not yet done so to join the Convention “without delay.”

Earlier on Wednesday, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia was moving banned weaponry into Ukraine.

“We have seen videos of Russian forces moving exceptionally lethal weaponry into Ukraine, which has no place on the battlefield. That includes cluster munitions and vacuum bombs – which are banned under the Geneva Convention,” she said.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby conducts a briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin canceled a planned test of the Minute Man III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile that was initially scheduled to occur this week to avoid “any actions that could be misunderstood or misconstrued” during heightened tensions with Russia, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said during a briefing at the Pentagon on Wednesday.  

Kirby said the secretary made this decision taking into account the “heightened tensions” caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement earlier this week directing a special alert of Russian nuclear forces. 

Kirby said the US military is taking this step to cancel the ICBM test to “demonstrate” that the US is a “responsible nuclear power.”

“This is not a step backwards in our readiness, nor does it imply that we will necessarily cancel other routine activities to ensure a credible nuclear capability,” Kirby said.

“We remain confident in our strategic posture as I’ve said before and our ability to defend the homeland, and our allies and our partners, remains fully intact and ready,” he added.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that Europeans “cannot depend on others to defend ourselves.”

He added, “European defense must cross the next step,” following Russia invasion of Ukraine.

“Europe has entered a new era,” Macron said during a televised address from the Elysee Palace as he announced a summit of European heads of state and government that will take place in Versailles on March 10 and 11 to discuss these topics.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discusses Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the US remains open to diplomacy with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, but said there’s no path unless Russia pulls back its forces.

Blinken added that the US would help Ukraine diplomatically if Kyiv believes there’s a path that could end the war, but he noted that Russia often “goes through the pretense of diplomacy” while continuing on its aggressive path, noting the demands Moscow made in its first round of talks with Ukraine were “non-starters.” 

“If Ukraine thinks there is a path that would help advance its interests protect it end the war and we can be helpful in that, of course we’re fully prepared to do that,” Blinken said.

“But we really look to the Ukrainian government to what if anything might make sense. They’re engaged in talks with Russia. They had one round, there may be another one, we’ll see. But, of course, the demands Russia put on the table were beyond excessive, they were of course non-starters,” he said.

Richard Shirreff, NATO's former deputy supreme allied commander, speaks to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is “pushing for a land corridor to Crimea,” a former NATO commander told CNN Wednesday while commenting on Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.   

“He’s had Crimea in the Russian Federation since 2014, he’s only been able to supply it across the Kerch Strait bridge, and so of course he’s looking to establish that land corridor down off the Sea of Azov,” Shirreff added.

Shirreff went on to say that Putin has been “humiliated” and his military “had not delivered” given the slow advances into the country.

“[Putin] is going to be ordering Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff, to get cracking, to get stuck in, and to use whatever means he needs at his disposal,” Shirreff said. 

The former NATO Commander said he feared we would see an increase in civilian casualties and humanitarian catastrophe, with potentially the leveling of cities, as a result.

“I’m afraid to say I don’t think we have seen anything yet in terms of the destruction that’s likely to happen,” he said.

Watch former NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander for Europe Richard Shirreff explain why fighting in cities is “tougher on the attacker”:

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the State Department in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new round of sanctions on Russia, targeting 22 Russian “defense-related entities” as Russia pushes forward with its invasion of Ukraine.

The entities that will be sanctioned include “companies that make combat aircraft, infantry fighting vehicles, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare systems,” Blinken said at a news conference at the State Department, “the very systems now being used to assault the Ukrainian people, abuse human rights, violate international humanitarian law.”

Blinken also announced export controls on Belarus “to hold the Lukashenko regime accountable for being a co-belligerent in President Putin’s war of choice.”

“We will choke off Belarus’s ability to import key technologies,” said Blinken. “And if Lukashenko’s support for the war continues, the consequences for his regime will escalate.”

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a televised speech in Paris on Wednesday.

“We are not at war with Russia,” French President Emmanuel Macron said.

In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Macron said the war against Ukraine had created a “rupture” in Europe. 

Macron added he puts an importance on maintaining contact with both the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

The French leader said he had kept up contact with Putin to try to “convince him to drop arms” and also to prevent the “enlargement of the conflict.”  

The US military’s nuclear command and control aircraft have increased their number of daily flights since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a US official tells CNN, a sign that the US strategic force has responded in some way to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The fleet of Boeing E-6 Mercury aircraft has flown more frequently since the invasion, which has not been previously reported. The commander of America’s nuclear weapons says the posture of the US strategic force has not changed, but the increased flights mark a shift in the last week, even before Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would put his own strategic force, including nuclear weapons, on heightened alert.

Notably, the increase in frequency of the flights occurred even before Putin made the move, which the Pentagon called “unnecessary” and “escalatory.” The more frequent flights began one day before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as US officials warned the assault could begin within hours.

The US retains a portion of its ballistic missiles under a state of heightened alert, ready to be launched within minutes should the order come down from the President. The US also retains a launch-under-attack option to fire intercontinental ballistic missiles in the event of a confirmed attack.

Richard told lawmakers he was staying in Omaha, Nebraska, the headquarters of Strategic Command, so he can “assess and be satisfied in terms of our defensive posture.”

More background: The fleet of E-6s have been flying approximately seven sorties each day since Feb. 23, according to airplane tracking data on ADS-B Exchange, a flight tracking website that picks up on an aircraft’s transponder signal. The increase in flights began as US and western officials warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent. Prior to that date, the E-6 fleet was flying approximately three to four sorties each day, tracking data shows.

The E-6 is a command-and-control aircraft designed as a platform for a “survivable, reliable, and endurable” link between the military’s top commanders, including the President as commander-in-chief, and the strategic and non-strategic forces who carry out those orders. 

The aircraft has the critical highly classified ask of communications with ballistic missile submarines and ballistic missile silos, known as the TACAMO mission, which stands for “Take Charge and Move Out.” The E-6 can also launch ballistic missiles from silos using the airborne launch control system (ALCS).

Capt. Ron Flanders, the spokesperson for US Strategic Command, which oversees America’s nuclear weapons, said, “The Department of Defense routinely conducts and varies its flight operations as appropriate. We do not comment on the specifics of these operations nor on the manner in which they are conducted.”

“The E-6 is meant to serve as a survivable and redundant means of airborne command and control, keeping links between the our civilian political leadership and nuclear forces intact in a crisis,” said Ankit Panda, a nuclear policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 

Notably, the increased frequency of the flights occurred even before Putin placed his deterrence forces, including nuclear arms, on a heightened state of alert over the weekend, which the Pentagon called “unnecessary” and “escalatory.” The more frequent flights began one day before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as US officials warned the assault could begin within hours.

Hans Kristensen, the director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, said the E-6 flights happen routinely. The increased flights, he speculated, may be an extra precaution given the risks involved with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine so close to the US’s NATO allies.

“You could imagine there’s been an order that’s gone out that says we need to have this command-and-control system up and ready in case there are any crazy, unforeseen scenarios happening,” said Kristensen. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that therefore there’s a heightened nuclear alert status compared to what we normally have, but you can imagine they have that enhanced communication system up and running.” 

Kristensen also said the increased flights may be a way of sending a message to Russia that the US is watching.  

“That would be one way to communicate heightened vigilance so to speak,” he said.

CNN teams on the ground are hearing air raid sirens in Odessa and Uman, Ukraine.

And just moments ago, the team in Kyiv heard a large explosion. It’s unclear the exact location of the explosion.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire speaks on Wednesday.

The European Union is planning to take measures on cryptocurrencies to prevent Russia from bypassing economic sanctions, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Wednesday.

Le Maire added that while the exact measures addressing cryptocurrencies are unclear, EU members are “determined” to focus in this area to ensure the effectiveness of the bloc’s sanctions against Russia.

“We had a specific report that was put together by Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank. We are going to study all the means that would allow us to avoid the bypassing of financial sanctions by cryptocurrencies,” he said.

Oil tanks are seen at the Novokuibyshevsk Refinery in Russia on February 24.

US President Joe Biden’s senior adviser Cedric Richmond reiterated Wednesday that “everything is on the table,” including sanctions targeting Russia’s oil industry, while acknowledging “it’s not something we’re prepared to do right now.”

Richmond took the opportunity to highlight the administration’s climate proposals, which he said “would lower energy prices for the average American family by $500 a month,” pointing to provisions in Biden’s Build Back Better legislation that he suggested would “lower Americans’ everyday costs.”

Here’s what White House senior adviser Cedric Richmond said about Biden having to choose between targeting Putin or inflicting pain at the pump for Americans:

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An employee inside the office of VK Company Ltd. works on a laptop overlooking Leningradsky Avenue in Moscow on January 19.

Over the past week, Ukraine’s government has pressured major tech platforms to rethink how they operate with Russia, and it has been pretty successful.

Social media companies have reduced the reach of Russian state-backed media outlets, for example, and Apple has stopped selling its products and limited some services in Russia. 

But now Ukraine is pushing for something even more dramatic and consequential. 

On Monday, Ukraine’s government called for Russia to be disconnected from the global internet. It sent a letter to ICANN, the US-based international non-profit that oversees the global system of internet domain names and IP addresses, with a plea.

Internet governance experts say Ukraine’s request, if carried out, would effectively sever Russia from the internet, leaving Russian websites without a home. Email addresses would stop working and internet users wouldn’t be able to log on. Russia would suddenly find itself on a digital island.

But those same governance experts are skeptical that Ukraine’s request will ultimately be fulfilled. For one thing, they say, it would set a dangerous precedent that could give authoritarian countries license to make similar demands. For another, it is not clear that ICANN could make such a decision even if many wanted it to. 

Besides, they added, cutting Russia off from the rest of the digital world might be giving the Kremlin exactly what it wants: a citizenry unable to access outside information. 

Governments such as China’s have sought to wall off their own people from the outside digital world. But Ukraine’s request is unprecedented, according to Vint Cerf, widely considered one of the fathers of the internet.

“It is the first time in my memory that a government has asked ICANN to interfere with the normal operation” of the domain name system at such a scale, Cerf told CNN Business.

“The internet operates in large measure because of substantial levels of trust among the many components of its ecosystem,” Cerf added. “Acting on this request would have negative consequence in many dimensions.”

The letter was first reported by Rolling Stone. Angelina Lopez, an ICANN spokesperson, confirmed to CNN the letter had been received and that officials were reviewing it, but declined to comment.

Read more.

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has announced Wednesday he plans to sell Chelsea Football Club, as it is “in the best interest of the Club, the fans, the employees, as well as the Club’s sponsors and partners.”

No timetable was provided but Abramovich said the sale “will not be fast-tracked.”

On Saturday, Abramovich declared he gave “stewardship” of the club over to trustees of the club’s charitable foundation.

Some background: Last week, member of Parliament Chris Bryant called for Abramovich to lose ownership of Chelsea after seeing a leaked 2019 UK government document that said Abramovich was of interest due to his “links to the Russian state and his public association with corrupt activity and practices,” the MP said in a Twitter post.

“Surely, Mr. Abramovich should no longer be able to own a football club in this country?” he added.

Abramovich himself has not been sanctioned by the UK, according to the UK’s sanctions list website.

In the House of Commons Wednesday, opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer questioned why Abramovich had not been sanctioned by the UK government. Abramovich has always denied claims he has links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Here’s Abramovich’s statement in full:

United Airlines said its flights will now avoid Russian airspace, even though the country has not yet banned US aircraft from overflights. 

United spokesperson Leslie Scott told CNN that two routes between the US and India — San Francisco to New Delhi and Newark to Mumbai—will be canceled for the next few days. The airline is also rerouting flights between Newark and New Delhi and between Chicago O’Hare and New Delhi.

Delta Air Lines said it is no longer flying through Russian airspace for some Asia-bound flights as well. Last month, American Airlines began rerouting flights that operated over Ukraine.

Russia has banned dozens of western countries from operating in its airspace, but it has not yet banned US aircraft, even after the US announced it would block Russian flights in US airspace.

Tatneft's oil refining and petrochemical complex in Tatarstan, Russia.

The White House detailed a new slate of economic measures levied against Russia and allied Belarus Wednesday, blasting Belarus for “enabling Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.” 

Among Wednesday’s actions are new restrictions extending export control policies to Belarus, preventing diversion of tech and software to Russia through the country, which the administration said “will severely limit the ability of Russia and Belarus to obtain the materials they need to support their military aggression against Ukraine, project power in ways that threaten regional stability and undermine global peace and security.” 

In addition, the US and allies are identifying 22 Russian “defense-related entities,” including firms that provide technological and material support for Russia’s military.

The US and allies are also targeting “technology exports” in the oil refining sector, which they say could help the US move toward its goal of “degrading Russia’s status as a leading energy supplier over time. 

The US also details new sanctions on entities affiliated with Russian and Belarusian military forces and points to US President Joe Biden’s announcement last night banning Russian aircrafts from domestic US airspace.

As the violence in Ukraine intensifies, athletes and sports organizations around the world are responding. 

Here are a few examples of the ways in which the world of sports is handling the conflict.

Motorsports governing body suspends licenses issued to Russia and Belarus: Motorsport UK announced on Wednesday that the licenses issued to Russia and Belarus have been suspended “with immediate effect.”The governing body for four-wheel in the UK said that no Russian and Belarusian licensed teams are approved to enter competitions in the country or participate in motorsports events. In addition, no Russian and Belarusian national symbols, colors, flags on uniforms, equipment and cars will be displayed at Motorsport UK permitted events.

NHL’s Senators will play Ukrainian national anthem prior to all home games

The National Hockey League’s Ottawa Senators have pledged to play the Ukrainian national anthem ahead of the opening face-off at every remaining home game this season.

To show support for the “valiant efforts of the Ukrainian people,” Senators owner Eugene Melnyk announced Wednesday that the Ukrainian anthem will be played along with the Canadian and US national anthems.

The Senators have 13 regular-season games remaining. The team’s next home game is March 10.

“We are all Ukrainians,” said Melnyk, who is Canadian and said his parents are from Ukraine.

He continued in an open letter, “The unprovoked assault and unnecessary campaign, economic and social destruction of a sovereign country is unspeakable and unacceptable in a civilized world.

“And, while the images from Ukraine show courage and resilience, they’re also a cry out for help.”

The team pledges to help raise money through game day raffles and utilize its home arena for charitable causes to help humanitarian aid efforts.

The Senators shared Melnyk’s open letter on Twitter. You can read that here:

Swiss billionaire wants to buy famed football team from Russian billionaire

Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss says he wants to buy Chelsea F.C. from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

In the days following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Abramovich announced that he plans to give the “stewardship” of Chelsea Football Club over to trustees of the club’s charitable foundation.

“I have always taken decisions with the Club’s best interest at heart. I remain committed to these values. That is why I am today giving trustees of Chelsea’s charitable Foundation the stewardship and care of Chelsea FC. I believe … they are in the best position to look after the interests of the Club, players, staff, and fans,” Abramovich wrote in a statement.

Abramovich is understood to want to retain his ownership of the club — which he has had since 2003 — but is reportedly concerned about possible UK sanctions and subsequent reputational damage.

Wyss, who founded medical device firm Synthes USA, says he and three other people received an offer to buy Chelsea from Abramovich, but there is no fixed selling price.

“I have to wait four to five days now. Abramovich is currently asking far too much. You know, Chelsea owes him two billion. But Chelsea has no money,” Wyss said.

EA Sports pulls Russian teams and clubs from video games: EA Sports will remove the Russian national team and all Russian club teams from FIFA 22, FIFA Mobile, FIFA online, and NHL 22, the video game company announced on Wednesday.

EA Sports NHL added the following additional remarks, “Following the IIHF’s suspension of all Russian and Belarusian national and club teams from IIHF competitions, we will be removing these teams from NHL 22 within the coming weeks. We stand with the people of Ukraine and join the voices around the world calling for peace.”

Russian tennis player speaks out against violence in Ukraine: Russian tennis player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova is using her platform as a professional athlete to condemn the conflict in Ukraine. “I just don’t want violence. All we want right now, our hearts have broken. We just want peace and love and stop the violence,” Pavlyuchenkova told CNN.

Pavlyuchenkova, who has shared her sentiments on Twitter, also offered support for her Ukrainian fellow tennis players. “I understand them and I feel for them and my heart is broken as much as them. I also understand their position,” she said. “I just want that the violence stop.”

The remains of Russian military vehicles line a road in Bucha, Ukraine, on March 1.

Russian Ministry of Defense spokesperson Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Wednesday that 498 Russian military personnel have been killed since the invasion of Ukraine and 1,597 have been wounded. 

“Unfortunately, we have losses among our comrades who are participating in the operation,” Konashenkov said in a briefing carried on state television. 

Russia’s armed forces employ a mix of contract soldiers and draftees. Konashenkov said Russian draftees were not fighting in Ukraine. 

“I want to emphasize once again that neither conscripts nor cadets of educational institutions of the Russian Ministry of Defense are participating in a special operation,” he said. “The information spread by many Western and individual Russian media about the supposedly ‘innumerable’ losses of the Russian force is deliberate disinformation.”

Ukrainian officials have acknowledged casualties on their side and estimate Russian casualties to be much higher.

People walk by sign displaying currency exchange rates in Moscow, Russia, on March 2.

Russia’s stock market remains shut down. The ruble is worth less than a penny. And Western businesses are fleeing. JPMorgan warns a Russian default could be next.

It’s not necessarily that Russia doesn’t have the cash to make its debt payments. The Central Bank of Russia lists a staggering $643 billion of international reserves.

However, JPMorgan said sanctions leveled by the United States on Russian government entities, countermeasures within Russia to restrict foreign payments and the disruption of payment chains “present high hurdles for Russia to make a bond payment abroad.”

For instance, sanctions on Russia’s central bank and the exclusion of some banks from SWIFT, the high-security network banks used to communicate, will impact Russia’s ability to access foreign currency to pay down debt, according to Capital Economics. That includes Russia’s stockpile of reserves as well as cash from export revenue.

Russia has more than $700 million in payments coming due in March, mostly with a 30-day grace period, according to JPMorgan. 

Some believe the Kremlin could be setting the stage for an intentional default to punish the United States and Europe for crushing its economy.

Capital Economics noted that Russian authorities have already prohibited the transfer of coupon payments on local currency sovereign debt to foreigners, underscoring the point that authorities are “acting with scant regard for foreigners’ holdings of Russian assets.”

“Russia could use default as a way of retaliating against Western sanctions to inflict losses on foreign lenders. It’s not far-fetched to think that the Russian authorities could ban foreign debt repayments,” Capital Economics wrote.

Russia, currently the 12th largest economy in the world, last defaulted on its debt in 1998, setting off a crisis that spread overseas.

There has not been “significant change on the ground” in Ukraine since yesterday, a senior defense official said.

The US is currently estimating that Russia has committed 82% of its available combat power that had been staged outside Ukraine into the country. This figure represents just a small increase from the 80% the US estimated Tuesday.

Though there has been “no appreciable movement” of Russian forces advancing on Kyiv since yesterday, Russia has increased its “missiles and artillery targeting the city,” the official continued.

The official also said similarly that while Russian forces are assaulting Chernihiv and Kharkiv, there has been “no appreciable movement by the Russians to take either one.”

The official describes Russian forces as currently being “stalled” outside those cities. However, Russian forces have made more progress in the south, the official said.

Though the official notes that the US sees the city of Kherson as being “contested,” Russia claims that they have in fact taken control of the city.

The official also shared that though there had been no moves on Mariupol by Russia, there were “preliminary indications” that Russian forces would try to move on the city from the Donetsk region, with an assault on the city likely from multiple directions.

The US also believes a 40-mile-long Russian military convoy outside of Kyiv is “stalled,” the senior US defense official told reporters.

“We’ve seen indications that at times and at certain places, the convoy may have been resisted by Ukrainian forces, and I really think I have to leave it at that,” the official said.

The White House discouraged Americans from traveling to Ukraine to help defend the country from a Russian invasion on Wednesday, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked foreigners to come join the fight.

“Ukrainians have shown their courage and they are calling on every resource and lever they have to defend themselves,” principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said aboard Air Force One. “We applaud their bravery, however our travel advisory remains.” 

In a statement on Sunday, Zelensky addressed “all citizens of the world, friends of Ukraine, peace and democracy,” saying, “Anyone who wants to join the defense of Ukraine, Europe and the world can come and fight side by side with the Ukrainians against the Russian war criminals.”

Pumpjacks are seen at the Novo-Yelkhovskoye oil field in Tatarstan, Russia, on February 28.

The White House appeared to walk back its openness to ban Russian oil exports to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin, declining to rule it out entirely but saying that doing so was not in the US strategic interests due to disruptions to the global oil supply and the impact it would have on prices at the pump.

Jean-Pierre said that an export ban “would raise prices at the gas pump for Americans,” something that the White House is “very aware of.”

She lauded US companies that have cut ties with Russia, and said the administration “(welcomes) those announcements.”

But, Jean-Pierre said, the administration is more strategically focused on impacting Russia’s energy status over time. 

“We and our allies and partners have a strong collective interest to degrade Russia’s status as a leading energy supplier over time. That’s why we’ve been talking about diversification. That’s why we shut down Nord Stream 2. That’s why we’re helping to accelerate diversification for Russian gas. And that’s why denying critical technology inputs that Russia needs to maintain its production capacity in oil and gas,” she said.

These more tempered comments come after US President Joe Biden Biden said sanctioning Russian oil exports remained a possibility.

“Nothing is off the table,” Biden said when specifically pressed on banning Russian oil exports earlier Wednesday.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told CNN this morning the administration would strongly weigh the possibility of significant disruption to US and global oil markets when making a decision. 

“What he (Biden) does not want to do is topple the global oil markets or the global marketplace, or impact the American people more with higher energy and gas prices. And obviously, the announcement that was made yesterday to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve here and do that in the united way, in a coordinated way with the global community, is an effort to address that and mitigate the impact, but that’s something we heavily weigh.”

People walk past the site of Tuesday's airstrike that hit Kyiv's TV tower.

Russia has conducted “more than 450 missile launches,” since the beginning of their invasion of Ukraine, a senior US defense official told reporters on Wednesday.

The missiles being launched include “all stripes and sizes,” the official said, including “short-range, medium-range, surface air missiles, cruise missiles.”

The airspace over Ukraine also remains contested, the official added.

“Ukrainian air and missile defense capabilities remain intact and viable, but then again so do the Russians,” the official said.

There has not been “significant change on the ground” in Ukraine since yesterday, according to a senior defense official, with the US estimating that Russia has committed 82% of its available combat power that had been staged outside Ukraine into the country, just a small increase in the 80% the US estimated had been committed yesterday.

And though there has been “no appreciable movement” of Russian forces advancing on Kyiv since yesterday, Russia has increased its “missiles and artillery targeting the city,” according to the official, including targeting infrastructure in the city.

The official said similarly that while Russian forces are assaulting Cherniv and Kharkiv, there has been “no appreciable movement by the Russians to take either one,” with Russian forces “stalled” outside those cities.

However, Russian forces have made more progress in the south, according to the official, though the US sees the city of Kherson as “contested,” despite Russian claims that they had taken control of the city.

The official said that though there had been no moves on Mariupol by Russia, there were “preliminary indications” Russian forces would try to move on the city from the Donetsk region, with an assault on the city likely from multiple directions.

Nigeria says it has evacuated citizens fleeing Ukraine and they will arrive back into the country Thursday.

Nigeria’s foreign affairs ministry said Monday it had so far documented more than 2,000 nationals who fled Ukraine for neighboring European nations as Russian forces invaded the country last week.

The ministry said 650 Nigerians were received by the embassy in Hungary and another 350 in Poland. It added that 940 others were received in Romania and 150 arrived via Slovakia where they were processed for return back to their country.

“Furtherance to our efforts to evacuate Nigerians from the neighboring countries surrounding Ukraine, we can confirm that chattered flights will depart on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, to pick up Nigerian evacuees back home,” the ministry’s statement said.

Foreigners, including Nigerian and Indian students, had complained of poor treatment and racism at the hands of Ukrainian security forces and border officials as they fled the country.

The reports of racism against African citizens at the Ukrainian border sparked global outrage with African nations on the UN Security Council calling for “the mistreatment of African peoples on Europe’s borders…to cease immediately.” 

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said Wednesday that Africans and other non-Ukrainians attempting to flee the country should “have equal opportunities to return to their home countries safely.”

World Health Organization leaders on Wednesday spoke about need to deliver oxygen to Ukraine to treat Covid-19 patients and those with other conditions. 

Tedros said there is an “urgent need” to establish a corridor so supplies can be transported in the region. 

“I think the estimate just last week was 2,000 people on oxygen, high-flow oxygen for Covid,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, said, adding that the number has likely risen since then, including people who need oxygen for non-Covid conditions. 

“Oxygen is not just life-saving in Covid, oxygen is life-saving full-stop. And you need it when you need it. You can’t wait until tomorrow for oxygen. You can’t wait until next week. You can’t be put on a waiting list for oxygen. You can’t stand in the queue for oxygen. Oxygen saves your life right now. And when you need it, you need it,” he said.

“If we do not get oxygen into the system and other critical drugs, people will die needlessly. Well, they’re dying needlessly start with, but there’s a secondary level of needlessness,” he added/

The United Arab Emirates surprised its Western allies last week when it abstained on a US-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The move amounted to a declaration of neutrality from one of America’s closest Middle East allies in a war that has polarized the international community.

Anwar Gargash, adviser to the UAE president, said taking sides “would only lead to more violence,” and that the UAE’s priority is “to encourage all parties to resort to diplomatic action and to negotiate to find a political solution.”

The war in Ukraine, which began less than two months after the UAE took a seat at the Security Council, has thrust the country’s changing foreign policy onto the world stage, showing how the Gulf state tries to juggle its ties between traditional allies and burgeoning partnerships. It also demonstrates the struggle faced by the West in getting unequivocal condemnation of Russia’s invasion from its allies.

The UAE called for a “peaceful solution” to the “Ukraine crisis in a way that guarantees the interests and national security of all parties,” the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi said in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. They also discussed energy cooperation.

Other Arab states have also refrained from condemning Russia’s invasion. Saudi Arabia, which counts Russia as its main partner in the OPEC+ alliance to coordinate oil output, said Tuesday it “supports international de-escalation efforts in Ukraine.”

The Arab League on Monday also called for de-escalation and restraint in a joint communique. Neither has condemned Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

The UAE’s apparent paving of an independent foreign policy comes amid Abu Dhabi’s frustration with the Biden administration’s treatment of issues of significance to the Gulf nation. Soon after Biden came to office, he removed the Iran-backed Houthi rebels from Yemen from the US list of terrorist organizations. Less than a year later, the Houthis have begun a campaign of fatal strikes on Abu Dhabi. The US has pledged to bolster UAE defenses, but Abu Dhabi wants a redesignation of the Houthis as terrorists.

In December, the UAE suspended talks for a $23 billion deal with the US to acquire F-35 fighter jets after the talks were stalled by the administration. Then, last month, it announced that it was buying fighter jets from China for the first time ever.

Meanwhile, ties with Moscow have only grown stronger.

Read the full report here.

Conditions on the ground in Ukraine will make it easier for Covid-19 to spread, Dr. Mike Ryan, director of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Program, said during a news briefing on Wednesday. 

“Anytime you disrupt society like this and put literally millions of people on the move, then infectious diseases will exploit that,” Ryan said.

“People are packed together, they’re stressed, and they’re not eating, they’re not sleeping properly. They’re highly susceptible to the impacts, first of all being infected themselves. And it’s much more likely that disease will spread,” he said.  

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organization is “deeply concerned” about reports it has received about attacks on health care facilities and workers. 

“We have received several unconfirmed reports of attacks on hospitals and health infrastructure, and one confirmed incident last week in which a hospital came under heavy weapons attack, killing four people and injuring 10, including six health workers. We are currently in the process of verifying several other incidents,” he said.

According to Johns Hopkins University data, Ukraine recorded a record high number of Covid-19 cases early last month, with over 45,000 reported on Feb. 4. And just about 34% of Ukraine’s population is fully vaccinated, according to JHU.

“There’s no doubt in this case, that the military operations, invasion, whatever you want to call it in Ukraine, is causing untold suffering to the people of Ukraine,” Ryan said. “WHO does not want to be drawn into the politics of that process.”

“From our perspective, we call on the parties, and particularly call on the government of Russia to reconsider its position in the light of the suffering that’s being generated in Ukraine,” he said. 

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at an event in Durham, North Carolina, on March 2.

Vice President Kamala Harris reaffirmed the United States stands with Ukraine saying Wednesday in North Carolina, “The eyes of the world are on the brave people of Ukraine.” 

“I do want to say a few words about the situation in Ukraine,” Harris began her remarks in Durham.  

Harris is visiting Durham Technical Community College to highlight the Biden administration’s investments in workers, one day after President Biden delivered his State of the Union address. 

“We stand with our allies and our partners on the side of knowing that we must always be vigilant in defending the ideals that we hold dear, and in cherishing and supporting and strengthening our friendships and partnerships around the world based on shared ideals and principles, and so with that, we all I know express our thoughts and our prayers and well wishes to the people of Ukraine,” Harris added.

Voting results are displayed on screens at the United Nations General Assembly on March 2.

The United Nations General Assembly just overwhelmingly voted to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It was a ringing global denunciation by the world against Russia.

The vote was 141 nations in favor of the move and five nations were against it, with 35 countries abstaining.

As the results were placed on the screen in the chamber, a rare standing ovation occurred.

The result while legally non-binding carries some political weight globally, though it is doubtful if it will change Moscow’s military aggression.

The resolution “also demands that the Russian Federation immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”

Before the resolution was put to vote, the Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya received a rare applause from the UN General Assembly chamber.

Shortly after the vote, UN Secretary-General António Guterres praised its message.

“The message of the General Assembly is loud and clear: End hostilities in Ukraine now. Silence the guns now. Open the door to dialogue and diplomacy now. The territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine must be respected in line with the UN Charter,” he said.

“We don’t have a moment to lose. The brutal effects of the conflict are plain to see. But as bad as the situation is for the people in Ukraine right now, it threatens to get much, much worse. The ticking clock is a time bomb,” he added.

The Russian delegation has arrived in Belarus for the second round of talks with Ukraine, head of Russian delegation Vladimir Medinsky told Russia 24, adding that the Ukrainian delegation has left Kyiv and is en route to Belarus for the talks.

They’re expected to arrive early morning Thursday local time (which is late Wednesday evening ET). 

“Belarusian special services fully ensure the safety in Belarus, and our [Russian] military has ensured a safety passage for their [Ukrainian delegation] movement through Ukraine,” Medinsky said and continued to thank Belarus for hosting the two delegations.

The delegations from Ukraine and Russia over the situation in Ukraine will be represented by the same members as during the first round, Russian state news agency RIA reported. 

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and European Council President Charles Michel visit Ukrainian-Polish border crossing in Korczowa, Poland, on March 2.

Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki defended his country after reports that border guards and security officials were giving preferential treatment to Ukrainians over people of other nationalities attempting to enter Poland.

“Poland serves all the people, all the people fleeing from war from all over the world and refugees of the every country of origin,” Morawiecki said while speaking at a news conference near Poland’s border with Ukraine.

He urged people not to fall “subject of any manipulation and any propaganda of Russia.”

Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova also said Wednesday that there is “no discrimination based on race or nationality” at Ukraine’s borders for foreign nationals seeking to flee the country in search of safety.

“We understand the will of foreign citizens to leave the territory of Ukraine for a safer place, and we are providing all possible assistance at the border, as we do for all our citizens,” Dzhaparova said.   

Addressing the UN Human Rights Council via video, Dzhaparova said that Russia’s military aggression “kills not only Ukrainians, but also foreign citizens” in Ukraine. 

More context: Foreign students told CNN that they were left waiting in freezing temperatures with no food, water or blankets to cross the border.

Andriy Demchenko, a spokesperson for the Border Guard Service of Ukraine, told CNN Monday that allegations of segregation at the borders are untrue and that the guards are working under enormous pressure at the borders but are working within the law.

A spokesman for the Polish Border Guard also told CNN Wednesday that there are fewer people crossing over from the Ukrainian side than in previous days.

Since Feb. 24, more than 453,000 people fleeing Ukraine have crossed the border into Poland, according to Poland’s Border Guard.

CNN’s Antonia Mortensen, Stephanie Busari and Pierre Bairin contributed reporting to this post.

Watch CNN’s Sara Sidner report on discrimination at the Poland/Ukraine border crossing, and how things have improved:

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02:18 - Source: cnn

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks at a UN General Assembly emergency special session on March 2.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called on other United Nations member states to hold Russia accountable for invading Ukraine in remarks at a UN General Assembly emergency special session on Ukraine, which she noted was the first such session in 40 years.  

Thomas-Greenfield said Russian forces are destroying infrastructure vital to the Ukrainian people, and Russian President Vladimir Putin seems poised to ramp up the invasion.

Some background: A Russian thermobaric multiple rockets launcher was spotted by CNN team south of Belgorod, Russia, near the Ukrainian border early Saturday afternoon. They are sometimes called “vacuum bombs” because they suck in the oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a powerful explosion and a large pressure wave that can have enormous destructive effects. There is no evidence that thermobaric weapons have been used in the conflict in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appealed for more help to face down the Russian assault as a 40-mile Russian military convoy continues to edge towards Kyiv.

What Biden has said: US President Joe Biden earlier today was asked if he believed Russia is committing war crimes, to which he responded, “We are following it very closely. It’s too early to say that.”

In her remarks, Thomas-Greenfield also praised Russian citizens protesting against the war and urged Russian soldiers to put down their weapons, placing the blame for the war solely at the feet of Putin.

“The truth is that this war was one man’s choice and one man alone: President Putin. It was his choice to force hundreds of thousands of people to stuff their lives into backpacks and flee the country. To send newborn babies into makeshift bomb shelters. To make children with cancer huddle in hospital basements, interrupting their treatments, essentially sentencing them to death. Those were President Putin’s choices. Now it is time to make ours,” she said.  

A cutaway camera from the UN showed the Russian ambassador listening through headphones. 

She concluded by encouraging member states to vote to approve a resolution criticizing Russia for the Ukraine invasion.

CNN’s Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.

Correction: The US ambassador to the UN said the US has seen video evidence of banned weapons being moved into Ukraine. She did not address if those weapons have been used. 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told his American counterpart on Wednesday that Ukraine needs additional deliveries of weapons “now.” 

In a tweet, Kuleba said he held a “productive call” with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the need to place further sanctions on Russia “until it stops its war against Ukraine and withdraws its forces.” 

“I emphasized: Ukraine needs additional deliveries of weapons, especially for our Air Force, now,” Kuleba said.

US Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez told CNN on Tuesday that the US is providing a “pipeline of assistance into Ukraine,” referencing a variety of lethal defensive systems that are being sent to the country. 

See Kuleba’s tweet:

An exterior view of the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC.

The US Justice Department said on Wednesday it is launching a special unit to help enforce sanctions against Russian government officials and oligarchs, targeting their yachts, jets, real estate and other assets.

The new task force, dubbed KleptoCapture, is part of the effort by the United States, European Union and other allies to punish Russia and Belarus for the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, using export restrictions and other financial sanctions.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the new task force will include prosecutors and federal agents and experts in money laundering, tax enforcement and national security investigations from the FBI, the IRS, the US Marshals Service and the US Postal Inspection Service.

US President Joe Biden, in his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, highlighted the effort: “To the Russian oligarchs and corrupt leaders who have bilked billions of dollars off this violent regime: No more.”

“We are joining with our European allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, and their private jets,” he added.

People stand next to a damaged military vehicle after a shelling near Kyiv on March 1.

Russia has lost roughly 3% to 5% of its tanks, aircraft, artillery and other military assets inside Ukraine — compared to Ukrainian losses of roughly 10% of its capabilities, according to two US officials familiar with the latest intelligence. 

US and western officials caution that those ratios are difficult to calculate and likely to change — not only because both sides continue to incur losses as the week-old war grinds on, but also because both Russian and Ukrainian forces are being resupplied. 

But the stark imbalance underscores grim assessments from US and western officials that despite a stiffer-than-expected resistance by Ukraine that has kept major cities out of Russian hands, it is still likely to be overwhelmed as Russia launches an intensified and less discriminate phase of its assault. 

And even despite western assistance, US officials say Ukraine is still vastly outgunned by Russia. Moscow has initially leaned heavily on its more modern precision cruise missiles, according to a source familiar with the intelligence, heavily degrading Ukraine’s military infrastructure. Meanwhile, Ukraine has continued to burn through its supply of shoulder-fired Javelin missiles.

“I’ve spoken to Biden many times, and I’ve told them many times that Ukraine will resist and fight stronger than anyone else but on our own against Russia we won’t manage it,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN’s Matthew Chance in an interview on Tuesday. 

Ukraine “need[s] the classic bits of kit now. They need bullets, they need bandages. They’re going to need fuel. They’re going to need ammunition, in addition to the humanitarian support to help with medical assistance, sustaining hospitals, both for combat wounded, and for civilians that are being hurt,” said a senior western intelligence official.

“And they’re going to need a lot in ammunition and weapons resupply, because the Russian force is both numerically and qualitatively superior,” this person said. 

Almost 6,000 Russian soldiers have died during the first six days of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, Zelensky claimed Wednesday morning. The senior western intelligence official said Wednesday morning that the western figure is similar — roughly 5,800 — but cautioned that “my number is from yesterday.”

US officials believe that Russia is now changing tactics, according to one American official. While Moscow started off with a more modern combined arms approach — one that also appeared to eschew targeting civilian infrastructure — it has now shifted to what this official called a strategy of “slow annihilation.” Officials anticipate continued heavy weapons bombardment and the possibility that “tens of thousands” of troops will march on major Ukrainian cities, this person said.

Another western official also said that there is a sense that the conflict may be shifting to a grinding war of attrition — not the flash campaign that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and US intelligence had suspected would cause the fall of Kyiv in a matter of days. 

US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he believes Russia is intentionally targeting civilians in Ukraine but declined to say whether he believed war crimes were being committed.

“It’s clear they are” targeting civilians, Biden said. 

Asked if he believed Russia is committing war crimes, Biden said, “We are following it very closely. It’s too early to say that.”

As the US looks for ways to punish Russia, Biden also reiterated that sanctioning Russian oil exports remained a possibility, though officials have cautioned that they will work to minimize the impact of such a move on US and global oil prices. 

“Nothing is off the table,” Biden said when specifically pressed on banning Russian oil exports. 

Separately, Biden also said it is up to Ukrainian leader Volodomyr Zelensky to decide whether he wants to remain in his country as it comes under siege by Russia. 

“I think it’s his judgment to make and we’re doing everything we can to help him,” Biden said as he departed the White House. 

Zelensky has said he is Russia’s top target during the invasion, and that his family is the second. The US has said previously it is providing a broad range of support for Zelensky, though hasn’t detailed what measures it’s taking to protect him 

CNN has reported previously that the US has discussed contingency plans with Zelensky about leaving Ukraine or relocating to Lviv. Zelensky has stated repeatedly he wants to stay in the capital. 

Biden and Zelensky spoke for about 30 minutes on Tuesday.

Members of Parliament applaud Ukraine's Ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko during a meeting at the House of Commons, in London, on March 2.

Members of UK parliament applauded Ukraine’s Ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko during a meeting on Ukraine at the House of Commons in London.

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told parliament that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions qualify as “war crimes.”

The Ukrainian government is calling on the United Nations to reconsider Russia’s status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Wednesday, questioning the legitimacy of Russia’s position on the council.

Speaking in televised address, Kuleba called for a “thorough and unbiased” legal review of Russia’s permanent membership.

“Everything depends on readiness and determination of the legal team of the UN secretariat to investigate this,” he added. 

Remember: Russia is one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, along with the United States, the United Kingdom, France and China. This position grants those countries veto power, which means that the council cannot adopt a resolution if any member votes against it regardless of its level of international support.

Businessman, Alisher Usmanov (R), receives Russia's Order of Merit for the Fatherland (3rd class) from the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, at a ceremony in the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, on November 27, 2018.

Jack Sweeney, a Florida teen who tracks Elon Musk’s private jet online, has a new aviation-themed target: Russian oligarchs and billionaires.

The 19-year-old, who rejected Musk’s $5,000 offer to delete his Twitter account, recently launched two new automated Twitter handles — @RUOligarchJets and @Putinjet — following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two profiles have amassed nearly 300,000 followers combined and provide nearly live updates of the private jets’ movements along with pictures of maps locating them.

Sweeney told the Wall Street Journal that people have long been telling him to start Twitter accounts like this, and those requests ramped up after sanctions took aim at Russia’s richest.

Russia’s oligarchs face economic chaos at home and punishment by the West after President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine. The United States and its allies have responded by sanctioning wealthy individuals who are close to the Kremlin.

Read the full story here.

A volunteer with a Ukrainian medical battalion said she is seeing her people die as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine.

Tata Marharian moved from her hometown in the Donbas region to the capital of Kyiv in 2015 to study international law, she told CNN’s Jim Sciutto in an interview.

Marharian said that she is convinced she and her fellow volunteers can make a difference.

“I’ve never been more lucky to be born in this country. We all are united, we all are consolidated, and one person maybe is powerless to make a difference, but trust me, we’re not one. There are a lot of people fighting here, back to back. So, yeah, we do have hope,” she said. 

She called Russia’s claims that its forces are not targeting civilians as “ridiculous,” saying that her hometown of Volnovakha is “on the verge of humanitarian crisis” and invading forces “bombed the hell out of it.”

“I know it is difficult for people to sort of realize the scale of the situation right now, but just imagine that there is a city and there is a town, small town, and you’ve spent there 17 years of your life. You drove your bike over there and you went to school, you said hello to your neighbors, you lived and loved, you laughed there, and then the other day you see the town, it’s completely bombed and there is not a single house … The last thing I want is for my beautiful Kyiv to repeat the destiny of my Volnovakha. I’ll do anything in my power to stop this aggression,” she said.

The most significant snowfall of the current conflict is forecast to spread across eastern Ukraine over the next couple of days, resulting in poor visibility, difficult travel conditions and widespread snowfall totals of more than 6 inches (or about 15 cm). 

While light snow is already falling in parts of the country, heavier snow will move in on Thursday as an area of low pressure moves northward from the Black Sea and along the eastern Ukrainian border with Russia on Thursday and Friday. This will bring periods of the heaviest snow and worst conditions on Thursday and Friday, lasting into Saturday. Key cities impacted include Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk.

Kharkiv and Donetsk could each see more than 8 inches (or 20 cm), falling mostly on Thursday/Friday in Donetsk and Friday/Saturday in Kharkiv.

In addition to the snow, winds will pick up with the passage of the storm system as well. Widespread wind gusts of 25-30 mph (40-50 kph) will be felt throughout the region over the next three days.

Cloud cover will also remain dense over most of the country through at least the next three days as a result of this weather system.

Temperatures will stay cold, around the freezing mark, through the weekend, though an even colder air mass looks to move in next week after the snow.

US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to ABC's 'Good Morning America' on March 2.

US Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday said “everything is on the table” as the US assesses economic sanctions imposed on Russia for launching an attack on Ukraine and continued to stress the US will not send troops to fight Russian forces in Ukraine. 

“What we are going to continue to do is stand firm with our allies in terms of reassessing what we are doing with sanctions. Everything is on the table for consideration, frankly,” Harris told NBC’s “TODAY Show.” 

Harris continued: “What we are not going to do and that must be said also, as the President has continuously said, we are not going to put US troops in Ukraine to fight the Russians on the ground or in the air. But we are firm in our preparedness to defend our NATO alliance and our allies, every inch of the NATO territory, and we will continue to do that.”

Harris told ABC’s “Good Morning America” the US is closely monitoring Russia’s actions and assessing whether there has been intentional targeting of civilians and a violation of international law. 

Harris said the US would continue to provide humanitarian assistance as well as security assistance to the people of Ukraine. 

Harris told NBC that Russia is already seeing the effects of the economic retaliatory measures the US has levied against the nation. 

“The ruble is in a free fall. What we’ve seen is the Russian stock market is closed. What we’ve seen is that Russia has received a credit rating of basically junk. So we know it’s having impact,” she said. 

Harris said she spoke on Tuesday with the leaders of Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Romania about how the US will continue to support its allies. 

She also praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying he “has shown extraordinary courage” and “has been an inspiration to all of us.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, London, on March 2.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine qualify as war crime.

Johnson also said that Putin had “gravely miscalculated” the Ukrainian response.

“In his abhorrent assault on a sovereign nation, he has underestimated the extraordinary fortitude of the Ukrainian people, and the unity and resolve of the free world in standing up to his barbarism,” he said.

“If Putin doubles down so shall we, further ratcheting up economic pressure and supporting Ukraine with finance, weapons and humanitarian assistance,” Johnson added, saying the UK “will continue to tighten the noose around Putin’s regime.”

“Putin must fail in his venture” and “I have no doubt that he will fail and that we will succeed in protecting Ukraine,” he said.

OPEC members and Russia agreed to stick to their current plan of gradually increasing output by just 400,000 barrels per day per month despite soaring prices following Russia’s invasion Ukraine.

OPEC said in a statement “that current oil market fundamentals and the consensus on its outlook pointed to a well-balanced market, and that current volatility is not caused by changes in market fundamentals but by current geopolitical developments,” adding that its next meeting will be on March 31.

This comes as global crude oil prices surged to more than $110 per barrel and the cost of natural gas skyrocketed to a new record in Europe on Wednesday as Russia’s escalating military campaign in Ukraine stoked fear in markets.

A confrontation between Ukrainian civilians and Russian forces in the town of Konotop ended with a defiant message from the town’s mayor and — according to the Ukrainian side — an agreement to preserve peace.

Konotop is a small town in the northeastern region of Sumy.

Social media video verified by CNN shows a Russian delegation emerging from city hall to be confronted by an angry crowd. One of the Russians appears to hold up two hand grenades as he returns to his vehicle, while onlookers shout abuse and jostle the Russians, chanting “shame.”

His vehicle and a Russian infantry fighting vehicle then left. 

The Sumy regional authorities reported that “in Konotop, the invaders came to negotiate with city authorities. According to Mayor Artem Semenikhin, the Russian military came out and told him to surrender the city. They threatened to fire artillery on the city.”

But the mayor “explicitly defied threats,” the authorities said.

There is a shout of approval, while some in the crowd said women and children should be evacuated.

“I’m voting for fighting back. But the decision has to be taken by everyone, because the artillery is aimed at us,” he said.

Later, Dmytro Zhyvytsky, head of Sumy region military administration, said an arrangement had been reached with the Russians.

“The conversation between my representative from the military administration and Russians in Konotop lasted about 12 minutes,” Zhyvytsky said. 

There has been no word from the Russian side about such an agreement.

Across Ukraine, there have been multiple instances of civil disobedience in the face of the Russian advance, with civilians blocking roads, standing in front of tanks and confronting Russian soldiers. 

Kateryna Yurko said that she and her friends have made several thousand Molotov cocktails in recent days.

Kateryna Yurko was in her store when the first missile hit the ground just across the street.

The impact shook her. It was very, very loud.

She and her employees ran to the basement, making it underground just before the next explosion. Yurko’s store is just across the road from Kyiv’s TV tower, which was hit by a Russian strike on Tuesday.

Five people were killed in the assault. There was still blood on the streets the next day.

The aftermath of Tuesday's explosion.

On Wednesday morning, Yurko was back at work sweeping up the shattered glass and debris. Most of her merchandise was gone. While most stores in Ukraine’s capital have been shut since the invasion started, she kept the store open because it stocks spare car parts, oil and other necessities.

Yurko said that the events of the last few days had hardened her resolve.

Yurko has three children and they all understand what is going on, she said. She showed off a video of her 5-year-old twin girls singing the national anthem. Yurko said her other child, who is 18, is volunteering with the Territorial Defense Forces, which is the volunteer military unit of the country’s armed forces.

Yurko showing off pictures of her family.

Yurko has also been cooking Ukrainian borscht and making Molotov cocktails for the Territorial Defense units.

Yurko said that she and her friends have made several thousand of the projectiles in recent days, using up 2 tonnes (4,400 pounds) of gasoline.  

Police officers remove the body of a passerby on March 2 after an airstrike that hit Kyiv's main television tower in Kyiv, Ukraine, the previous day.

More than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians have so far been killed during Russia’s ongoing invasion, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Wednesday. CNN has not been able to independently verify this figure.

“More than 2,000 Ukrainians died, not counting our defenders,” the service said in a statement before removing it.

CNN has reached out to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service for more information.

“Children, women and our defense forces are losing their lives every hour,” the statement said before it was removed. 

According to the service, some transport infrastructures, houses, hospitals and kindergartens have been “destroyed” by Russian forces over the last seven days. 

Meanwhile, the United Nations’ reported civilian death toll is far lower than the “more than 2,000” figure, although the UN has cautioned that the real toll is likely to be “much higher.” 

The United Nations High Commission for Human Rights said Tuesday that more than 500 civilian casualties had been reported in Ukraine by the UN – including at least 136 civilians killed and 400 civilians injured. 

“Most of these casualties were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, and air strikes,” the UN office said in a statement on Tuesday. 

“These are only the casualties we were able to cross-check, and the real toll is likely to be much higher,” the statement added.

This post has been updated to reflect that the statement from Ukraine’s State Emergency Service was removed.  

It’s just gone 3 p.m. in Kyiv, and fierce battles are being fought between Ukrainian and Russian forces throughout Ukraine.

Here’s what you need to know:

Talks to continue: A second round of Russia-Ukraine talks is set to take place today, according to a Ukrainian presidential aide.

The first round of talks on Monday lasted for five hours and ended without a breakthrough.

‘The real test’: US President Joe Biden used his annual State of the Union address to put forward a show of resolve that Western democracies stand firmly behind Ukraine, which Russia invaded last week.

Yet Biden made it clear that no US troops would be deployed to fight alongside Ukrainians, but the West would instead use sanctions and economic measures to, as he said, continue “inflicting pain on Russia and supporting the people of Ukraine.”

Biden also affirmed that US would staunchly defend its NATO allies, including those in Eastern Europe who are concerned that they, like Ukraine, could one day be the target of Russian aggression.

The fight for key cities: Russia’s military appears to be steadily advancing on key southern cities. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its forces now fully held Kherson, though Ukrainian authorities denied it, saying “some parts are under our control.”

Fighting also continues in nearby Mariupol, where heavy shelling left dozens injured, its mayor said. Russian troops and Russian-backed separatist have surrounded the city on three sides. The Kremlin hopes to take Mariupol to complete a land corridor that would link the Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 from Ukraine, with southern Russia. 

Kharkiv pummeled: Russian artillery and missile strikes have also pounded Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-most populous city. Videos posted to social media and confirmed by CNN have shown significant destruction in the northeastern Ukrainian city. One strike hit an apartment complex near a hospital on Tuesday, while Kharkiv’s regional police department and Kharkiv National University were struck Wednesday morning.

Ukrainian authorities said the “massive” shelling continued on Wednesday.

Targets in Kyiv: On Tuesday, Russian forces fired rockets near a TV tower in the Ukrainian capital, hours after warning of “high-precision” strikes on other facilities linked to Ukrainian security agencies. The rocket attack took out broadcasting hardware, raising fears that Russia is attempting to knock out the city’s communications infrastructure.

The UN said at least 136 people, including 13 children, have been killed in Ukraine since Thursday, February 24, though those figures are likely to underestimate the true toll.

Zelensky said in six days, almost 6,000 Russian soldiers have been killed. The Kremlin has not publicly shared any death toll.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested Wednesday that more US efforts to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for the invasion of Ukraine are coming as the US seeks to squeeze the Russian economy.

During an appearance on CNN, she touted the global unity from NATO and other countries aimed at “holding President Putin accountable,” citing sanctions steps and other announced moves. 

“The ruble has plummeted; they kept the stock market closed because it has been so devastating, and we’re seeing the impacts already,” she said, also pointing to military and security assistance for Ukraine as she said there is “more to come to continue to squeeze Putin.”

Pressed on whether the US will target Russia’s fuel exports, she said the US “wants to maximize the impact on President Putin” and those around him but made clear that the White House priority is to minimize the impact at home. 

But she added, “What he (Biden) does not want to do is topple the global oil markets or the global marketplace, or impact the American people more with higher energy and gas prices. And obviously, the announcement that was made yesterday to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve here and do that in the united way, in a coordinated way with the global community, is an effort to address that and mitigate the impact, but that’s something we heavily weigh.”

She reiterated Biden’s vow to not send US troops to fight in Ukraine but pointed to humanitarian and economic assistance.

Asked if the US is directly coordinating with its Ukrainian military partners, she said there was “absolutely” intelligence-sharing. But she declined to comment on whether US defense officials have been involved in military plans to stop the massive Russian convoy outside Kyiv, noting broadly that the US is in “regular, constant touch” with Ukrainian leaders.

She called Russia’s advances on civilian centers “frustrating,” “upsetting” and “horrifying.”

“This is a pattern of horror from President Putin and from the cronies around him,” she said.

Haas driver Nikita Mazepin at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on December 9.

Motorsport UK announced on Wednesday that the licenses issued to Russia and Belarus have been suspended “with immediate effect.”

The governing body for four-wheel in the UK said that no Russian and Belarusian licensed teams are approved to enter competitions in the country or participate in motorsports events.

The decision means that Haas’ Russian Formula One driver Nikita Mazepin will not be permitted to race in the British Grand Prix scheduled for July 3.

In addition, no Russian and Belarusian national symbols, colors, flags on uniforms, equipment and cars will be displayed at Motorsport UK permitted events.

He added: “It is our duty to use whatever influence and leverage we might have to bring this wholly unjustified invasion of Ukraine to a halt. We would encourage the motorsport community and our colleagues around the world to fully embrace the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee and do whatever we can to end this war.”

“Motorsport UK stands united with Leonid Kostyuchenko, the president of the FAU, the Ukrainian motorsport community and the Ukrainian people and calls for the violence to end with a peaceful resolution,” according to the statement.

On Tuesday, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the governing body for numerous motorsport events, determined at a World Motor Sport Council meeting to not bar Russian and Belarusian drivers from its motorsport competitions.

The area close to the city council building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, has been impacted by a military strike, according to local officials and videos geolocated by CNN.  

The videos and images show smoke rising near the administrative building in Ukraine’s second city, which has been battered by Russian strikes in recent days. 

Roman Semenukha, deputy head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, tweeted: “The cruise missile hit the building of the City Council in Kharkiv.” 

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The second round of talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine is set to take place today, with delegations expected to comprise of the same representatives present at the first round of talks on Monday.

“Now it’s official. The second round of talks between Ukraine and the occupier will take place today,” a Ukrainian presidential aide told CNN Wednesday.

“The delegations will be in the same composition,” the official added.

On Tuesday, Russian state news agency RIA said that the second round of talks would take place in Belarus, near the Belarus-Poland border.

The first round of talks on Monday lasted for five hours and ended without a breakthrough.

Read CNN analysis prior to the first round of talks here:

Ukrainian troops inspect the site following a Russian airstrike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Related article Is the Ukraine-Russia meeting a path forward or political sideshow? | CNN

(Left to right) IPC chief brand & communications officer Craig Spence, IPC President Andrew Parsons, IPC athletes council chairperson Jitske Visser and IPC Vice President Duane Kale at a press conference ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games, following the IPC governing board decision in regards to Russian and Belarusian athletes competing in the games at the Main Media Centre in Beijing, China, on March 2.

Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to participate as neutrals at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced Wednesday.

IPC said they will compete under the Paralympic flag and the Paralympic anthem. They will not be included in the medal table.

The Russian delegation must cover the Russian Paralympic Committee symbol on their uniforms in all official ceremonies and sporting competitions, the IPC said. The Belarus delegation must cover the Belarus flags on their uniforms in all official ceremonies and sporting competitions

In a statement IPC President Andrew Parsons said: “The IPC and wider Paralympic Movement is greatly concerned by the gross violation of the Olympic Truce by the Russian and Belarussian governments in the days prior to the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. The IPC Governing Board is united in its condemnation of these actions and was in agreement that they cannot go unnoticed or unaddressed.

“What we have decided upon is the harshest possible punishment we can hand down within our constitution and the current IPC rules. Post-Beijing 2022, we will also take measures with our 206 member organisations to determine whether any breaches of the Olympic Truce for future Paralympic Games could lead to the possible suspension or termination of an NPC.”

IPC also said that it will not hold any events in Russia or Belarus “until further notice.”

The news comes a day after IPC announced that Ukraine will send a full contingent of 20 athletes and nine guides to the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing.

The governing body tweeted a picture of the delegation with the message: “Ukraine’s Paralympic Team together earlier today before boarding for #Beijing2022.”

The IPC declined to share the delegation’s whereabouts due to safety concerns.

The Beijing 2022 Paralympics get underway on Friday with the opening ceremony before official competition begins on Saturday.

Videos posted early Wednesday show extensive damage to residential buildings in the town of Irpin, just west of the Ukranian capital of Kyiv.

Local authorities said a missile hit a residential building, and preliminary information indicated there were casualties. 

One video geolocated to Irpin showed two unidentified fighter aircrafts flying low overhead, followed by an explosion on the ground. The same incident filmed from another angle showed that part of an apartment building had been destroyed. 

Other social media video showed extensive damage to buildings on another street in Irpin, with a military vehicle still smoking.

One video from the Armed Forces of Ukraine showed Ukrainians soldiers moving among what appear to be the bodies of Russian soldiers. At least four bodies can be seen. 

The area around Irpin has seen extensive clashes since the Russian invasion began last week. 

 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says it is “unknown now when a new round of talks will take place” with Russia.

The Russian Central Bank has suspended transfers from the accounts of non-residents abroad in an attempt to avoid the withdrawal of funds due to sanctions imposed on the country, state news agency TASS reported Wednesday.

“Transfers by non-residents without a bank account are restricted to $5,000 or equivalent per month,” the bank added, according to the news agency.

The restrictions do not apply to Russian citizens or to foreign nationals from countries that are part of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The move comes as the Russian currency, the ruble, continues its downward spiral and the Moscow Stock Exchange remained closed for a third day in a row, in light of sanctions.

The UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees said 835,928 refugees have left Ukraine since February 24.

More than half of them (453,982) fled via Poland. Another 116,348 went to Hungary, according to the UNHCR.

Another 96,000 people moved to the Russian Federation from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions between 18 and 23 February. Those two regions are controlled by Russian-backed separatists. The Kremlin in February recognized them as independent states in defiance of international law.

The price of natural gas in Europe hit a record on Wednesday amid concerns from traders that its supply could be disrupted due to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Benchmark futures jumped as high as 194 euros ($215) per megawatt hour. That’s a 60% leap versus Tuesday and more than double where prices stood on Friday.

Russian pipe flows to Europe are continuing normally, according to Alex Froley, a market analyst at Independent Commodity Intelligence Services. But there’s “a lot of uncertainty and concern about how things could change,” he said.

Froley noted that the United Kingdom has banned Russian owned and controlled ships from its ports, which could disrupt shipments of liquefied natural gas from Russia that account for between 3% and 4% of the country’s gas supply.

As of 2019, the European Union imported more than 40% of its natural gas from Russia — more than any other country.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (2nd left) and Polish President Andrzej Duda (2nd right) speak with NATO officers at the military air base in Lask, Poland on March 1.

Poland will not send fighter jets into Ukraine, Polish President Andrzej Duda said Tuesday, adding that Poland is “not joining” the ongoing conflict as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. 

“We are not sending any jets to Ukraine because that would open military inference in the Ukrainian conflict. We are not joining that conflict. NATO is not party to that conflict,” Duda said. 

Speaking alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg during a press conference at Poland’s Lask airbase, Duda stressed that Poland and NATO will continue to “stand at the side of Ukraine.”

“Putin’s war affects us all and NATO allies will always stand together to defend and protect each other,” Stoltenberg said. 

“NATO is a defensive alliance. We do not seek conflict with Russia. Russia must immediately stop the war, pull out all its forces from Ukraine, and engage in good faith in diplomatic efforts,” he added.

In London, a sister remembers her brother killed on Ukraine’s frontline. In Glasgow, a truck driver gets a call from his wife in Lviv: war has arrived in their homeland. And in Connecticut, a university professor reflects on Putin’s unraveling.

For the Ukrainian diaspora, Putin’s war resonates deeply. We asked Ukrainians, expats and political experts from across the globe to weigh in. The views expressed in this commentary are their own.

Olesya Khromeychuk is a historian, writer and director of the Ukrainian Institute London. She told CNN that her elder brother, Volodymyr, was killed by shrapnel in 2017 in the conflict in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian truck driver and father-of-two Oleksandr Bilyy, spoke to CNN as he was crossing the Polish border into Ukraine. His words are lightly edited for clarity.

“On Thursday I woke up in Glasgow (Scotland) at 6.00 a.m., my wife calling me, telling me Russians were bombing our capital and our country. So that’s it. I drove my truck to London, picked up my car, and started driving to Poland – I arrived there Saturday.

“My family live in Lviv. I have two kids there. I’m a truck driver, I do jobs all over.”

Marci Shore is associate professor of modern European intellectual history at Yale University, focusing on 20th and 21st century Central and Eastern Europe. 

“This is no longer the master chess player, the shrewd grand strategist. He is no longer a rational actor, even in the coldest and most cynical sense. He seemed unwell and unhinged,” she said of Putin’s speech last Monday. 

Read the full article here:

Mandatory Credit: Photo by SERGEY KOZLOV/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (12828411z) A member of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine stands inside the damaged Kharkiv regional administration building in the aftermath of a shelling in downtown Kharkiv, Ukraine, 01 March 2022. Russian troops entered Ukraine on 24 February prompting the country's president to declare martial law and triggering a series of announcements by Western countries to impose severe economic sanctions on Russia. Aftermath of shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine - 01 Mar 2022

Related article 'He has decided to destroy the whole world': Six global voices on Putin's invasion of Ukraine

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves the 10 Downing Street, in London, on March 2, following a meeting with Ukraine's ambassador to Britain.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the “abhorrent attacks” on Ukraine in phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.

Zelensky thanked Johnson for the United Kingdom’s support and defensive aid, adding “it had been vital in holding back Russian forces,” the statement read.

Africans and non-Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s attack on the country should be assisted equally, Ukraine’s foreign minister stated Wednesday.

“Africans seeking evacuation are our friends and need to have equal opportunities to return to their home countries safely,” Dmytro Kuleba tweeted Wednesday.

“Ukraine’s government spares no effort to solve the problem,” Kuleba wrote.

People trying to leave Ukraine for their home countries told CNN they have been segregated and denied transportation out of the country by officials at the border. Some have allegedly been beaten in racist attacks.

Refugees from many diffrent countries - from Africa, Middle East and India - mostly students of Ukrainian universities are seen at the Medyka pedestrian border crossing fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, in eastern Poland on February 27, 2022.

Related article Foreign students fleeing Ukraine say they face racism at border

One Nigerian medical student, Rachel Onyegbule, told CNN that she and other foreigners were ordered off the public transit bus at a checkpoint between the Ukrainian and Polish border, adding that it then drove away with only Ukrainian nationals on board.

Saakshi Ijantkar, a fourth-year medical student from India, also shared her ordeal with CNN. She said she witnessed violence from the guards to the students waiting at the Ukrainian side of the Shehyni-Medyka border.

CNN contacted the Ukrainian army in light of the allegations of violence, but did not immediately hear back.

In a statement to CNN, Human Rights Watch said: “It is imperative that Ukrainian authorities issue crystal-clear guidance to all border posts that foreigners should not be singled out and hindered in their efforts to seek equal safety across the border. All civilians leaving the country should be treated humanely by authorities.”

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, at the extraordinary meeting of agency's board of governors in Vienna, Austria on March 2.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says it has received a request from Ukraine’s nuclear power authority “to provide immediate assistance in coordinating activities in relation to the safety of the Chornobyl (Chernobyl) NPP and other nuclear facilities.”

The request came as Russia notified the IAEA that its forces have taken control of the territory around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Tuesday. The Russian letter to the IAEA said personnel at the plant continued their “work on providing nuclear safety and monitoring radiation in normal mode of operation. The radiation levels remain normal.”

Social media video footage verified by CNN Wednesday showed workers at the NPP blocking access roads to the plant, one of the largest nuclear power plants in Europe. 

Russian forces seized control of the Chernobyl power plant in northern Ukraine, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, last week.

The IAEA said Grossi will be holding consultations and maintaining contacts in order to address Ukraine’s request.

The IAEA also said that on Tuesday, Ukraine informed the agency that all its nuclear power plants remained under the control of the national operator.

In an update Wednesday, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine (SNRIU) said it maintained communications with the country’s nuclear facilities and that they continued to operate normally.

The Zaporizhzhia plant is the largest of Ukraine’s nuclear power sites, with six out of the country’s 15 nuclear energy reactors.

The Russian economy is being impacted as a result of sanctions imposed by the West, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged when asked about US President Joe Biden’s remarks in his State of the Union speech.

“[The economy] will stay on its feet,” he concluded.

In his speech on Tuesday, President Biden said the Russian economy had been left “reeling” from all the sanctions.

Speaking to political leaders in Washington, Biden began the address by underscoring unity against Russia within the United States and among its allies.

He closed with a resounding sense of optimism and unity as the world watches Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying his confidence in the American people is what gives him assurance that democracy will prevail at this critical moment.

“Well, I know this nation. We will meet the test. To protect freedom and liberty, to expand fairness and opportunity. We will save democracy. As hard as these times have been, I am more optimistic about America today than I have been my whole life,” he continued.

The President said, “The state of the union is strong, because you, the American people, are strong.”

“We are stronger today than we were a year ago,” Biden added. “And we will be stronger a year from now than we are today. Now is our moment to meet and overcome the challenges of our time.”

On Tuesday, Peskov told CNN that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not be watching Biden’s State of the Union speech, but that he would get a written report on it.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin speaks at press conference in Beijing, China, on March 1.

China said it “will continue to play a constructive role in easing the tension over Ukraine,” after Ukraine’s top diplomat appealed to China’s foreign minister for their help in mediating a ceasefire in Russia’s invasion. 

“China always supports and encourages all diplomatic efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis, welcomes the launch of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and hopes that the two sides will continue the process of dialogue and negotiation and seek a political solution that accommodates the legitimate security concerns of both sides,” Foreign Minister spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in a briefing on Wednesday. 

On Tuesday, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi had a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, who said Ukraine is willing to maintain communication with China and “expects China’s mediation for the realization of a ceasefire,” China’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Wenbin’s comments come a day after China started evacuating its citizens from Ukraine.

Unlike nationals from many other countries, Chinese nationals in Ukraine did not receive instructions to leave the country before Russia’s invasion began. Prior to Russia’s attack, Chinese officials pushed back on warnings from the United States and its allies that an aggressive move from Moscow was imminent.

However, China appeared to change course this week.

Some 400 students based in the Black Sea port city of Odessa, and another 200 from the capital, Kyiv, left the country on Monday, according to state-run tabloid Global Times, which cited the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine. Another 1,000 citizens were expected to be evacuated into neighboring countries on Tuesday, it added.

The relentless rally in oil prices hit new milestones on Wednesday as Brent soared beyond $113 a barrel for the first time in nearly eight years on deepening concerns about Russia’s oil supply. 

Brent, the world benchmark, jumped 5.4% in recent trading to $110.20 a barrel. At one point it hit $113.02 – up nearly 8% on the day and the highest intraday level since June 2014.

US crude jumped another 4% Wednesday morning to $107.42 a barrel. US crude, also known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), spiked as much as 7.8% to $111.50 a barrel – the highest level since August 2013.

The rally reflects worries that the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and ensuing sanctions on the Kremlin, will disrupt Russia’s oil supply. The new milestones come less than a day after the International Energy Agency and the White House announced the release of 60 million barrels of emergency oil supplies.

Buildings on fire in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 2.

Authorities said central parts of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, continued to be subjected to “massive shelling and bombing” on Wednesday morning, while firefighting is “underway.”

At least four people were killed and nine were injured, while 10 were rescued from the rubble, emergency services said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the Russian government would consider all countries that introduce sanctions on the country to be “de facto unfriendly.”

In a conference call with reporters, Peskov said, “Judging by the measures that many countries are taking against us, they are now all de facto unfriendly. Whether they are on the list or not.

“In this case, the list is secondary. But the response to these unfriendly, hostile actions, must be analyzed, no one is going to shoot ourselves in the foot to harm someone. We do what we need to, what suits us, and we’re doing it with a sober head.”

The news comes as countries around the world are imposing fresh sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The European Union, United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland, Australia and Taiwan all hit Moscow with new injunctions over the weekend, condemning the military incursion that unfolded Saturday across the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Hundreds of workers and local people have blocked an access road to a Ukrainian nuclear power plant near the southeastern town of Enerhodar, as Russian forces advance in the area.

Videos posted to the Facebook page of the local authority showed a large crowd carrying Ukrainian flags blocking the road Wednesday morning.

Garbage trucks were also being used to block the thoroughfare.

Dmytro Orlov, mayor of Enerhodar, said on his Facebook page: “We conveyed the position of our city and its residents that the ZNPP [Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant] is under reliable protection, that its workers and residents of Enerhodar are under Ukrainian flags.”

“All municipal services are working in emergency mode. Nobody is going to surrender the city. People are determined,” Orlov added.

Russia informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that its military forces have taken control of the territory around the Zaporizhzhia plant, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a Russian delegation will be “in place” Wednesday for new round of talks with Ukraine, but gave no additional details about the location or format of the discussions. 

Peskov declined to give the location of possible talks. On Monday, talks took place been Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Belarus, not far from the Ukrainian border. The two sides discussed a potential ceasefire, according to a Ukrainian presidential adviser, but did not yield any concrete result.

The Kremlin spokesperson said he could not predict whether a Ukrainian delegation would show, adding, “we hope it happens.”

Read CNN analysis prior to the first round of talks here:

Ukrainian troops inspect the site following a Russian airstrike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Related article Is the Ukraine-Russia meeting a path forward or political sideshow? | CNN

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko speaks to CNN on March 2 from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko told CNN that while he has traveled the globe representing his country as a Hall of Fame boxer, right now he is “very proud to be Ukrainian.”

Klitschko also called for countries to support Ukraine, because it will be “difficult to survive” without it.

Klitschko said infrastructure – electricity, heating and water – are up and running in Kyiv. He said authorities are in direct communications with the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations, who have sent food and support that is en route to the Ukrainian capital.

What Kyiv really needs, Klitschko said, is “more hard sanctions against Russia.”

Klitschko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of attempting to remake the Soviet Union and make Ukraine “part of (a) Russian empire.”

The mayor said that Ukrainians will fight for “every square” and “every street” of Kyiv should Russian forces advance on the city.

The ex-boxer continued:

Watch the interview:

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Fierce fighting is continuing around Mariupol, as Russian and Russian-backed separatist forces have surrounded the southern Ukrainian city of about 400,000 people on three sides. 

Residents reported heavy shelling overnight, but Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said Ukrainian authorities were able to restore some mobile communications despite working as the city was being shelled and shot at.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said early Wednesday that the number of wounded civilians “is growing every day.”

Russian forces are hoping to take Mariupol to complete a land corridor that would link the Crimea with southern Russia. Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 from Ukraine.

The Ukrainian flag has been brought down at the country’s embassy in Moscow, Russian state news agency RIA reported Wednesday.

According to RIA, a sign indicating the building was home to the Ukrainian embassy was also removed and the doors sealed. 

The Ukrainian government severed diplomatic ties with Russia on February 24, after Moscow ordered an invasion of the country.

India is setting up an embassy in the Ukrainian city Lviv after evacuating all its citizens from the capital Kyiv, India’s foreign secretary Harsh Shringla told reporters late Tuesday.

He did not say if the embassy in Kyiv would be shut.

The Ministry of External Affairs declined to confirm to CNN if the Kyiv embassy had been shut.

Earlier this week, the Indian embassy in Kyiv had issued advisories for all Indian citizens to leave the capital.

“All of our nationals have left Kiev,” Shringla said Tuesday. 

So far, 12,000 of the 20,000 Indian citizens that were in Ukraine have left the country. Half of those remaining, around 4,000, are in conflict zones in the Kharkiv-Sumy region of Ukraine, while the rest are “out of harm’s way,” Shringla added.

The Indian ​Air Force also joined aid evacuation efforts by sending a C-17 aircraft to Romania early Wednesday, state broadcaster Doordarshan News reported.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has denied reports that the southern city of Kherson has fallen to the Russians.

Russian state media had previously reported that Russian troops had taken full control of the city.

Damaged buildings in Kharkiv, Ukraine, after a reported Russian strike on March 2.

Kharkiv’s regional police department and Kharkiv National University have been targeted in a military strike Wednesday morning, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service and footage geolocated by CNN. 

The videos show the buildings engulfed by fire and emergency personnel attending the scene. Three people were injured, according to a statement from the state’s emergency service.

A blast is seen near the TV tower in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 1.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has acknowledged it carried out long-range strikes with precision weapons targeting Ukrainian communications infrastructure, Russian military spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said in a Wednesday statement.

Ukrainian intelligence agency facilities were among the targets struck, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

On Tuesday, the area surrounding a TV tower in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv was hit by military strikes, videos and photos posted to social media, geolocated and verified by CNN, showed. The Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs also confirmed there was a military strike near the TV tower.

It was not immediately clear if the area around the tower was among the targets mentioned by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Soldiers are seen around piles of sand used for blocking a road in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on March 2.

The mood in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, is quiet and tense as morning dawns.

There are checkpoints throughout the city, and long lines in front of pharmacies as the city braces for another day of potential strikes and explosions, as Russian forces step up their assault.

CNN reporters on the ground saw one woman walking a dog on the street, but otherwise there’s hardly anyone out. Most are taking shelter in basements, bomb shelters and other underground spaces. Sand bags, anti-tank barriers and piles of concrete blocks are littered around the city checkpoints.

It’s wet today, a drizzle coming down. The many Territorial Defence Forces volunteers manning the checkpoints can be identified by their yellow armbands. Some are wearing camouflage, though others are dressed in civilian clothes – jeans, utility trousers, and newly acquired rifles hanging by their sides.

Local residents load sand bags onto the truck to defend the city, Odessa, Ukraine, on March 1.

The city center in Odessa is a ghost town. Barricaded with sandbags, this is a city ready for battle.

The bombing hasn’t started, but Ukraine’s third largest city on the southern coast appears as if it’s already under bombardment.

For days, Odessa’s residents have been warned of the possibility of a Russian amphibious landing. Young residents now know it is their turn to fight. Some civilians have already taken up arms.

Scarred from a war for the last generation, locals are on edge as Russian forces encroach on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast. They say this is just like an episode that causes their grandparents to burst into nervous tears when they recall the horror of 1941 during the assault by Nazi Germany.

A food hall has been hurriedly converted into a well-oiled machine designed to sustain the city’s youth with medicine and other essential supplies. The city’s nearby Opera House is fortified – just as it was more than eight decades ago.

One man, Nick, tells me he couldn’t help but weep after seeing a photograph of the building barricaded.

“It is impossible to imagine that this picture in reality, it is only our memory,” he said.

But while it can feel like everyone is staying to fight, trains are filling with people – young mothers and their children – desperate to escape.

They watched the chilling march of the Russians into the town of Kherson, about 125 miles (200 km) west of Odessa — a town where locals never imagined they would have Russian troops walking around the streets.

Heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk.

Just a few months ago, world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk was facing off against opponents in the boxing ring. Now, he’s back home in Ukraine, prepared to take up arms to defend his country.

When asked on Tuesday why he had returned, he replied, “What do you mean, why?”

He added that he didn’t want to kill anybody, but would do what was necessary to protect himself and his loved ones.

When asked if he was afraid, he said, “My soul belongs to the Lord, and my body and my honor belong to my country, to my family. So there is no fear. Absolutely no fear.”

The 35-year-old’s last appearance in the ring was in September when he became world heavyweight champion by winning a unanimous decision against Anthony Joshua.

Boxers fighting for Ukraine: Usyk is not the only boxing champion to take up arms to defend his country from Russia’s attack.

Former world heavyweight champion and Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko told CNN Tuesday he is proud of Ukrainian citizens for defending their country and sees the battle ahead as a fight for its future. Klitschko and his brother, fellow Hall of Famer Wladimir Klitschko, have both pledged to fight for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian three-weight world champion Vasily Lomachenko has joined a defense battalion in his home country, according to a post on his Facebook account.

Watch Usyk’s interview with CNN’s Don Riddell:

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Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, an Indian national killed during Russia’s shelling of Kharkiv on Tuesday, was a fourth-year medical student at Kharkiv National Medical University, India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla said at a news briefing late Tuesday.

“He had moved out to get some groceries and foreign exchange when he was killed,” his cousin Kantesh Gyanagoudar told CNN on Wednesday, adding that Naveen had planned to leave for Poland later that day.

Shringla said Naveen was in line to buy groceries at a shop when it was hit with shelling. 

Naveen had spoken to his father moments before he stepped out for groceries and to his mother earlier Tuesday morning, Kantesh said. 

As of Tuesday evening, his body was at a morgue in his university, Shringla said, adding that Indian officials are in touch with local authorities to repatriate his body. 

India’s Prime Minister “conveyed his deep anguish on the loss of the life of an Indian national.”

Shringla added that he had spoken to the ambassadors of Russia and Ukraine to “strongly” reiterate the “demand for urgent safe passage for all Indian Nationals who are still in Kharkiv and other cities in the conflict area.”

Some context: So far more than 9,000 Indian nationals have been evacuated while a “considerable number” are now in safer areas, an Indian official said Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Indian Embassy in Kyiv asked its citizens to urgently leave the capital as Russia’s military convoy closed in on the city, according to satellite images from Maxar Technologies.

Russian troops have taken full control of the city of Kherson, Russian state media reported Wednesday, citing defense ministry spokesperson Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov.

Civilian infrastructure, life support facilities and urban transport are working as normal, state news agency TASS reported Konashenkov as saying. 

CNN was unable to immediately verify the Russian MoD’s claims.

Some context: Screenshots posted to social media and a video obtained by CNN appear to show the Russian military in control of the city center, with military vehicles seen traveling along a roundabout in northern Kherson on Tuesday, and parked on Svobody Square in central Kherson.

An image from social media appears to show the Russian military in the centre of Kherson, Ukraine, on March 2.

This comes after several days of heavy fighting and shelling, with apartment buildings and civilian structures damaged. On Tuesday, the mayor posted a stark message on Facebook warning the city was under attack, and that “residential buildings and urban facilities are burning.”

A grab from a video published by ТРУХА, a local Kharkiv news outlet, shows a massive explosion and shockwave seen from the upper floor of a residential building on March 2.

The northeast city of Kharkiv in Ukraine has faced significant destruction, new videos posted to social media and obtained by CNN show.

The videos obtained by CNN have been geolocated, and their authenticity verified by CNN. 

In the videos, which were taken in the Kholodna Hora neighborhood in western Kharkiv, a number of buildings seen are badly damaged along Kholodhnohirska Stretet.

The area is home to a number of markets and stores, in addition to some residential buildings.

Kharkiv is the second-largest city in Ukraine, home to about 1.4 million people.

Explosions to the north: The damage in the city’s western area is unrelated to a major explosion that took part in the northern part of the city.

Yuriy Kochubej, a local Kharkiv resident, told CNN at least two large explosions rocked the city Tuesday evening near the Oleksiyivka neighborhood in northern Kharkiv, around 10 p.m. local time. 

In one video published by ТРУХА, a local Kharkiv news outlet, a massive explosion and shockwave is seen from the upper floor of a residential building. 

Suspilne News, Ukraine’s public broadcaster, spoke with the head of the local police who confirmed that fighting between the Russian and Ukrainian military had taken place overnight near a military hospital in Kharkiv. It’s unclear at this time whether the explosion is related to the reported fighting.

The Moscow stock exchange will not open for trading Wednesday for the third day in a row, the Russian Central Bank said in a statement.

However, limited operations will be allowed for the first time this week. 

Russian economy tanks: Russia has been scrambling to prevent financial meltdown since the United States, European Union and other Western allies imposed sanctions on much of the country’s banking system, including freezing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of foreign reserves Moscow had been stockpiling for years to shield the Russian economy.

The Russian ruble has plunged, and shares in Russian companies listed overseas have crashed. Several Western businesses have abandoned Russia since the invasion began, including oil giant BP, Shell and Exxon Mobil.

Russia’s brutal onslaught of Ukraine is raging on multiple fronts, but despite desperate pleas for more international assistance, the country faces Moscow’s offensive largely alone.

Key cities in Ukraine were attacked from several sides Tuesday, with Russia launching strikes on buildings in the center of the capital Kyiv, and scaling up its bombardment of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.

Russian military appears to have taken central Kherson after heavy shelling, with video and social media posts verified by CNN providing new evidence that the Russians are moving throughout the southern Ukrainian city apparently unimpeded.

But while the US and NATO allies have aided Ukraine by sharing arms, military equipment and intelligence while imposing dramatic sanctions on Russia, the alliance has thus far made clear it has no plans to send soldiers into Ukraine – a position US President Joe Biden reiterated in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, has mounted a fierce resistance, but in a rare interview from a Kyiv bunker Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that his country – which has a much smaller military than Russia – needs more help to prevent the crisis from spreading across Europe.

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Sviatoslav Yurash, Ukraine’s youngest member of parliament, told CNN on Tuesday he and other Ukrainians were determined to keep fighting Russia’s assault on the capital Kyiv.

Life during war: He described life in Kyiv as having changed “immensely,” as citizens brace themselves for the Russian attack.

Money, for instance, no longer has any real value during wartime – meaning people are exchanging goods instead, he said. His neighborhood is quiet and empty, while military recruitment stations are full.

But supplies such as food and ammunition are running low. “Nothing is enough,” he said. So he and his team spend their time organizing supplies, distributing food, providing weaponry and medicine, and “trying to be useful in the defense of our capital,” he said.

Some of his assistants with military backgrounds are now out in the combat field, leading platoons and helping construct barricades.

US State Secretary Antony Blinken said in a tweet Tuesday he was “appalled” by the missile attack close to the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial in Kyiv.

The Holocaust memorial site was hit by a missile, Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday.

“Putin seeks to distort and manipulate the Holocaust to justify an illegal invasion of a sovereign democratic country is utterly abhorrent,” said Natan Sharansky, advisory board chair of the site. He added it was “symbolic” that the attack happened where an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 people were shot by the Nazis.

Nearly a week since Russia began its invasion, President Vladimir Putin’s troops have occupied several of Ukraine’s border regions and are stepping up attacks on Kyiv.

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South Korea will ban financial transactions with seven major Russian banks and their affiliates as part of its economic sanctions on Russia.

The country’s Finance Ministry on Tuesday released a detailed plan on the sanctions after consulting with the US Department of the Treasury.

The seven Russian banks are Sberbank, VEB, PSB, VTB, Otkritie, Sovcom and Novikom.

The ban will follow the US’ grace period for sanctions, and exceptional transactions will be allowed for agriculture, Covid-19 medication and energy support.

The ministry “strongly recommended” local public and financial institutions stop their investments in Russian government bonds issued after Wednesday.

South Korea will also “immediately” block Russian banks from the SWIFT global payments system as soon as the European Union specifies its detailed plan, the ministry added.

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine — and warned of further measures to punish Russia.

“We are joining with our European allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, and their private jets. We are coming for your ill-begotten gains,” he said.

The US is also closing its airspace to Russian aircraft, joining a number of countries that took similar measures this past week, “further isolating Russia,” Biden said.

“Putin has unleashed violence and chaos. But while he may make gains on the battlefield — he will pay a continuing high price over the long run,” Biden said.

US President Joe Biden sounded an optimistic note in wrapping his first State of the Union address, citing the response of the American people and lawmakers in the House chamber to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a reason to be confident in the face of a critical moment.

In a speech that focused on the war in Ukraine before pivoting to domestic challenges, Biden said the American people are ready for the task ahead of them in keeping the world united in the face of autocracy.

Standing ovation: Speaking to political leaders in Washington, Biden started his State of the Union address by sending a resounding message to the world: The West is united in its response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and condemns the Russian leader for his aggression. Near the beginning of the speech, Biden encouraged all in the chamber to show that support with a resounding standing ovation and said the US and its allies have “an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny.”

Biden noted that Putin’s aggression had only made the world’s democracies strengthen their resolve to counter rising autocracies.

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A Russian military strike Tuesday tore through two apartment blocks in Borodjanka, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the center of Kyiv.

A Russian military strike in the small Ukrainian town of Borodjanka on Tuesday tore through two apartment blocks, videos on social media show.  

Borodjanka, located about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the center of Kyiv, is the latest civilian area facing a hail of Russian munitions as President Vladimir Putin’s forces advance on the capital.

CNN is unable to verify whether there were any injuries or fatalities in the military strike in Borodjanka. CNN has reached out to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry for comment but has not yet received a response.

The videos from Borodjanka have been geolocated, and their authenticity verified by CNN. 

Videos showed a restaurant on the first floor of the complex reduced to rubble. A number of people, bundled in heavy coats, are shown running away. Additional videos show the extent of the destruction, with the ground behind the complex littered with burning cars.

Parts of the apartment buildings have collapsed, with significant portions missing from the facades. A playground nearby is on fire, with the swinging benches and slides strewn with rubble and splintered trees.

“A plane flew by twice dropping three or four bombs here,” another man says in the one of the videos. “Cries can be heard (from inside the rubble). We are trying to find out if anyone’s still alive (in there), based on their sounds. Good Lord!”

Back in front, near the destroyed walls of the restaurant, another video shows the roadway littered with debris and the twisted metal frame of a vehicle.   

A missile hit a private maternity clinic near Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday, according to the Adonis maternity clinic chief Vitaliy Gyrin’s Facebook post. 

Gyrin also specifically asked people not to come to the clinic, “Most important is do not come now to get anyone from here. Everyone is in a secure place and in safety. This is for sure.”

Gyrin also posted photos on his Facebook page that show the damaged building of the Adonis clinic.

Airstrikes that targeted Kyiv on Tuesday hit the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial site in the city, according to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak. The memorial is located near the Kyiv TV Tower, which was also damaged on Tuesday.

CNN’s Matthew Chance was interviewing Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky when Yermak advised Zelensky that the Holocaust memorial was struck. The exchange between Yermak and Zelensky was captured by a CNN camera.  

The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Site has since released a statement confirming the remembrance site was struck by Russian forces.

According to a statement, the memorial’s Advisory Board Chair Natan Sharansky said:

The statement continues, “We remind the Russian leadership that Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mariupol and other Ukrainian cities were last subjected to massive bombing by Nazi Germany during World War II, now they are burning under the blows of Putin’s army, under the false and outrageous narrative of ‘denazifying’ Ukraine and its people.”

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on Tuesday calling on the European Union institutions “to work towards granting” Ukraine the status of EU candidate country, it said in a statement.

The resolution, which also demanded the EU to impose “tougher sanctions” on Russia, was voted in favor by 637 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). It condemned “in the strongest possible terms Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and demands that the Kremlin end all military activities in the country.” 

The members also stressed that the EU’s financial sanctions against Russia should go further, stating that “all Russian banks should be blocked from the European financial system and Russia should be banned from the SWIFT system.” 

The lawmakers pushed for the extension of a range of sanctions including the SWIFT ban on Belarus in return for its “direct support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.” 

They also called on EU countries to send Ukraine “defensive weapons more swiftly, in line with Article 51 of the UN Charter, which allows for individual and collective self-defense.” 

Finally, all sanctions aimed at individuals responsible for “high-level corruption” in Russia and Belarus including oligarchs and officials should be adopted “swiftly,” it said.  

EU countries operating residence by investment schemes or golden visas as they are commonly known should “review all beneficiaries of such residence status and revoke those attributed to Russian high-net-worth individuals and their families, in particular those linked to sanctioned individuals and companies.” 

The top general who oversees the US nuclear weapons and nuclear capabilities said Tuesday that he is “satisfied” with the US defensive posture right now, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin’s recent announcement he has put his country’s deterrence forces on high alert.

US Strategic Command Admiral Charles Richard made the comments during a House Armed Services committee hearing. 

Richard participated in the hearing virtually from US Strategic Command headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. He told lawmakers he stayed in Nebraska to make sure he can “assess and be satisfied in terms of our defensive posture.” 

Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Sasha Baker said the Defense Department is “comfortable with our strategic defensive posture,” echoing Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s previous statements.

The United Kingdom on Tuesday introduced new sanctions against Russia, including a ban on ships with Russian connections from accessing British ports, the government said in a statement. 

Additional economic measures, “including against the Russian Central Bank and the state’s sovereign wealth fund, also mean the majority of Russia’s financial system” is now covered by UK sanctions, the statement read. 

Starting on Tuesday, “I’m instructing all UK ports to turn away any vessel that is flagged, registered, owned, or operated by Russia,” British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said.

“By banning Russian ships from our ports, we are further isolating Russia and crushing its economic capabilities, starving Putin’s war machine.”

Sizable Ukrainian populations in the United States and a bipartisan group of lawmakers are pressuring the Biden administration to act on the growing refugee crisis as a result of Russia’s invasion. 

The recent resettlement of Afghan evacuees has, to a degree, set expectations among Ukrainians in the US, desperate to have their family with them.

While most Ukrainian refugees are headed to other parts of Europe, Biden administration officials are preparing to send money to help with the cause, in the absence of an onslaught of refugees arriving to the US in the immediate future. 

More than half a million people are already spilling into neighboring countries, including Poland, Moldova and Slovakia, in what the United Nations refugee agency said could become “Europe’s largest refugee crisis this century.” Countries in the region have become the first destination for those desperately seeking refuge. 

That stands in contrast to the evacuation out of Afghanistan last summer, when the US took in thousands of Afghans who had worked for or on behalf of the US during the decades-long war. 

The Biden administration made a series of accommodations to relocate more than 76,000 Afghans after the fall of Kabul in August. As of now, it’s unclear whether those authorities, like humanitarian parole and special refugee designations, will be similarly extended to Ukrainians. 

A State Department spokesperson said the administration is working with European allies and partners, as well as international organizations and NGOs, “to support those displaced internally within Ukraine and those who may seek safety in neighboring countries.”

Prior to the conflict in Ukraine, there had already been a steady stream of Ukrainian refugees to the United States in recent years. Dmytro, a Ukrainian national, arrived in the US and resettled in Michigan only weeks ago. The feeling is bittersweet.  

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A woman hugs a girl as refugees from Ukraine wait for a transport at the Moldova-Ukrainian border's checkpoint near the town of Palanca on March 1, 2022. (Photo by Nikolay DOYCHINOV / AFP) (Photo by NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article US braces for Ukrainian refugee crisis

The United States remains in regular contact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky through a secure satellite phone that the US gave the Ukrainian government last month before the invasion occurred, according to a US official familiar with the matter.

Previously most secure communications between the Ukrainians and US officials went through the US Embassy in Kyiv, two US officials said. When the US was preparing to evacuate the embassy, and as fears mounted about the Russian invasion which is now occurring, the US sent the phone that is now being used to their Ukrainian counterparts. 

The secure phone allows Zelensky to remain in contact with the US while he’s mobile, the official added. Zelensky has made clear he intends to remain in the country and he is currently moving around to multiple locations in Kyiv that are protected with a significant security presence, CNN has reported. 

Previously, Zelensky had filmed video messages of himself speaking in front of monuments or other recognizable buildings but his speech to the European Parliament Tuesday was given via video feed from a nondescript room decorated only with a Ukrainian flag. 

The US provided a similar satellite phone to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, the official said. The phones requires electricity but can operate off of a generator or energy from a car if needed. 

Initially it took a few days for the Ukrainians to get the satellite phones up and working because the instructions on how to use it were in English, not in Ukrainian.

Zelensky and US President Joe Biden spoke as recently as Tuesday, according to the Ukrainian President and White House.

The National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.