Russia-Ukraine crisis: White House says US should be on lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine

Crude oil prices surged Wednesday as the United States banned Russian energy imports, while nickel prices rocketed to a record peak on Russian supply fears. This comes as President Joe Biden banned Russian oil and other energy imports to the US, piling pressure on Putin. Meanwhile, Russia said there has been "some progress" in talks with Ukraine. Stay tuned on DH for more updates.

White House says US should be on lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine in light of Russia's false claims

US conclusively rejects 'high risk' Polish jet transfer to Ukraine

US weighing sanctions on Russian nuclear power supplier Rosatom

Ukraine government preparing potential move of data and servers to another country - senior cybersecurity official

IAEA says it has lost remote data transmission from it safeguard systems at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc said on Wednesday it would suspend all new development activity in Russia and had closed its corporate offices in Moscow, following the invasion of Ukraine

White House slams 'barbaric' use of force after Ukraine hospital strike

Sergei Lavrov lands in Turkey for talks with top Ukraine diplomat

UK Defence Ministry says the Russian Ministry of Defence has confirmed the use of TOS-1A weapon system in Ukraine, this uses thermobaric rockets, creating incendiary and blast effects

Deutsche Bank says has very limited Russia exposure

Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday its exposure to financial markets in Russia and Ukraine was very limited.

"Our direct exposures are currently very limited and tightly managed. Second- and third-order effects of the current situation, including sanctions and cybersecurity risk, are being carefully evaluated and monitored," Stuart Lewis, the bank's chief risk officer said in a statement.

Deutsche Bank has reduced its Russian exposure and local footprint significantly since 2014, with further reductions in the past two weeks, the bank added. - Reuters.

After Ukraine attack, UN says no health facility 'should ever be a target'

Britain calls on all G7 members to ban Russia oil imports

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Wednesday called on the entire G7 to ban Russia oil imports, saying the world's leading economies should "go further and faster" in punishing Moscow and President Vladimir Putin for invading Ukraine.

"We must double down on our sanctions. That includes... the G7 ending its use of Russian oil and gas" and a ban on Russian banks using the SWIFT bank messaging system, Truss said in a joint press conference at the US State Department alongside Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"Now is not the time to let up. Putin must fail," she added. - AFP.

UK's PM calls attack on Ukraine children's hospital 'depraved'.

Russia says Ukrainian forces struck power lines supplying Chernobyl plant

Russia's defence ministry accused Ukrainian forces of attacking power lines and a substation feeding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in what it said was a "dangerous provocation", the Russian news agency Interfax reported.

Ukraine said earlier there was a danger of a radiation leak after electricity was cut off to the plant during fighting between Ukrainian troops and Russian forces who are occupying the defunct power station, but the UN nuclear watchdog saw "no critical impact on security". - Reuters.

17 staff wounded by air strike on Mariupol children's hospital, official says - AFP

Ukraine says 1,170 civilians killed in Mariupol since start of invasion

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy accused Russia on Wednesday of carrying out an air strike on a hospital in the southern port city of Mariupol in which he said children were among people "under the wreckage." (Reuters)

Canada will send an additional $50 million worth of military equipment to helpUkrainein the fight against Russia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday in Berlin. (AFP)

Canada's Trudeau says need to be mindful of escalating Ukraine-Russia conflict, want to deescalate it

The loss of power at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant inUkrainedoes not have any critical impact on safety, the UNnuclear watchdog said in a statement on Wednesday. (Reuters)

Russia continues to hold 400,000 Ukrainians hostage in Mariupol, claims Ukraine

"Russia continues holding hostage over 400,000 people in Mariupol, blocks humanitarian aid and evacuation. Indiscriminate shelling continues. Almost 3.000 newborn babies lack medicine and food. I urge the world to act! Force Russia to stop its barbaric war on civilians and babies!" Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's minister of foreign affairs, posted on Twitter.

Oligarchs, members of Duma among 160 on EU blacklist

The European Union will implement sanctions on 160 Russians over the invasion of Ukraine. Among them, there are oligarchs and members of the State Duma of Russia.

(KyivPost)

Russian plane shot down over Kyiv

The remains of a Russian SU-27 shot down over Kyiv. The pilot ejected, but the parachute did not open.

(NEXTA)

The EU has agreed on a ban on the provision of euro banknotes to Belarus

10 killed, nine wounded due to shelling in Severodonetsk

InSeverodonetsk,as a result of the occupants' shelling, 10 people were killed and 9 wounded The head of the Luhanskregional military administration, Serhiy Gaidai, spoke about the situation in the region and stressed that shelling continued.

(NEXTA)

More than 10 attempts made to kill Zelenskyy

There have been at least 10 assassination attempts on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since the start of Russia's invasion almost a fortnight ago.

(KyivPost)

Zelenskyy speaks with Spanish Prime Minister

Russia considers its claims thatUkraineconducted military biological programmes as an important issue for the whole world, which needs to know the truth, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. (Reuters)

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the United States had declaredeconomicwaron Russia and that Moscow would think seriously about what to do after U.S. President Joe Biden imposed a ban on Russian oil and other energy imports. (Reuters)

Radioactive substances could be released fromUkraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant because it cannot cool spent nuclear fuel after its power connection was severed,Ukraine’sstate-run nuclear company Energoatom said on Wednesday. (Reuters)

Ukraine state power grid operator said Russian forces have disconnected Chernobyl nuclear plant from grid.

Ukraine state power grid operator said Russian forces have disconnected Chernobyl nuclear plant from grid.

Ukraine President said foreign partners will be responsible for humanitarian catastrophe if they don't implement no-fly zone.

Russia says 'some progress' being made in talks with Ukraine

Russia said Wednesday negotiations with officials from Kyiv to resolve the conflict inUkrainewere making headway and underscored that Moscow's troops were not working to topple the Ukrainian government. (AFP)

EU has agreedto toughen sanctions on Russia, Belarus over Ukraine.

Russia's Lavrov to hold talks with Ukrainian counterpart in Turkey

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday travels to Turkey where he will have talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, the TASS news agency cited the Russian foreign ministry as saying.

Civilians start leaving Ukraine's Sumy in private cars

Civilians in private cars started leaving the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Wednesday after a "humanitarian corridor" was established for a second successive day, Sumy Mayor Oleksandr Lysenko said in televised comments.

JUST IN | Russia, Ukraine agree day-long evacuation corridors

JUST IN | 10 dead in shooting in Severodonestk in eastern Ukraine

Ukraine: Plant staff forced to record address

Ukraine's energy minister said Russian forces that now control a Ukrainian nuclear plant are forcing the exhausted staff to record an address that they plan to use for propaganda purposes.

Russian troops have been in control of the Zaporizhzhia plant, the largest in Europe, since seizing it an attack on Friday that set a building on fire and raised fears of a nuclear disaster. It was later determined that no radiation was released.

Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said on Facebook that about 500 Russian soldiers and 50 pieces of heavy equipment are inside the station.

Aid to Ukraine: What's the status?

Additional air-defense capabilities are the No. 1 priority for Ukraine, Maj. Gen. Borys Kremenetskyi, the defense attaché with the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, said Tuesday after visiting the Pentagon.

“It can be ground-based air-defense systems. It can be fighter jets, whatever possible,” Kremenetskyi told The Associated Press.

He said there are countries around the world that have Soviet-produced air-defense systems that the Ukrainians know how to operate.

“The US government can also motivate those countries to provide us this equipment,” he said.

Poland said Tuesday that it would give all of its MiG-29 fighter jets to the US, which Ukrainian pilots are trained to fly. But the Pentagon responded that Poland's offer to give the jets to the US so they can be passed to Ukraine is not tenable and raises serious concerns for the NATO alliance.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the US will continue to talk to Poland about the matter.

How are evacuations going in Ukraine?

Vereshchuk said 5,000 people were evacuated from Sumy. The Russian military gave a different number, saying 723 people were evacuated from the city and identifying them as mostly citizens of India, with the rest from China, Jordan and Tunisia. It made no mention of Ukrainians among the evacuees.

But the planned evacuation of civilians from Mariupol failed because Russian troops fired on a Ukrainian convoy carrying humanitarian cargo to the city that was later going to ferry people out, Vereshchuk said.

Natalia Mudrenko, an official with Ukraine's U.N. mission, accused Russia of effectively holding civilians “hostage” and said “the critical situation” in Mariupol and other cities demands immediate action by world leaders and humanitarian and medical organizations.

She told a UNSecurity Council meeting Tuesday afternoon that civilians, mostly women and children, “are not allowed to leave and the humanitarian aid is not let in.”

The Russian military has denied firing on convoys and accused Ukraine of blocking the evacuation effort.

Repeated attempts to create safe evacuation corridors have failed since last weekend amid continuing fighting and objections to the proposed routes.

Air alert in Kyiv

JUST IN | An air alert has been declared in and around Kyiv and residents have been urged to get to bomb shelters as quickly as possible

Harris's trip to Poland, Romania will focus on next steps against Russia

USVice President Kamala Harris will collaborate with Poland and Romania on next steps to respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and reassure them of Washington's support during her meetings with leaders of both countries starting Thursday.

The countries have been increasingly anxious about Russia's aggression in the region and are NATO's easternmost members. They share a border with Ukraine, where thousands of refugees are flooding in.

Harris will focus on ways NATO members can implement the economic sanctions put in place and how they can stay aligned and move forward together, senior administration officials said.

Russia-Ukraine crisis: Women suffer the brunt of war

In war, the consequent humanitarian crisis often deepens and creates new inequities within the dominating patriarchal structures. As a result, women bear the disproportionate burden of conflict with various forms of brutal dehumanising, including rape, violence, torture, exploitation, routinely used against them. With the intensification of the Russian offensive, what is unfolding in Ukraine is no different, where the ongoing war has brought on a devastating toll for women.

Read more

Ukraine aid grows to near USD 14B in USD 1.5T government bill

A US aid package for Ukraine and its Eastern European allies grew to around $14 billion on Tuesday as lawmakers put finishing touches on a $1.5 trillion government-wide spending bill that leaders hope Congress will enact by week's end.

Democrats and Republicans rallied solidly behind the Ukraine aid, with Russia's attack devastating parts of the country and prompting Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II.

Negotiators said the package of military, humanitarian and economic aid to the region had grown close to $14 billion, up from $12 billion just Monday and President Joe Biden's $10 billion request last week.

Russia now global economic pariah, claims Biden administration

Russia has become a global economic pariah after it attacked Ukraine and the international community has joined the US in imposing tough sanctions against Moscow, the Joe Biden administration has claimed.

US President Biden termed the package of economic sanctions enforced against Russia "most significant in history" and claimed that it has caused consequential damage to the Russian economy.

IMF board to consider $1.4 bn in funding for Ukraine

The International Monetary Fund's executive board is poised to approve on Wednesday $1.4 billion in emergency funding for Ukraine to help it respond to Russia's invasion, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday.

Georgieva told a forum hosted by the Financial Times that the funding came on top of $700 million disbursed to Ukraine by the IMF in December, and $2.7 billion in emergency reserves it received as part of an IMF allocation in August.

In nod to Russia, Ukraine says no longer insisting on NATO membership

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is no longer pressing for NATO membership for Ukraine, a delicate issue that was one of Russia's stated reasons for invading its pro-Western neighbour.

In another apparent nod aimed at placating Moscow, Zelenskyy said he is open to "compromise" on the status of two breakaway pro-Russian territories that President Vladimir Putin recognised as independent just before unleashing the invasion on February 24.

IAEA says loses contact with Chernobyl nuclear data systems

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is no longer transmitting data to the UN's atomic watchdog, the agency said Tuesday, as it voiced concern for staff working under Russian guard at the Ukrainian facility.

On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine and seized the defunct Chernobyl plant, site of a 1986 disaster that killed hundreds and spread radioactive contamination west across Europe.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi "indicated that remote data transmission from safeguards monitoring systems installed at the Chornobyl NPP had been lost", the agency said in a statement.

Not all our allies currently in position to join us: US official on banning import of Russian oil

The United States administration has said that it consulted its European allies before banning the import of Russian oil and gas while stressing that it recognizes not all of its partners were in a position to follow suit.

By an executive order signed on Tuesday, Biden banned the import of Russian crude oil and certain petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, and coal.

Putin's war hurting American families at gas pump, will do everything to contain price hike: Biden

Russia's war against Ukraine has hurt American families with gas prices shooting up and it is going to rise further, US President Joe Biden said after announcing a ban on the import of Russian oil and gas.

Biden, however, promised of doing everything he can to minimize "(Russian President Vladimir) Putin's price hike here at home".

Ukraine-Russia crisis: What we know so far

*President Joe Biden banned Russian oil and other energy imports to the United States, piling pressure on Vladimir Putin to halt the assault on Ukraine, but an effort to evacuate civilians from the besieged port city of Mariupol failed.

*Biden acknowledged the ban on Russian energy imports, which has bipartisan support, would drive up U.S. energy prices. * Britain said it aimed to phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022.

*Ukrainian troops repulsed efforts by Russian forces to enter the eastern city of Kharkiv, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said. * Russian forces have repeatedly tried to seize the southern regional capital of Mykolayiv in attacks that have been repulsed by Ukraine.

*McDonald's Corp, Starbucks and L'Oreal are temporarily closing all outlets in Russia. Coca-Cola and Pepsi suspended soda sales in the country. * Unilever became the first major European food company to stop imports and exports out of Russia.

Any Russian aircraft entering UK commit "criminal offence," UK's Shapps says

British transport minister Grant Shapps said in a tweet on Tuesday that any Russian aircraft to enter UK airspace will now be a "criminal offence."

"I have made it a criminal offence for ANY Russian aircraft to enter UK airspace and now HMG can detain these jets," Shapps said in a tweet. (Reuters)

In nod to Russia, Ukraine says no longer insisting on NATO membership

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is no longer pressing for NATO membership for Ukraine, a delicate issue that was one of Russia's stated reasons for invading its pro-Western neighbour. (AFP)