More than 350 civilians killed in invasion, Ukraine says
Kharkiv, Ukraine:
Russia shelled the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv as it continued its invasion Tuesday, defying mounting global pressure that opened an investigation into war crimes against Moscow, sanctions wrecked its economy and FIFA banned it from the World Cup.
After their initial talks since the start of the war failed to produce a breakthrough, Russia continued to target residential areas and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a global ban on Russian planes and ships.
“We must close access for this state in all ports, all canals and all airports in the world,” he said on Facebook.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously outlined Moscow’s demands to end the invasion, including recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea and the demilitarization of Ukraine.
He made his demands in a telephone conversation with French leader Emmanuel Macron shortly before the Russian-Ukrainian talks.
Instead, the world has responded with an intensification of diplomatic, economic, cultural and sporting resistance, with Moscow coming under fire at the UN General Assembly and the International Criminal Court (ICC) opening a war crimes investigation.
“I am convinced that there is a reasonable basis to believe that both alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in Ukraine,” ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement since 2014.
Russia also faced urgent calls during an extraordinary debate at the UN General Assembly to end the “unprovoked” and “unjustified” attack, which sparked a massive diplomatic, economic, cultural and sporting response. has provoked.
In the hall of the General Assembly, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday pleaded: “The fighting in Ukraine must stop. Enough is enough.”
It followed Putin’s phone call with Macron, where the Russian leader “emphasized that a settlement is only possible if Russia’s legitimate security interests are unconditionally taken into account,” the Kremlin said.
Fighting continued throughout the dialogue, with at least 11 people killed in Russian attacks in Kharkov and Russian rocket fire at several residential buildings.
Explosions have also been reported in and around Brovary, a town on the outskirts of the capital Kiev.
Russian fire killed several civilians, including children, in Kharkiv and Russian armored vehicles and tanks are “everywhere” in the city, Mayor Igor Terekhov said, quoted by Ukrainian media.
More than 350 civilians, including 14 children, have died in the invasion, according to Ukraine, while more than half a million have fled the country.
In Kiev, many were preparing for another attack with makeshift barricades on the streets.
The Russian army urged Ukrainians to leave Kiev “free” on a highway ahead of what is an expected Russian offensive to take the capital.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was “deeply concerned” as Russian troops advanced towards Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, and strongly warned against any military action that could threaten the Zaporizhzhya facility.
Ruble plummets
Western countries have moved to increasingly isolate Russia, with the United States expelling 12 members of the UN mission in Moscow from America for being “intelligence agents”.
Canada announced a ban on Russian oil imports on Monday.
The European Union and its allies were also preparing for more sanctions against Russia in the coming days to increase “the costs” of the war in Ukraine, a Macron aide told reporters.
And Turkey said it would implement an international treaty to limit the passage of ships through the Dardanelles and Bosphorus, an action requested by Ukraine to block the passage of Russian warships.
The Russian ruble plunged to an all-time low as sanctions imposed by the West over the weekend had an immediate impact in Moscow, forcing the central bank to more than double its key interest rate to 20 percent.
Putin also announced emergency measures to keep the ruble afloat, including a ban on residents transferring money abroad.
Long rows
Long lines for groceries wound the streets of Kiev on Monday after a strict 36-hour military curfew was lifted and volunteer militias learned how to make homemade explosives.
“We will greet them with Molotov cocktails and bullets in the head,” bank employee Viktor Rudnichenko told AFP. “The only flowers they can get from us are for their graves.”
Many Russians rushed to withdraw money.
Retired soldier Edward Sysoyev, 51, fidgeted impatiently as he queued at a Moscow bank.
“Ninety percent of Russians will rush to withdraw their rubles and turn them into dollars, property or even gold… it will be ordinary people who pay for this military fight,” he said.
‘Unprovoked Armed Aggression’
In Russia, there were more signs of rare dissent among the usually ultra-loyal oligarchs surrounding the Russian leader — in addition to anti-war demonstrations that arrested an estimated 2,100 people on Sunday.
Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska said that “we need real crisis managers and not fantasists”, while billionaire banker Oleg Tinkov said: “Innocent people die every day, this is unthinkable and unacceptable!”
Western defense officials and the Kiev government say Ukrainian forces have so far kept the country’s major cities out of Russian hands, despite raids on the capital and Kharkiv over the weekend.
But the small southern city of Berdyansk is occupied, Ukraine said.
Moscow claimed it had been given “air superiority over the entire territory of Ukraine”, while accusing Ukrainian troops of using civilians as human shields.
But Olivier Kempf, a security analyst with the think tank Foundation for Strategic Research, said the Russian forces “didn’t get stuck”.
“This is war, so there are difficulties. They may have logistical problems. But whatever we are told, they are making progress,” he told AFP. “Only in video games do you conquer a country in two days.”
Kicked out of World Cup
The weekend was marked by a memorable series of announcements from Europe, with Germany unveiling a historic change in its defense policy, and the EU saying it would buy and supply arms to Ukraine, the first such move in its history.
On Monday, the European Union said it would add Russian oligarchs and the Kremlin spokesman to its sanctions blacklist, while traditionally neutral Switzerland said it would adopt the bloc’s sanctions.
However, the EU poured cold water on Zelensky’s request for “immediate” membership in the bloc, saying the process to join will take years.
The sports world’s reaction also picked up steam as Russia was removed from the World Cup and the country’s clubs and national teams were suspended “until further notice” from all international football competitions, FIFA and UEFA said.
According to the UN, Poland has hosted more than half of the 500,000 people who have fled Ukraine.
Katerina Zaporojets, a lab worker from the central city of Cherkassy, said it took her 24 hours to arrive at the western Shegyni border post — and she will likely wait another 48 hours before crossing over.
“The journey was very tough,” the 31-year-old told AFP. “It’s quieter here, but the ride was really scary.”
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
