Russia Ukraine war Russian

Russia and Ukraine struggle to establish humanitarian corridors to evacuate Ukrainian civilians. Moscow set a new deadline for Ukraine to agree to humanitarian ...

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Combat went on around the strategic town of Izyum, eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces advanced as they attempted to encircle some of the country's most ...

Mr. Hochstein added that the best alternative is to help the continent accelerate its long-term push to boost the supply of clean energy.\n\n“Where we are going to work together in this regard is to see how Europe can diversify away from its dependence on Russian fossil fuels,” Mr. Hochstein said. HOUSTON—Amos Hochstein, the State Department's energy envoy, says Russia’s attack on Ukraine shows the West should accelerate its push for cleaner energy as a way to avoid reliance on Russia and other hostile nations that supply oil and gas.\n\n“This conflict has made it clear to us that we should double down and triple down on the transition, and to make it broader, bigger and faster,” Mr. Hochstein said on a panel at CERAWeek by S&P Global, an annual energy conference in Houston. In the short term, he said, the federal government should also work to ensure the supply of fossil fuels is large enough to meet demand.

CIA director says Putin's assumptions about Ukraine before the invasion turned out to be 'profoundly flawed'.

The CIA’s Burns predicted an “ugly next few weeks” of fighting. “We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy. The war has forced two million people to flee the country and devastated areas across Ukraine with major cities, including the capital Kyiv, facing Russian bombardment and siege.

Ukraine is 'still flying' as Russia faces race against time to win battle of the skies.

Pressure has been mounting for McDonald's and other companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo that remain in Russia to pull out. Corpses lay in the streets, and authorities planned to start digging mass graves for the dead. McDonald's could take a big financial hit because of the closures. Ukraine had fewer than 100 combat aircraft at the start of the war, and it is unclear what remains after days of conflict. Moscow's forces have laid siege to Ukrainian cities and cut off food, water, heat and medicine in a growing humanitarian disaster. Meanwhile, buses emblazoned with red cross symbols carried water, medicine and food towards the encircled southern port of Mariupol, scene of some of the worst desperation. Biden said the US was acting in close consultation with European allies, who are more dependent on Russian energy supplies and who he acknowledged may not be able to join in immediately. "I wouldn't want to be the Russian planner whose job it was to try and pick those. Western officials have been surprised by Russia's inability to win the battle in the skies given its huge air advantage. We assess that both sides still possess a majority of their air defence systems and capabilities." The economic cost is huge, estimated at almost a quarter of a billion pounds for warplanes alone. Thousands huddle in basements, trembling at the sound of Russian shells pounding this strategic port city.

Northlanders living near a luxury lodge owned by a Russian oligarch are putting up Ukrainian flags on their properties. In peak season, the Helena Bay Lodge ...

The US has confirmed a ban on Russian oil, gas and coal imports. The UK announced it would phase out oil and oil products from Russia by the end of 2022. Ukraine is accusing Russia of violating a ceasefire and shelling a humanitarian corridor from ...

Their actions are inspiring millions by their courage and their devotion," Johnson says after Zelensky's address to the House of Commons.

He says the UK will continue to tighten the "economic vice" around Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Britain and our allies are determined to press on - to press on with supplying our Ukrainians friends with the weapons they need to defend their homeland, as they deserve." And we serve millions of Russian customers each day who count on McDonald’s.

"In the thirty-plus years that McDonald’s has operated in Russia, we’ve become an essential part of the 850 communities in which we operate.

"At the same time, our values mean we cannot ignore the needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine."

Kempczinski says all McDonald’s employees in Russia will continue to receive a salary, and the Ronald McDonald House Charity will continue its full operations. But it's not clear how long it remained open or how many people used it.

Many of Moscow's proposed evacuation corridors lead to Russia, either directly or through Russia's ally Belarus.

The Russian military says it proposed two safe corridor options from Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol, including one that would lead to Russia and the other to the West.

But it says the Ukrainian government accepted only one of the 10 routes - from Sumy to Poltava.

Ukrainian officials are blasting the corridors to Russia as unacceptable, but there is no confirmation that they rejected other corridors, as the Russian military claims.

7.00am: From the Associated Press:

Britain is joining the United States in announcing a ban on imports of Russian oil.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng says oil and oil products from Russia will be phased out by the end of the year.

9.55am: Coca-Cola and Starbucks are suspending all of their operations in Russia.

In a statement, Coca-Cola says it will continue to assess the situation.

"Our hearts are with the people who are enduring unconscionable effects from these tragic events in Ukraine."

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson says in a statement the beverage company decided to immediately pause business activity in Russia as it continues to watch "tragic events unfold".

He says the shipment of all Starbucks products will also be halted, and its licensed partner is pausing store operations. He says bus after bus is filling up with refugees seeking shelter or heading to the train station.

7.20am: McDonald's temporarily closes all restaurants in Russia

McDonald's will temporarily close all of its restaurants and pause all of its commercial operations in Russia.

In a statement from CEO Chris Kempczinski, he says he has spoken to many in the company in recent days.

"For 66 years, we have operated with the belief that communities are made better when there’s a McDonald’s nearby," he says.

"In Russia, we employ 62,000 people who have poured their heart and soul into our McDonald’s brand to serve their communities.

The full detail of Faafoi's announcement can be found here.

7.38am: 1News Europe correspondent Daniel Faitaua is in Poland, near its border with Ukraine.

He says the border crossing is packed with mostly women and children.

She says the city is in a “catastrophic situation” cut from water, power and communications, adding that a child in Mariupol has died of dehydration.

The Russian military denies firing on convoys and charges that the Ukrainian side is blocking the evacuation effort.

10.00am: From the Associated Press:

Poland says it will give all of its MiG-29 fighter jets to the US, apparently agreeing to an arrangement that would allow them to be used by Ukraine’s military.

She says Putin underestimated Ukraine, thinking incorrectly he would be able to "unleash blitzkrieg".

Zelenska condemns the Russian President's actions and the media outlets who support him.

"Despite assurances from Kremlin-backed propaganda outlets, who call this a "special operation", it is, in fact, the mass murder of Ukrainian civilians.

"Perhaps the most terrifying and devastating of this invasion are the child casualties.

"He has no sustainable political endgame in the face of what is going to continue to be fierce resistance from Ukrainians."

Burns says Putin is likely to be "unsettled" by the west's reaction, but adds that the Russian President isn't "crazy".

"I think he's far more insulated from other points of view and people who would challenge or question his views.

"But, in my opinion, that doesn't make him crazy.

"Thank you for keeping them safe, when the aggressor has rendered us unable to do so," she says in an open letter.

"I thank the citizens of the attacked cities, who have coordinated to help those in need.

“They are running out of food and water, and they die.”

The Russian military denies firing on convoys and charges that the Ukrainian side was blocking the evacuation effort.

Mudrenko says a 6-year-old girl died on Tuesday in the besieged city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea, “alone in the last moments of her life as her mother was killed by Russian shelling".

On Wednesday in the Mykolaiv region, she says “Russian occupiers fired at a van with a group of female teachers of the local orphanage (and) three of them were killed”.

There are also “cases of child sexual violence committed by occupiers", Mudrenko alleges.