Latest updates as of 12:33 p.m. EST on Tuesday:
- At least five are dead after a TV tower in Kyiv was bombed, the Ukrainian emergency services said as Russia’s defence ministry plans strikes sites in Kyiv integral to Ukraine’s security service.
- In a joint interview with Reuters and CNN, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Russia to immediately stop bombing Ukrainian cities if ceasefire talks were to move ahead in a meaningful way.
- Canada will petition the International Criminal Court to probe alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity by Russian forces in Ukraine.
- Canada announced it will provide an additional $100 million for humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. It also said it would ban Russian ships from Canadian ports and waters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the European Union on Tuesday to “prove that you are with us” as his nation’s fight against Russia continues.
In an emergency session of the European Parliament, Zelenskyy pushed for EU membership a day after officially requesting to join the bloc.
“We are fighting to be equal members of Europe,” Zelenskyy said in Ukrainian in a speech translated into English by an interpreter who spoke through tears.
“Do prove that you are with us. Do prove that you will not let us go. Do prove that you are indeed Europeans, and then life will win over death and light will win over darkness,” he said.
“The EU will be much stronger with us.”
Kharkiv bombed as Russian forces near Kyiv
Zelenskyy’s plea comes as Russian forces bombard Ukrainian cities and inch toward the capital Kyiv.
Tuesday marks day six of the war that saw a barrage of shelling from the Russian military continue in Kharkiv, killing 10 and injuring 35 in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said.
Zelenskyy called the attack on Kharkiv’s main city square “frank, undisguised terror.” He blamed Russian missiles for destruction and called the actions of his neighbouring country a war crime.
“Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,” Zelenskyy said. “This is state terrorism of the Russian Federation.”
Kharkiv city’s administration headquarters came under Russian shelling, according to regional administration chief Oleh Sinehubov. The state emergencies agency said the attack wounded six people, including a child.
A 21-year-old Indian student also died in the shelling, India’s foreign ministry said.
Sinehubov said that at least 11 people were killed and that scores of others were wounded during Monday’s shelling of the city.
Nearby, more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the head of the region wrote on Telegram.
Dmytro Zhyvytskyy posted photographs of the charred shell of a four-storey building and rescuers searching rubble. In a later Facebook post, he said many Russian soldiers and some local residents also were killed during the fighting on Sunday. The report could not immediately be confirmed.
Nearly a week since Russian troops poured over the border, they have failed to capture a single major Ukrainian city after running into far fiercer resistance than they expected. Moscow still has more forces to deploy even though President Vladimir Putin faces worldwide condemnation and international sanctions.
With an armored convoy many kilometres long closing in on Kyiv, Russia’s defence ministry said it was planning to strike targets in the capital integral to Ukraine’s security service. Nearby residents were advised to evacuate their homes, it warned. No information was provided about where in the city of three million people those targets were located.
The warning came as the TV tower in Kyiv was hit, according to the country’s parliament. Local media reported there were several explosions and that Ukrainian TV channels stopped broadcasting shortly afterward.
At least five people were killed in the strike, the Ukrainian emergency services said. Ukrainian officials condemned Russia for the attack, which happened near a Holocaust memorial site.
The latest attacks follow ceasefire talks on Monday between the two nations in Belarus. No breakthroughs were reported, but Russian state media agency TASS reported a second round of talks will happen Wednesday. No Ukrainian officials have confirmed the talks will take place on March 2.
Zelenskyy called on Russia to immediately stop bombing Ukrainian cities if ceasefire talks were to move ahead in a meaningful way.
In a joint interview with Reuters and CNN, Zelenskyy said Ukraine would demand legally binding security guarantees if NATO shut the door on Ukraine’s membership prospects. He urged NATO member countries to impose a no fly zone to stop Russian aerial attacks, insisting that it was a preventative measure.
As a result of the conflict, Canada will petition the International Criminal Court on Tuesday to probe alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity by Russian forces in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said.
Refugee crisis unfolds
The United Nations has launched an emergency appeal to the tune of $1.7 billion in humanitarian aid for people attempting to flee Ukraine and resettle.
“The crisis has turned very ugly, very fast,” said Martin Griffiths, undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.
In the last 24 hours, another 150,000 fled Ukraine amid the escalating violence, bringing the total number of refugees to around 677,000, according to Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Griffiths said shelling and bombing have already damaged water pipes, electricity lines and basic services.
“Hundreds of thousands of families are without drinking water,” he said.
At the Hungarian border crossing Tiszabecs, a mother cradled a baby in her arms after a four-day drive from Kyiv.
“I saw war, I saw rockets,” said her older son Ivan, 15, who looked exhausted and pale after the journey, Reuters reported. His father had stayed behind to fight.
In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the government will relax visa rules to allow refugees to stay for a year.
“We will make it easier for Ukrainians already living in the U.K. to bring their relatives to our country. Though the numbers are hard to calculate, there could be more than 200,000,” Johnson said during a visit to Warsaw.
In Canada, the government is working swiftly to welcome Ukrainians fleeing their country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, Trudeau said Canada’s ministry of immigration has seen an increase in the number of processed applications from Ukraine over the past few weeks as tensions boiled the Russian border.
“We’re also looking at the visas of the people who are here and the applications of people fleeing from Ukraine to let them come more quickly to Canada and even stay here after the end of this unfair war,” Trudeau said in French during a take-note debate on the conflict.
Canada also announced on Tuesday it would be giving $100 million for humanitarian assistance in Ukraine.
Sanctions continue to be imposed on Russia
Moscow continues to be punished for waging war in Ukraine, and not only by western nations imposing sanctions. Private industries and sports leagues are introducing penalties as well.
As sanctions begin to isolate Russia, it will seemingly have fewer ways to move its products to countries still supporting it as the world’s biggest shipping lines, MSC and Maersk, are cutting ties. The two companies announced they will suspend container shipping to and from Russia.
Oil companies Shell and Norway’s Equinor have said they would exit Russia, which relies on oil and gas for export earnings.
Canada said it would ban imports of Russian crude oil, and U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham urged the Biden administration to target the Russian energy sector with sanctions.
Also, Canada announced it would be blocking Russian-owned or registered ships and fishing vessels from entering Canadian ports and internal waters.
Leading banks, airlines and automakers ended partnerships, halted shipments and called Russia’s actions unacceptable.
Mastercard has blocked multiple financial institutions from its payment network as a result of sanctions on Russia, and Visa said it would take action too.
Three major studios — Sony, Disney and Warner Bros. — said they would pause theatrical releases of upcoming films in Russia, while FIFA and the International Olympic Committee moved to bar Russian teams and athletes from competitions.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” that it says is not designed to occupy territory, but to destroy its southern neighbour’s military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.
In the weeks leading up to the war, Moscow had built up roughly 150,000 troops near the border, and continuously denied Western accusations it was planning an invasion of Ukraine.
— with files from Reuters and The Associated Press.
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