Russia-Ukraine War Day 4: EU shuts airspace to Russian airlines; West slaps Moscow with SWIFT ban

The European Union's chief executive says the 27-nation bloc will close its airspace to Russian airlines, fund supplies of weapons to Ukraine and ban some pro-Kremlin media outlets in response to Russia's invasion. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday that “for the first time ever, the European Union will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment to a country that is under attack.”

Von der Leyen added that “we are shutting down the EU airspace for Russians. We are proposing a prohibition on all Russian-owned, Russian registered or Russian-controlled aircraft. These aircraft will no more be able to land in, take off or overfly the territory of the EU.” She said also the EU will ban “the Kremlin's media machine. The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, as well as their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin's war and to sow division in our union.”

Von der Leyen added that the EU will also target Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko for supporting Russia's widespread military campaign in Ukraine. “We will hit Lukashenko's regime with a new package of sanctions,” she said. 

Had a cordial initial meeting with Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla. Discussed topical bilateral and international issues and the ways to ensure safety of Indian students in Ukraine. Expressed our full support to this end: Russian Ambassador to India, Denis Alipov

The UN Security Council will vote to convene a rare "emergency special session" of the 193-member General Assembly on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, two days after Moscow used its veto to block a resolution on its aggression against Kyiv. The 15-nation Security Council will meet on Sunday afternoon to hold a vote on the special session. This will be only the 11th such emergency session of the General Assembly since 1950.

The vote calling for the session will be procedural. So none of the five permanent members of the Council - China, France, Russia, the UK and the US - can exercise their vetoes. President of the 76th session of the General Assembly Abdulla Shahid, who was to attend the 49th regular session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, cancelled his trip “due to the ongoing situation in Ukraine and potential developments in the Security Council,” for the vote.

Canada is joining many European countries in closing its airspace to all Russian aircraft as the West ramps up pressure on Russia for invading Ukraine. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Sunday that Canada will hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked attacks.

Most European countries have either announced they are closing their airspace or said they intend to do so. So far Spain, Greece, Serbia and Turkey are among the few left that haven't joined in the move against Russia.

More than 100,000 people attended a Ukraine solidarity march in Berlin on Sunday, police said, with many protesters dressed in the blue and yellow colours of the Ukraine flag.

Police estimated the turnout at "at least a low six-number figure", while organisers of the march said half a million had turned up.

Bearing posters like "no World War 3", "Stop the killer", or "Berlin at 640 km from the frontlines", the protesters massed at the Brandenburg Gate, a stone's throw away from the imposing Russian embassy on Unter den Linden.

"It is important to me for Germany to show that it is standing for democracy in Europe," said Hans Georg Kieler, 49, who had turned out at the demonstration.

He voiced approval for Germany's decision to begin delivering armaments to Ukraine, but said he thought "we could have helped Ukraine more".

Ukrainian Valeria Moiseeva, 35, was also at the march.

"I am personally disappointed by Russia, I hate Russia, I hate all Russians," she said, adding that her mother was now sitting in a cellar in Kyiv in fear of bombs.

I do understand all the geopolitical complexities of the situation. India as the greatest and the biggest democracy in the World should be supporting democratic states. I believe all democratic states should stand for their values

The U.N. nuclear watchdog's 35-nation Board of Governors will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday about Ukraine, where war is raging in a country with four operational nuclear power plants and various waste facilitiesincluding Chernobyl.

US is providing nearly $54 million in additional humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine. This assistance enables humanitarian organizations to support citizens of Ukraine already in need & those newly affected by Russia's unprovoked& unjustified attack: US Secy of State

Ukraine has full control over Kharkiv, Governor of Kharkiv Oblast Oleh Synegubov says.

After heavy fighting overnight, Ukraine has regained control over Kharkiv, a regional capital in eastern Ukraine. “The city is being completely cleansed of the enemy,” the official wrote.

India is evacuating Indian citizens in Ukraine, including students as the country is facing tensions due to invasion by Russian forces. Amid all this, an Indian engineering student in Kharkiv shared a video explaining his concerns and said that he has been facing problems leaving Ukraine as he doesn't want to leave without his adopted dog. 

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The Indian government on Sunday said that it will evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine for free, as it promised to bear all expenses. But how much expenses is the government bearing? | TAP TO READ MORE 

Street fighting broke out in Ukraine’s second-largest city and Russian troops squeezed strategic ports in the country's south Sunday, advances that appeared to mark a new phase of Russia's invasion following a wave of attacks on airfields and fuel facilities elsewhere in the country. | TAP TO READ MORE

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday sought support from foreign volunteers amid the ongoing war in the country with Russia. He reached out to people outside of Ukraine willing to defend Ukraine and world order as part of the International Legion of Territorial Defense. | TAP HERE TO READ MORE

Belgium is joining a growing list of countries closing their airspace to Russian airlines as the West ramps up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin for ordering an invasion of Ukraine. Belgian Prime Minster Alexander De Croo tweeted Sunday that the country “has decided to close its airspace to all Russian airlines.” De Croo says that “our European skies are open skies. They're open for those who connect people, not for those who seek to brutally aggress.”

Russia said Saturday that it was closing its airspace to planes from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Slovenia after they banned Russian planes from their skies. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania, among several other countries, also have a ban in place.

The United Nations' refugee agency says the latest count of Ukrainians arriving in neighbouring countries now exceeds 200,000. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees said on Twitter that the numbers of those fleeing invading Russian troops are constantly changing and another update would be issued later Sunday. The agency's estimate on Saturday was that at least 150,000 have fled Ukraine into Poland and other countries including Hungary and Romania. Poland's government said Saturday that more than 100,000 Ukrainians had crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border in the past 48 hours alone.

Ireland is going to close its sky for Russian planes and calls on all EU countries to do the same. Austria, Sweden and Finland are also going to close their skies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been suspended as honorary president of the International Judo Federation (IJF) due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine the sport's governing body announced.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reports, “A few min ago, the Air Force of the AFU shot down a cruise missile fired at the capital of Ukraine from the territory of the Republic of Belarus by a TU-22 aircraft. This is another war crime of Belarus and Russia."

Ukrainian President Zelensky hailed the assistance Ukraine was receiving from its international allies in an online speech.

"We are receiving weapons, medicine, food, diesel, and money," he said. "A powerful coalition in support of Ukraine has been formed -- an anti-war coalition."

All Ukrainian servicemen are treated with respect and assistance. After filling in the documents, they will be sent to their families, said Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson.

"223 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 28 aircraft (on the ground), 39 multiple rocket launchers, 86 field artillery mounts and mortars, 143 units of special military vehicles were destroyed," he added.

President Zelensky says the night was 'brutal', Russia striking residential areas

Ukraine's president says his country is ready for peace talks with Russia but not in Belarus, which was a staging ground for Moscow's 3-day-old invasion. Speaking in a video message Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy named Warsaw, Bratislava, Istanbul, Budapest or Baku as alternative venues. He said other locations are also possible but made clear that Ukraine doesn't accept Russia's selection of Belarus. The Kremlin said Sunday that a Russian delegation had arrived in the Belarusian city of Homel for talks with Ukrainian officials. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the delegation includes military officials and diplomats. “The Russian delegation is ready for talks, and we are now waiting for the Ukrainians,” Peskov said. Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, with troops moving from Moscow's ally Belarus in the north, and also from the east and south.

Machine gunfire and explosions rocked Kharkiv as street fighting raged after Russia's invading forces broke into the city, an AFP journalist said. 

The wreckage of a Russian armored vehicle smouldered in one street and several others had been abandoned.

-AFP

Amid increased sanctions imposed on Russia over its military invasion into Ukraine, the Russian space agency has announced suspension of Soyuz rocket launches, the media reported. Roscosmos has said that it is halting all cooperation with European partners on space programmes, Space.com reported. Russia's Soyuz rockets are used by European launch provider Arianespace to launch satellites from the Guiana Space Center near Kourou, French Guiana in South America. The recent Soyuz rocket to launch from Guiana Space Center lifted off on February 10 carrying 34 OneWeb internet satellites.

-IANS

The Kremlin says a Russian delegation has arrived in the Belarusian city of Homel for talks with Ukrainian officials. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the delegation includes military officials and diplomats. “The Russian delegation is ready for talks, and we are now waiting for the Ukrainians,” Peskov said.

There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials, who previously expressed their own readiness for peace talks with Russia but haven't mentioned any specific details on their location and timing.

Russian invaded Ukraine on Thursday, and its troops are closing in on the capital, Kyiv, and making significant gains along the country's coast.

A Ukrainian official said street fighting broke out in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, on Sunday following a wave of attacks elsewhere targeting airfields and fuel facilities that appeared to mark a new phase of the invasion. 

 Street fighting in Ukraine's second city Kharkiv as Russian troops enter Ukraine’s second-largest city,  AFP news agency report

Vladimir Putin salutes 'heroism' of Russian special forces fighting in Ukraine, reports AFP

Finland will close its airspace to Russian planes, the government has announced.

Finland, which shares a 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) border with Russia, "is prepared to close its airspace to Russian air traffic", Transport Minister Timo Harakka tweeted overnight.

Google is pausing the ability of Russian state-owned media to monetize content with ads on all of its platforms, news agency ANI sites media report. The Russian RT channel, as well as other Russian state-funded media, will not be able to run ads on YouTube, or any other Google services, including using the search and Gmail to place ads, Reuters reported on Sunday citing spokesman Michael Aciman. "We're actively monitoring new developments and will take further steps if necessary," Aciman said. 

Elon Musk says his company SpaceX's Starlink satellite broadband service had been activated in Ukraine after a Kyiv official urged the tech titan to provide his embattled country with stations: AFP News Agency

Ukrainian authorities say that Russian troops have entered Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv and fighting is underway in the streets. Oleh Sinehubov, the head of the Kharkiv regional administration, said Sunday that Ukrainian forces were fighting Russian troops in the city and asked civilians not to leave their homes. Russian troops approached Kharkiv, which is located about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) south of the border with Russia, shortly after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine on Thursday. But until Sunday, they remained on its outskirts without trying to enter the city while other forces rolled past, pressing their offensive deeper into Ukraine. Videos on Ukrainian media and social networks showed Russian vehicles moving across Kharkiv and a light vehicle burning on the street.

Russia claims to have besieged two big cities in south and southeast of Ukraine, reports AFP

Russian troops enter Ukraine's second city, fighting under way: regional chief, reports AFP

A radioactive waste disposal site near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv has been hit by a Russian airstrike, but the storage facilities were not damaged, officials say. A preliminary assessment found no evidence of a leak, BNO reported. The incident happened at about 1.20 a.m. local time on Sunday when a radioactive waste disposal site of the State Specialised Enterprise "Radon" was hit by missiles.

"Notification was announced by telephone by Radon personnel, who are in the shelter", the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate (SNRIU) said in a statement. "It is currently not possible to assess the extent of the destruction."

Officials later added that the storage facilities itself were not affected by the impact, BNO reported.

(IANS)

At least 1,50,000 people have fled Ukraine into Poland and other neighbouring countries in the wake of the Russian invasion, the U.N. refugee agency said Saturday. Some walked many miles through the night while others fled by train, car or bus, forming lines miles long at border crossings. They were greeted by waiting relatives and friends or headed on their own to reception centres organised by neighbouring governments.

AP

The governor of the region of Sumy, Dmitry Zhivitsky, said that during the shelling of Akhtyrka six people were killed, including a seven-year-old girl.

The air defense system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is now operating in Odesa, as reported by Bratchuk, head of the Public Council under the Regional State Administration.

American online video sharing and social media platform YouTube on Saturday (local time) blocked Russian state media outlet RT from Ukraine and also suspended its ability to monetize content globally, local media reported. Notably, YouTube restricted RT and several other Russian channels as the Ukrainian government requested the social media platform to cut off their access in Ukraine, CNN news reported citing YouTube.

The Ukrainian president's office said Russian forces blew up a gas pipeline in Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city. The State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection warned that the explosion, which it said looked like a mushroom cloud, could cause an "environmental catastrophe" and advised residents to cover their windows with damp cloth or gauze and to drink plenty of fluids. Ukraine's top prosecutor, Iryna Venediktova, said the Russian forces have been unable to take Kharkiv, where a fierce battle is underway. The city of 1.5 million is located 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Russian border. 

(AP)

Russia now 'a global economic and financial pariah' says a US official: AFP

Ukrainian tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky says he has joined his country's military reserves to fight the Russian invasion, reports AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is welcoming efforts to open talks with Russia. In a video message Saturday, Zelenskyy said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev offered to help organise talks and that “we can only welcome that.” Diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed have so far faltered. Zelenskyy offered Friday to negotiate a key Russian demand: that Ukraine declare itself neutral and abandon its ambition of joining NATO. But movement to actually advance any diplomacy has appeared to sputter. 

(AP)

Russia is closing its airspace to planes from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Slovenia, a move that comes as Moscow's ties with the West plunge to new lows over its invasion of Ukraine. Russia's state aviation agency, Rosaviatsiya, announced early Sunday that the measure was taken in retaliation for the four nations closing their airspace for Russian planes. On Saturday, the agency also reported closing the Russian airspace for planes from Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic in response to them doing the same. 

(AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron has asked his Belarus counterpart to demand that the country, Ukraine's neighbour, quickly order Russian troops to leave, claiming Moscow has been given the green light to deploy nuclear arms there. In a phone conversation on Saturday, Macron denounced "the gravity of a decision that would authorise Russia to deploy nuclear arms on Belarus soil," a statement by the presidential palace said.

The United Nations says it has confirmed at least 240 civilian casualties, including at least 64 people killed, in the fighting in Ukraine that erupted since Russia’s invasion on Thursday — though it believed the “real figures are considerably higher” because many reports of casualties remain to be confirmed.

The human rights office had reported early Friday an initial count by its staffers of at least 127 civilian casualties – 25 people killed and 102 injured – mostly from shelling and airstrikes.

(AP)

Two large explosions were heard in Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Sunday morning. Two large explosions lit up the night sky to the southwest of Kyiv with one detonation that appeared to be approximately 20 kilometres, or about 12 miles, from the city centre, according to CNN. It further reproted that the second explosion rocked western Kyiv just before 1 am (local time). The second blast also came from the southwestern part of the city in the direction of the city's second major airport.

The United States, European Union and United Kingdom on Saturday agreed to put in place crippling sanctions on the Russian financial sector, including a block on its access to the global financial system and, for the first time, restrictions on its central bank in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine.

The measures were announced jointly as part of a new round of financial sanctions meant to “hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.”

(AP)