Unarmed Ukrainians try to push back Russian troops – video

Unarmed people in Ukraine have been filmed attempting to stop Russian vehicles with their bodies in a string of defiant acts.

In the south-eastern city of Melitopol people pushed on Russian military vehicles with their bare hands, while in the north-east Kupyansk residents jumped on a Jeep with Russian markers to fight the Russian occupation. 

There were reports of fierce shelling in the northern city of Chernihiv, where people were filmed singing the Ukrainian national anthem and standing in front of tanks

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China signals willingness to mediate in Ukraine-Russia war

Chinese foreign minister says Ukrainian counterpart asked for help to find diplomatic solution

China has signalled its willingness to play a mediator role in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine as the war entered its sixth day.

In his first phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, since the outbreak of the war, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, said on Tuesday that Beijing “laments” the outbreak of the conflict and is “extremely concerned” about the harm to civilians, according to a Chinese readout.

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Russian talkshows dismiss ‘fake’ reports of military losses

Pundits and officials turn to ‘mythbusting’ as evidence of Ukraine destruction undermines official line

Russian state television talkshows are describing videos of missiles striking Ukrainian cities and reports of Russian soldiers killed in action as “fakes”, as the country’s media try to account for photos and video emerging from Ukraine that contradict official reports of the invasion.

The “mythbusting” is one of the adjustments that TV propaganda shows have had to make as evidence of the growing destruction in cities such as Kharkiv and Kyiv makes it increasingly difficult for the government to present the fiction of a concentrated offensive in the Donbas region.

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Five people killed in Russian hit on Kyiv TV tower – video

Five people have been killed and several wounded in a Russian attack on a TV tower in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, according to reports.

Two explosions were heard in the Borshchahivka and Dorohozhychi areas, said the news agency Interfax-Ukraine, knocking several channels off air.

The incident was first reported on social media by the Ukrainian interior ministry adviser, Anton Herashchenko, moments after Russia warned Kyiv residents to evacuate military and intelligence infrastructure

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Could Russia shut down the internet in Ukraine?

Analysis: On a national level, web access has so far been largely unaffected by the invasion, and supports daily life

Ukraine’s continued access to the internet not only supports day-to-day life and the country’s financial system but it is also enabling the coordination of Ukrainian civil resistance – plus the ability of everyone, from the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to ordinary citizens, to communicate with the outside world.

How much of Ukraine still has access to the internet?
Ukraine remains largely connected to the internet, especially in major population centres. Mobile networks have struggled under the weight of connections and there have been broadband outages in areas with heavy fighting.

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‘I couldn’t leave my son’: the Ukrainians going into the war zone

At a busy train station in Poland, families arrive while others head in the opposite direction to take up arms or be with family

Platform four or three: at the railway station in Przemyśl, Poland, the fates of hundreds of Ukrainians lie divided. On platform four, families fleeing the Russian bombing of Ukraine get off the carriages, seeking asylum in Europe. At platform three, dozens of Ukrainian men and women are about to board a blue train bound for Odessa, southern Ukraine.

“I have worked and lived in many countries,” says Oksana, 50. “I have lived in Poland and Italy. Ukraine may not be as beautiful as Italy, but it is my country. And I’m not leaving my country at such a difficult time. If all Ukrainians flee the country, who will stay in Ukraine? I see many of my fellow countrypeople around me here, coming from Germany and Poland. Some of them had good jobs. But they left them to return to Ukraine and fight.”

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Vast Russian military convoy may be harbinger of a siege of Kyiv

Analysis: convoy estimated to be 40 miles long raises fears of siege tactics and escalating civilian casualties

In the satellite image, the trees of the forest just north of the Ukrainian village of Rudnya-Shpylivska – population 107 – appear as if you could brush them with your hand.

Before last week, this hamlet was almost too small to notice, a place that cars would speed past on the P02 highway, those trees a blur.

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Dozens of diplomats walk out during Russian foreign minister’s UN speech – video

Dozens of diplomats walked out of a speech by the Russian foreign minister to the UN human rights forum on Tuesday.

Sergei Lavrov was addressing the UN human rights council remotely, after cancelling his attendance previously because of what the Russian mission in Geneva said on Monday were EU states blocking his flight path, when delegates from the UK, US and EU started to walk out in protest.

Yevheniia Filipenko, Ukraine's ambassador to the UN, said the organisation was taking a 'very strong stance in defence of its own principles'

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Ukrainian president receives standing ovation after EU parliament speech – video

During an emergency session of the European parliament, Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the EU via video link to 'prove that you are with us' as Ukraine defends itself against an onslaught from Russia, a day after Kyiv officially asked to join the bloc. EU lawmakers, many bearing the Ukrainian flag, gave Zelenskiy a standing ovation. The Ukrainian president has remained in Kyiv to rally his people against the invasion. As he spoke on Tuesday, a Russian armoured column was bearing down on the capital

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Mastercard blocks Russian firms; bitcoin rises after latest sanctions on Russia – business live

European stocks are falling again, but not collapsing... The UK’s FTSE 100 index has followed the rest of Europe and is now trading 11 points, or 0.15%, lower at 7,447, giving up earlier modest gains.

Germany’s Dax has lost 1% while France’s CAC and Italy’s FTSE MiB are 0.7% and 0.9% lower respectively.

Russia exposed stocks more mixed this morning: Polymetal, JPMorgan Russian Securities and Petropavlosk all lower again, whilst Evraz and Ferrexpo rallied a bit. The rouble has come off its lows and trades around 91 to the US dollar. At the moment it looks as though the Russian central bank is doing a not terrible job of supporting the currency, but through some pretty tough measures – massive rate hike and capital controls. How long can this last? First Switzerland and now even Monaco is kicking out Russian money!

As for Russia and Ukraine....the dreadful situation gets worse as heavy shelling of built-up areas shows us what is to come. Talks yesterday didn’t get far but the two sides have agreed to try again as a massive Russian convoy starts to encircle Kyiv. Bombing of civilians will harden Western public opinion against Russia – voters are already taking a pretty hard line across Europe. Unified public opinion complicates matters for governments who might prefer to base policy solely on the advice of their military intelligence and strategic advisors. But that is the way of things.

We think there is a clear financial as well as a moral case for divestment with respect to our Russian holdings.

Morals drive finance and if you are a financial investor and you don’t think about the moral impacts of what you are doing you are both shortsighted and, dare I say it, immoral.

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Russia-Ukraine war latest news: 70 Ukrainian soldiers killed in Okhtyrka, huge Russian army convoy nears Kyiv – live updates

Convoy north of Ukraine capital has more doubled in length, images suggest; ICC prosecutor to open possible war crimes inquiry; Kharkiv civilians ‘massacred’, says mayor

Satellite images taken on Monday show a Russian military convoy north of Kyiv that stretches for about 40 miles (64km) in an area north-west of Kyiv. It is substantially longer than the 17 miles (27km) reported earlier in the day, according to the US company Maxar.

Maxar, which filed a series of satellite images on the Russian military buildup on the Ukraine border, also said additional ground forces deployments and ground attack helicopter units were seen in southern Belarus, less than 20 miles (32km) north of the Ukraine border.

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Ukrainians want to stay near home, claims Raab, amid UK visa criticism

Deputy prime minister says those that leave ‘want to be as close to their home country as possible’

• Russia-Ukraine crisis: live news

The UK’s deputy prime minister has suggested Ukrainians would prefer to flee to countries nearer to home amid criticism that the Britain’s support for refugees is “heartless” and pressure to offer more help from Conservative MPs.

Under plans set out on Sunday evening, Ukrainian nationals settled in the UK will be able to bring their “immediate family members” to join them, which applies only to spouses, unmarried partners of at least two years, parents or their children if one is under 18, or adult relatives who are also carers.

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More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers killed in Russian attack on base near Kharkiv

Rescuers searching rubble of base in Okhtyrka in eastern Ukraine as Russian forces gather outside Kyiv

More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the eastern city of Okhtyrka after a Russian missile strike on a military base, in what is thought to be the biggest loss of life in a single incident in Moscow’s invasion.

The death toll – reported by Ukrainian officials in the city – follows a sharp intensification of the Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities, including the use of multiple-launch rocket systems against civilian areas, which has led to increasing casualties.

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The show can’t go on: Russian arts cancelled worldwide

Concerts, dance recitals and exhibitions have been postponed indefinitely after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has prompted responses from the cultural sphere, with Russian artists and companies beginning to feel the repercussions of decisions taken by the Kremlin. Not only has Russia been stripped of two prestigious events – the Champions League men’s final and Formula One’s Russian Grand Prix –but an increasing number of performances by Russians are being cancelled worldwide.

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What are thermobaric weapons and how do they work?

The ‘vacuum bomb’, which Ukraine says the Russians have used in the invasion, ignites a fireball that sucks in all surrounding oxygen

Fears have risen over the use of thermobaric weapons by Russia after the Ukrainian ambassador to the US said a vacuum bomb – another term for the weapon – had been used during the invasion.

The use of such weapons, which suck in oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion, has yet to be independently confirmed, though footage from Ukraine has shown thermobaric rocket launchers on Russia’s TOS-1 vehicles.

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Zelenskiy says Russia continued to bomb Ukrainian cities during negotiation talks – video

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of dropping bombs on Ukrainian cities despite negotiations to end the conflict between the two parties occurring at the same time. Zelenskiy also accused Russia of committing war crimes in Kharkiv and said his country had applied to join the European Union

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Discrimination and racism as people flee Ukraine shared on social media – video

A deluge of reports and footage posted on social media appears to show acts of discrimination and violence against African, Asian and Caribbean citizens while fleeing Ukrainian cities and at some of the country’s border posts. They are among hundreds of thousands of people trying to escape after Russia's invasion

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Godfather of Vladimir Putin’s daughter among latest names on EU sanctions list

Sergei Roldugin, 71, formerly a high-profile orchestra cellist, is one of 26 new additions to 680-strong list

A Russian oligarch, who is part of a financial network known as ‘Putin’s wallet’ in Moscow, according to the EU, is one of 26 businessmen, officials and military figures who have been added to the bloc’s expanding sanctions list.

Sergei Roldugin, 71, the former principal cellist of the Kirov Opera Theatre’s orchestra in the 1980s and godfather to Putin’s eldest daughter, Maria, is among those who it is claimed are threatening the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

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Weapons from the west vital if Ukraine is to halt Russian advance

Analysis: previously there has been a reluctance to supply arms to the under-siege state, but that appears to be changing

Since the outbreak of fighting last week and after years of reluctance, western countries have promised to send thousands of anti-tank and hundreds of anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine, but they will have to get supplies to the frontline quickly if they are to be effective.

Germany in the past few days broke with decades of anti-rearmament tradition to send 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger anti-aircraft missile systems, while Sweden agreed to send 5,000 next generation light anti-tank weapons (NLAWs).

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