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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday said that Russia was “holding 400,000 people hostage” in Mariupol and called for an end to the “barbaric war on civilians and babies”.
Russia continues holding hostage over 400.000 people in Mariupol, blocks humanitarian aid and evacuation. Indiscriminate shelling continues. Almost 3.000 newborn babies lack medicine and food. I urge the world to act! Force Russia to stop its barbaric war on civilians and babies!
Russia Ukraine war LATEST Updates
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on Wednesday said Moscow is not working to topple the Ukrainian government as some progress has been made in the three rounds of the talks held between Russia and Ukraine.
Zakharova alleged that Moscow has documental evidence that bio-weapons are being developed in Ukraine by the United States. “We are not talking here about peaceful uses or scientific goals,” Zakharova said. “What were you up to there?” “These (programmes) were financed by the US Department of Defence.”
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The Kremlin said Wednesday that the US had launched an economic war against Moscow, describing an onslaught of sanctions against the country over its military incursion into its pro-Western neighbour Ukraine.
“The United States has declared economic war on Russia and it is de facto waging this war,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, with the Russian government scrambling to impose measures to limit the economic fallout of the sanctions.
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The EU agreed Wednesday to add 160 Russian oligarchs and lawmakers to its sanctions blacklist, target crypto-assets and hit the maritime sector over Moscow’s war in Ukraine, officials said.
The 27-nation bloc also gave the go-ahead to cut three Belarusian banks from the global SWIFT messaging system over Minsk’s support for the Kremlin’s attack.
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Civilians from besieged towns northwest of Kyiv worked their way toward the capital Wednesday, crossing over a small river via a damaged bridge.
The bridge area has come under sporadic mortar fire in recent days, with civilians killed. But there was little shelling reported in the area Wednesday morning, so civilians took their chance to leave their homes in the hope of finding safety.
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The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine increased by more than 140,000 in 24 hours, according to United Nations figures issued Wednesday, with more than 2.15 million now having fled since Russia invaded on 24 February.
UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, recorded 2,155,271 refugees on its dedicated website – 143,959 more than the previous count on Tuesday.
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As the United States banned Russian oil imports, oil rose towards $130 a barrel on Wednesday, supported by concern of a potential supply shock.
The United States on Tuesday imposed a ban on Russian oil imports, Britain said it would phase them out and Shell said it would stop buying Russian crude. JP Morgan estimated around 70 per cent of Russian seaborne oil was struggling to find buyers.
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The Kremlin on Wednesday said that a Polish offer to deliver Mig-29 fighter jets to Ukraine via a US airbase could lead to a “dangerous scenario”, as Russian troops continued their advance into Ukraine.
“This is a highly undesirable and a potentially dangerous scenario,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
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Power has been entirely cut to the Chernobyl power plant, site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster in 1986, and its security systems, Ukraine’s energy operator Ukrenergo said Wednesday.
The nuclear power plant “was fully disconnected from the power grid,” it said in a statement on its Facebook page, adding that military operations meant “there is no possibility to restore the lines”.
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As Russia refused to slow down its invasion of Ukraine despite repeated warnings from the West, the United States decided to strike hard. President Joe Biden ordered an immediate ban on oil and other energy imports from Russia in a crucial trade decision.
Biden’s decision came after a delegation from Washington met Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in the capital Caracas over the weekend. This was the first high-level talk between the two countries in years.
“Last Saturday night a delegation from the government of the United States of America arrived in Venezuela, I received it here at the presidential palace,” Maduro said on Monday in a televised address to the nation. “We had a meeting, I could describe it as respectful, cordial, very diplomatic,” he added.