All the developments from the seventh day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as they happened.
What you need to know
- Ukraine is accusing Russia of targeting civilians, as Moscow tells Kyiv residents to stay away as it sends missile strikes to the capital.
- Among the civilian sites targeted were Kyiv TV tower and Ukraine's main Holocaust memorial.
- A convoy of Russian armoured vehicles continues to advance on Kyiv.
- The New Zealand Government is providing $2 million as an initial contribution to help deliver humanitarian support to Ukraine.
- Beyond that, the National Party is calling for a humanitarian visa for refugees from Ukraine who have family in New Zealand. Meanwhile, the Greens want New Zealand to take 2000 refugees from Ukraine.
Live updates as they happened
9.20pm: A Russian rocket hit police headquarters in Kharkiv, UNIAN news agency reports. The building is nearly destroyed and firefighters are still working to put out the fire.
9.15pm: Blasts have been reported across Kyiv as dawn broke in Ukraine with Russian forces looking to encircle the capital in what officials fear could be a brutal siege of the city, the New York Times is reporting.
8.50pm: The Biden administration is working on a “focused tactical strategy” to make certain that cryptocurrency doesn’t become a mechanism that Moscow is able to utilise to avert sanctions, according to a senior administration official.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the yet to be announced move, did not detail an exact timeline for when the new steps on cryptocurrency would be unveiled, but said the area is one of several spaces that the Biden administration officials are looking to shore up as it looks to make certain that sanctions on Russia have maximum impact.
7.35pm: Some citizens of Russia are leaving having had enough, Moscow correspondent for The Guardian, Andrew Roth reports.
7.20pm Country after country, from Europe's economic powerhouse to a tiny Pacific island nation, have lined up to lash out at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and urge support for a UN resolution demanding an immediate halt to Moscow’s offensive and withdrawal of all Russian troops, the Associated Press reports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin did have a few supporters Tuesday at the UN General Assembly's emergency session, including Cuba and North Korea. And there were countries that took no position on the draft resolution, such as Surinam and South Africa, which urged compromise and diplomacy to find a lasting resolution to the crisis.
The 193-member General Assembly scheduled a vote on the resolution for Thursday afternoon after hearing 120 speeches. Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding but they do have clout in reflecting international opinion.
6.20pm: The BBC reports that it appears Russian troops have captured the southern city of Kherson.
It’s unclear what the exact situation is in Kherson, but local reports say that the Russian military is on the streets.
The city’s mayor, Igor Kolykhayev, had told local radio that Russian forces had captured the city’s railway station and port on Tuesday night, according to BBC Russian.
“The fighting is going on now, and the occupation of our city is underway.”
He said many people had died including Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, and government officials were now trying to make sure people could leave or get to shelters.
5.20pm: The BBC reports that Ukraine's military has confirmed earlier reports that Russian paratroopers had landed in Kharkiv in an effort to take the besieged city.
According to the Ukrainian military, the aerial assault began just as air raid sirens were starting to sound in Kharkiv and the surrounding region.
The statement adds that the Russian troops attacked a regional military hospital, and that fighting is ongoing.
It is currently 6.20am in the mostly Russian-speaking city.
Kharkiv has been the epicentre of much of the violence seen in Ukraine in recent days.
4.45pm: A firm that tracks cryptocurrency transactions says US$33.8 million in the digital currency has been donated to Ukraine’s government and non-governmental organisations there since the start of Russia’s invasion, nearly a third of it on Wednesday.
Chief Scientist Tom Robinson of Elliptic said most donations to date have been in bitcoin and ether. Some people are sending non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, to the Ukrainian government’s ethereum account.
Ukraine issued a plea for contributions on Twitter last week. To date, it has received 30,000 donations, including US$5.8 million from Gavin Wood, the British programmer who co-founded ethereum. There have been several other donations of more than US$1 million.
4.20pm: Russian forces escalated their attacks on crowded urban areas in what Ukraine’s leader called a "blatant campaign of terror," while US President Joe Biden vowed to make his Russian counterpart “pay a price” for the invasion, the Associated Press reports.
“Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed after the bloodshed on the central square in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, and the deadly bombing of a TV tower in the capital.
3.50pm: Ukraine has opened two more refugee crossings into Poland, according to local news media.
According to the Kyiv Independent, Ukraine and Poland opened two new pedestrian refugee crossings overnight, reducing the long queues of people fleeing on foot, according to Deputy Interior Minister Mary Akopyan.
“There are still a lot of cars,” she told the Kyiv Independent. “But the pedestrian queues are no longer so extreme.”
On Feb. 28, almost 108,000 people and 15,000 vehicles crossed Ukraine’s western borders, a 10 per cent drop from the previous day’s numbers, Akopyan said. Currently there are about 8,000 cars in the queues.
3.45pm: President Biden's State of Address powerfully condemned Putin's actions.
The US Department of Justice is putting together a task force to go after the crimes of Russian oligarchs and corrupt Russian leaders.
“To the Russian oligarchs and corrupt leaders who built billions of dollars off this violent regime I say: No more,” Biden said.
3.20pm: President Joe Biden is delivering remarks on the Russian invasion as part of his State of the Union address.
The Associated Press reports the US Capitol is 'heavily secured' for Biden's first State of the Union address — some wearing blue and yellow ribbons and lapels in support of Ukraine — as attention turns from challenges at home to the intensifying war overseas.
Biden said that the United States is closing its airspace to all Russian flights in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said the US is working to seize yachts and apartments of Russian oligarchs.
Biden devoted the first 12 minutes of his address to Ukraine. Lawmakers of both parties repeatedly rose to their feet and applauded as he praised the bravery of Ukraine’s people and condemned Russia's assault.
He warned of costs to the American economy, as well, but said that without consequences, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression wouldn’t be contained to Ukraine.
Biden declared that he and all members of Congress, whatever political differences there may be, were joined “with an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny.”
2.45pm: Elon Musk is adding more Starlink terminals to aid Ukraine, according to the Kyiv Post.
2.30pm: From the Associated Press:
President Joe Biden plans to announce that the US is banning Russian planes from its airspace in retaliation for the Ukraine invasion, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The announcement follows similar actions by Canada and the European Union and is set to come during his State of the Union address Tuesday evening.
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the address.
1.40pm: Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, says 677,000 people have now fled Ukraine to neighbouring countries.
1.24pm: A wrap of Wednesday morning's developments in Ukraine from the BBC:
1.15pm: From the Associated Press:
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says his government will not impose any economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The president often cites a guiding principle of nonintervention in foreign affairs.
He says that “we want to maintain good relations with all the world’s governments, and we want to be in a position to be able to speak with all parties to the conflict".
Russian investment in Mexico is estimated at some NZ$195 million and the bilateral trade at more than NZ$3.5 billion.
López Obrador also criticises the censoring of some Russia media outlets and called on Twitter to answer accusations that it is removing messages favourable to Russia.
In his words: “We can’t be speaking of freedom and at the same time limiting freedom of expression.”
12.55pm: The Russian Embassy in New Zealand has written a tweet directed at Mahuta.
The embassy says the West has "kept a blind eye on innocent women and children killed" in Donbas since 2014, claiming those deaths were the result of "daily shelling by Ukrainian military".
Pro-Russia separatist rebels in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, have been accused of being proxies for Moscow's interests. The self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in that area broke away after the pro-Western 2014 Ukrainian revolution.
Amid rising tensions in the region that year, the Ukrainian government ordered an “anti-terrorist operation”. This led to the Ukrainian army managing to gain control over most areas in that region.
But, the Ukrainian army suffered a defeat in Ilovaisk months later. Ukraine and the Russia-backed separatists agreed to the first of 29 ceasefire deals in September 2014. Fighting has never stopped in the region since, but minor skirmishes have erupted over the years.
While casualties in Donbas have dropped since the start of the fighting in 2014, civilians were still dying each year, according to the UN.
12.19pm: New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has completed her Europe visit.
Mahuta says she was able to "represent and promote New Zealand’s priorities and interests" as fighting in Ukraine unfolded.
She also addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council.
“Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply committed to progressing universal human rights and protecting the dignity and mana of all people. Upholding our collective responsibility to do so is more timely than ever as New Zealand stands with Ukraine against Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion,” Mahuta says.
She is returning to New Zealand on Wednesday and will be staying at an MIQ facility.
12.10pm: From the Associated Press:
The UN General Assembly will vote on Wednesday on a resolution demanding that Russia immediately stop using force against Ukraine and withdraw all its military forces. The resolution will condemn Moscow’s decision “to increase the readiness of its nuclear forces”.
So far, the resolution has 92 co-sponsors from all over the world, including Afghanistan and Myanmar, both of which saw their elected governments ousted last year.
After Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution last week demanding that Russia immediately stop its use of force and send its forces home, the US and other supporters started the procedural steps to call an emergency special session of the General Assembly where there are no vetoes.
The council approved an emergency special session of the 193-member assembly earlier this week - the first in decades.
Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding but they do have clout as a reflection of international opinion.
11.40am: CNN reports the International Court of Justice will be holding public hearings starting next Tuesday (New Zealand time) over Russia's claims of genocide in Ukraine.
In its application for proceedings, Ukraine says Russia has "falsely claimed acts of genocide have occurred" in Moscow-backed Luhansk and Donetsk.
Ukraine also says in its application Russia is "planning acts of genocide".
Putin used baseless accusations of genocide "perpetrated by the Kyiv regime" to justify Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine.
11.09am: The Kyiv Independent reports there is further bombing in neighbourhoods in Kyiv and the city of Vyshneve just outside of the capital.
It reports a loud explosion was also heard in Bila Tserkva, which is about 80 kilometres south of Kyiv.
11.00am: Apple says it is pausing all sales of its products in Russia, CNET editor Ian Sherr reports.
Detroit News journalist Jordyn Grzelewski reports Ford is also suspending its Russian joint venture.
10.40am: From the Associated Press:
The US is injecting a strong note of caution into the persistent reports that Russian military progress - including by the massive convoy outside Kyiv - has slowed, plagued by food and fuel shortages and logistical problems.
One senior Defense official says the US has seen Russian military columns run out of gas, and in some places running out of food, and that morale is suffering as a result.
But the official adds it is important to be pragmatic. The Russians still have a significant amount of combat power that has not yet been tapped and “they will regroup, they will adjust, they will change their tactics".
Overall, the US assesses that Russia has launched more than 400 missiles into Ukraine, of various types and sizes.
As of Tuesday, the Ukrainian air and missile defence systems remain viable and are being used.
Also, weapons from the US and others continues to flow into Ukraine. The official says the aid is getting to the Ukrainian military and troops are “actively using these systems".
The official says Russians have made progress in the south, moving along two routes out of Crimea - one to the northeast and one to the northwest.
It’s not clear that Russians have taken control of Kherson, but heavy fighting continues. And, the official said Russian forces have not yet advanced into Mariupol, but are close enough to strike into the city with long-range weapons.
9.58am: "We will hold Russia accountable," US President Joe Biden says, adding that sanctions are having a "devastating impact" on Moscow.
Biden tweets he is speaking to Zelensky to discuss the US' support for Ukraine.
9.41am: From the Associated Press:
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree that prohibits taking more than NZ$14,800 worth of foreign currency in cash and “monetary instruments” out of Russia.
It includes a petition to freeze all assets of non-resident Russians. (Source: 1News)
The move comes in response to the crippling sanctions Western nations have imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which this week tanked the ruble and sent Russians flocking to banks and ATMs in fear for the fate of their savings.
Other measures Putin ordered this week included obligating Russian exporters to sell 80 per cent of their revenues in foreign currency, prohibiting Russian residents from providing non-residents with foreign currency under loan agreements and from depositing foreign currency into foreign bank accounts.
9.25am: The UK is launching its first round of sanctions against Belarusian individuals and organisations.
"The Lukashenko regime actively aids and abets Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and will be made to feel the economic consequences for its support for Putin," UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tweets.
9.16am: Zelensky tells Reuters and CNN in an interview Russia must stop bombing Ukraine before his government will engage in any ceasefire talks.
He also says he's not seen his family for the past three days and is spending time in a bunker just working and sleeping.
Talks in Belarus between Ukraine and Russia ended on Monday morning. Ukraine asked for a ceasefire. Meanwhile, Russian state media says Moscow asked Ukraine to keep itself out of the European Union and recognise the Russia-backed areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Moscow also reportedly wanted Ukraine to stop asking for the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, to be returned.
The talks didn't appear to move the parties toward de-escalation. On Tuesday, Zelensky accused Russia of using its military might to pressure Ukraine into making concessions.
On Tuesday, Zelensky also signed an application to join the EU.
Russian state media is reporting a second round of talks will begin on Thursday.
8.52am: Ukraine claims 80,000 people from abroad have come to the country to help in efforts against Russian forces.
In a Facebook post, Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs says the "vast majority" of returnees are men.
The ministry also says 40,000 people in the country are left without electricity and food. They accuse Russian forces of not allowing locals to evacuate.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russia issued a statement to Kyiv's residents telling them to get out of the way of its strikes.
8.30am: Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, is questioning Russia's membership on the UN Human Rights Council, the BBC reports.
"One can reasonably ask whether a UN member state, that tries to take over another UN member state while committing horrific human rights abuses and causing massive humanitarian suffering, should be allowed to remain on this council?"
He says countries must "condemn firmly and unequivocally Russia’s attempt to topple a democratically elected government" and its "gross human rights abuses".
8.10am: From the Associated Press:
Holocaust remembrance organisations in Israel are condemning a Russian attack that inflicted damage to the Babi Yar Holocaust memorial.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is denouncing the incident, and says Israel would help repair any damage.
“We are calling for the preservation and respect for this sacred site,” he says in a tweet that did not mention Russia by name.
The memorial is the site of a massacre of more than 33,000 Jews by Nazi Germany in 1941. It is located on the outskirts of Kyiv and adjacent to the city’s TV tower, where Ukrainian authorities say a Russian attack killed five people.
The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial’s chairman, Natan Sharansky, says Putin “seeks to distort and manipulate the Holocaust to justify an illegal invasion of a sovereign democratic country is utterly abhorrent".
"It is symbolic that he starts attacking Kyiv by bombing the site of the Babyn Yar, the biggest of Nazi massacres.”
7.48am: Russia's striking of Ukraine's main Holocaust memorial is "history repeating", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to justify his invasion of Ukraine by painting it as a "de-Nazification" campaign.
7.32am: From the Associated Press:
Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin says his government has readied measures to temporarily restrict foreign investors from divesting Russian assets, saying the step would help them make “a considered decision” rather than succumb to political pressure of sanctions.
Mishustin says a presidential decree had been prepared to impose “temporary restrictions on exiting from Russian assets".
He does not provide details or say if the restrictions would apply to some forms of investment or to all.
On Tuesday, the New Zealand Defence Force asked for the urgent withdrawal of any of its KiwiSaver scheme funds that are invested in Russian and Belarusian markets.
7.08am: In Russia's statement to Kyiv's residents, it says it will strike "objects of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the 72nd Center for Information and Psychological Operations (PSO) in Kiev".
Russia's Defence Ministry says aiming for the targets will help it "thwart informational attacks against Russia".
"We urge Ukrainian citizens involved by Ukrainian nationalists in provocations against Russia, as well as Kiev residents living near relay stations, to leave their homes."
Its statement also repeats Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim that he does not plan to occupy Ukraine's territories.
"Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population," it claims.
On Tuesday, the UN said at least 406 civilians in Ukraine have been killed or injured in the fighting.
6.50am: A wrap of developments overnight from the BBC:
6.30am: Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the fighting in Ukraine from 1News.
From the Associated Press:
Russian forces fired at the Kyiv TV tower and Ukraine's main Holocaust memorial, among other civilian sites targeted on Wednesday, Ukrainian officials say.
Ukraine’s State Service for Emergency Situations says the strikes on the TV tower killed five people and left five more wounded.
Ukraine officials say the strikes killed at least five people and left five more wounded. (Source: Breakfast)
Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, posted a photo of clouds of smoke around the TV tower. The toweris a couple of kilometres from central Kyiv and a short walk from numerous apartment buildings.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko says an electrical substation powering the tower and a control room on the tower were damaged from the hit.
The head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, Andriy Yermak, says on Facebook that a “powerful missile attack on the territory where the (Babi) Yar memorial complex is located” is underway.
Babi Yar, a ravine in Kyiv, is where nearly 34,000 Jews were killed within 48 hours in 1941 when the city was under Nazi occupation. The killing was carried out by SS troops along with local collaborators.
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