Russia-Ukraine war: What you need to know right now

President Joe Biden banned Russian oil and other energy imports to the United States, piling pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin to halt the assault on Ukraine, but an effort to evacuate civilians from the besieged port city of Mariupol failed. read more

Ukraine's government accused Russia of shelling a humanitarian corridor it had promised in Mariupol. read more

SANCTIONS

  • Biden acknowledged the ban on Russian energy imports, which has bipartisan support, would drive up U.S. energy prices. read more
  • Britain said it aimed to phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022. The EU plans to cut dependency on Russian gas this year by two-thirds. read more
  • Ukrainian troops repulsed efforts by Russian forces to enter the eastern city of Kharkiv, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said.
  • Russian forces have repeatedly tried to seize the southern regional capital of Mykolayiv in attacks that have been repulsed by Ukrainian troops, a Ukrainian presidential adviser said.

CORRIDORS

  • Russian forces will stop firing from 10 a.m. Moscow time (0700 GMT) on Wednesday to provide humanitarian corridors for people to leave Kyiv and four other cities, Tass news agency cited a senior Russian official as saying. read more
  • The United Nations human rights office said it had verified 1,335 civilian casualties so far in Ukraine, including 474 killed and 861 injured, but the true toll was likely to be higher.
  • Ukraine says its forces have killed more than 11,000 Russian troops. Russia has confirmed about 500 losses. Neither side has disclosed Ukrainian casualties. read more

ECONOMIC IMPACT

  • McDonald's Corp, Starbucks and L'Oreal are temporarily closing all outlets in Russia Coca-Cola and Pepsi suspended soda sales in the country.
  • Unilever  became the first major European food company to stop imports and exports out of Russia
  • The London Metal Exchange halted trade in nickel after prices of the metal, a key component in electric vehicle batteries, doubled to more than $100,000 a tonne. read more

INSIGHTS * 'I am fine': Whispered words are a ray of hope on Ukraine children's ward L5N2VB5XT

QUOTES

"Russia may continue to grind out its advance at a horrible price, but this much is already clear: Ukraine will never be a victory for Putin," Biden told reporters. "Putin may be able to take a city, but he'll never be able to hold the country."

Reuters