March 11 (Reuters) – Russian forces bearing down on Kyiv are regrouping northwest of the Ukrainian capital, satellite pictures showed, with Britain saying Moscow could now be planning an assault on the city within days.
President Vladimir Putin gave the green light for up to 16,000 volunteers from the Middle East to be deployed alongside Russian-backed rebels in the conflict. L2N2VE06SRead full story
ECONOMIC IMPACT
The United States, G7 nations and the European Union will move on Friday to end normal trade relations with Russia allowing them to hit it with new tariffs, multiple sources told Reuters.Read full story
* As EU leaders debate further steps in France, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in video posted on Facebook that the bloc will not extend its sanctions to Russian energy.
* EU aims to double its military aid for Ukraine, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
* The U.S. Senate approved $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine.Read full story
EVACUATIONS
* Russia promised another ceasefire to allow evacuations from the besieged port of Mariupol as well as Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv, although previous ones have failed.
* About 222,000 people arrived in Russia from Ukraine and Russian-backed rebel regions, the TASS news agency said.
* While almost 40,000 have been evacuated from five cities, so far none were able to leave Mariupol, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Read full story
FIGHTING
* Ukraine accused Russian forces of hitting a psychiatric hospital near the eastern Ukrainian town of Izyum. Read full story
* The mayor of eastern city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest, said 48 city schools have been destroyed in relentless bombardment by Russian forces.
* Three air strikes in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro killed at least one person, state emergency services said.
* Russian troops took out two military airfields in Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk, while Moscow-backed separatists have captured the town of Volnovakha, north of Mariupol, according to Russian defence ministry.
HUMANITARIAN TOLL
* Over 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine so far, according to the latest U.N. tally, around half of them children.
* Russian forces are operating in Ukraine with “reckless disregard” for civilians in the face of stronger-than-expected resistance, U.S. spy chiefs said. Read full story
* Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms FB.O, temporarily lifted a ban on calls for violence against the Russian military and leadership in some countries, according to internal e-mails, prompting Russia’s call on Washington to stop Meta’s “extremist activities.” Read full story
NUCLEAR POWER
* All Ukrainian nuclear power stations are operating as normal, state company Energoatom said. Read full story
BIOSECURITY
* The U.N. Security Council will convene on Friday at Russia’s request, diplomats said, to discuss Moscow’s claims, presented without evidence, of U.S. biological activities in Ukraine. Read full story
(Compiled by Michael Perry and Tomasz Janowski; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Kim Coghill)
