Russian soldiers are marching on territories north and west of Kyiv, raising fears that the city may be encircled shortly, according to the Ukrainian military’s general command.
The top ten developments in this story are mentioned below:
- Russian forces moved closer to Kyiv on Friday, as authorities declared the Ukrainian capital was being converted into a “fortress,” and President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of once again attacking humanitarian routes.
- Ukraine has created no chemical weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, according to the nation’s president, who warned Russia that using biological weapons against his country would result in “the most severe penalties.” This comes after Russia accused the US of sponsoring research into the creation of biological weapons in Ukraine on Thursday.
- The US Congress enacted a massive omnibus funding plan for 2022 on Thursday, including over $14 billion in humanitarian and military help to war-torn Ukraine as Russia’s incursion entered its third week.
- Japan announced it will freeze the assets of three Belarusian banks, only days after the EU voted to tighten sanctions against Minsk for its backing for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- According to the RIA news agency, Russian-backed rebels have taken control of the Ukrainian city of Volnovakha, which is located north of the beleaguered Azov Sea town of Mariupol. As the northern entryway to Mariupol, Volnovakha is strategically vital.
- The US and its European partners may slap new sanctions on Moscow because “the atrocities that they’re conducting against civilians appear to be growing,” according to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
- On Thursday, talks between Ukraine’s and Russia’s foreign ministers failed to offer any relief to the two-week-old war, which has imprisoned hundreds of thousands of people in Ukrainian cities fleeing Russian air attacks and artillery. It was their first face-to-face encounter since Moscow’s invasion began.
- According to a Ukrainian parliament spokesman, at least 71 children have been murdered and more than 100 have been injured in Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on the country on February 24.
- Facebook announced that it had temporarily relaxed its standards on violent speech, allowing phrases such as “death to Russian invaders,” but not real threats against people.
- Goldman Sachs, the largest investment bank in the United States, announced its exit from Russia on Thursday, becoming the first Wall Street firm to disassociate itself from Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine. As more American firms express indignation over the violence, Disney, which has halted movie releases in Russia, has said that it will remove other items as well.