Vladimir Putin slaps sanctions on Biden, Blinken; EU leaders visit Kyiv

UK announces 350 sanctions on Russia; Kyiv to impose curfew for 'dangerous' 36 hours

Russia said on Tuesday it had put US President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top officials on a “stop list” that bars them from entering the country.

Their names, together with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, CIA chief William Burns, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and others, were included on a list of 13 individuals banned from Russia in response to sanctions imposed by Washington on Russian officials. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also named.

Tuesday also saw the prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia making an unexpected trip to Kyiv by train to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, planning to announce a “broad package” of support measures. The leaders will express “the unequivocal support of the entire European Union for the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” Czech Premier Petr Fiala said on Facebook, adding that the trip had been coordinated with EU institutions.

 The British government said on Tuesday it had added 350 new listings under its Russia sanctions regime and nine new listings under its cyber sanctions regime.

Among those in the latest round of sanctions were Andrey Melnichenko, who owned major fertiliser producer EuroChem Group and coal company SUEK, Pyotr Aven, an oil investor who built a European business with an estimated net worth of $4.7 billion, and Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu.

The UN’s top court said it will give a judgment on Wednesday on Ukraine's charge that Russia falsely justified its invasion by accusations of genocide.

Kyiv filed the case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, demanding that the tribunal order an end to the offensive.

It accuses Russia of illegally trying to justify its war under an international convention by falsely alleging that Ukraine committed genocide in regions held by pro-Russian separatists. Ukraine’s parliament voted on Tuesday to extend martial law for another 30 days from March 26, approving a bill submitted by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The capital prepared to go into an extended two-night curfew from 8 p.m. Tuesday as Kyiv’s mayor warned of dangerous times ahead.

Russia and Ukraine continued negotiations aimed at achieving a cease-fire. Kyiv and Moscow resumed talks on the war in Ukraine on Tuesday after a pause on Monday, Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said.

“Consultations on the main negotiation platform renewed. General regulation matters, ceasefire, withdrawal of troops from the territory of the country,” he wrote on Twitter. The UN said that 3 million people have now fled the fighting. There was a rare glimmer of hope in the encircled port city of Mariupol after a convoy of 160 civilian cars left along a designated humanitarian route, the city council reported.

Russian troops take control of entire Kherson region

A top official from Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed on Tuesday that troops had taken control of the entire region of Kherson, after the territory’s namesake capital city was first captured on March 3. Confirming the takeover, Major General Igor Konashenkov, the Ministry’s official representative, said that troops from ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ also broke through Ukrainian defences and took control of the settlement of Panteleymonovka, RT News reported.

19 killed in TV tower attack in Ukraine

At least nineteen people were killed and many more wounded in an air strike on a television tower in Ukraine’s northern Rivne region on Monday, Governor Vitaliy Koval said. “There are still people under the rubble,” he said in an post.

US airlines trim capacity as fuel costs surge on Ukraine crisis

Major US airlines trimmed their capacity estimate for the first quarter on Tuesday as higher fuel cost due to the Ukraine crisis takes away some of the benefits from a steady recovery in travel demand. Oil prices — a major cost component for US airlines already facing high labour expenses — have surged. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines Holdings , which do not hedge against oil price fluctuations, face the added headache of having to take longer routes to some Asian countries to avoid Russian airspace.

Cameraman with Fox News dies in firing

Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski was killed in Ukraine after the vehicle in which he was traveling was struck by incoming fire, the US network reported on its website. Zakrzewski was reporting with another Fox News journalist.