Live: Ukraine now seen as a war of attrition amid new bombings

Live news updates: Chinese says NATO shouldn't expand east; India's forex reserves record biggest drop in 2 years.

12:08 PM

Russian forces make gains in Ukraine

Russian forces made significant gains in Ukraine, advancing into the port of Mariupol, destroying an underground weapons depot and leaving a barracks in ruins following one of the deadliest rocket strikes on Ukraine’s military in the nearly month-old war. President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated his calls for meaningful peace negotiations with Russia, the New York Times reported.

 

11:34 AM

EU steps up preparedness for nuclear threat

The European Union has accelerated plans to bolster its preparedness to a potential nuclear threat after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Financial Times reported, citing EU officials. The European Commission wants EU member countries to stockpile iodine pills, other medicine and protective gear, the newspaper said. It is also working to boost its responses to potential biological and chemical attacks, the FT said, according to Bloomberg.

 

11:11 AM

Ukraine expects to get US weapons soon

Ukraine will receive Stingers, Javelins and other U.S. weaponry announced by President Joe Biden in the coming days, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said. “Those will be useful for our army will be on the territory of Ukraine in the nearest future,” Danilov said in an interview on Ukrainian television, according to Bloomberg.

 

10:37 AM

More than 100 UK companies warn of Ukraine war impact

More than 100 UK-listed companies have warned of effects from the war in Ukraine, with few of them so far quantifying the impact on their earnings, according to research by Bowmore Asset Management. The majority of the 115 companies the firm identified cautioned about effects specific to their businesses in the region, while many others referred to the broader macroeconomic risk generated by the war, Bowmore said, according to Bloomberg.

9:38 AM

Ukraine's Mariupol says Russia forcibly deporting city residents

The city council of Ukraine's Mariupol said Russian forces forcefully deported several thousand people from the besieged city last week, after Russia had spoken of "refugees" arriving from the strategic port. "Over the past week, several thousand Mariupol residents were deported onto the Russian territory," the council said in a statement on its Telegram channel late on Saturday.

 

9:04 AM

Western nations on Russia are 'outrageous': Chinese official

A senior Chinese government official said on Saturday that sanctions imposed by Western nations on Russia over Ukraine are increasingly "outrageous", according to Reuters. Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng also acknowledged Moscow's point of view on NATO, saying the alliance should not further expand eastwards, forcing a nuclear power like Russia "into a corner".

8:44 AM

Putin 'in better shape than ever': Lukashenko

Russian President Vladimir Putin is healthy, sane and "in better shape than ever", his close ally Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has said in an interview with a Japanese television channel. "He and I haven't only met as heads of state, we're on friendly terms," Lukashenko said in a recording of the interview shared by state news agency BelTA, according to Reuters.

8:10 AM

Most Japanese fear China will invade Taiwan

Nine in 10 Japanese people are concerned that China may invade Taiwan, following Russia’s attack on Ukraine, according to a domestic newspaper poll. More than half of the 1,040 respondents polled on Saturday by the Mainichi and Saitama University’s Social Survey Research Center said they have “strong concerns” about the prospect of Chinese action against Taiwan, according to the newspaper’s Sunday edition. About 33% said they have some degree of anxiety, Bloomberg quoted the report as saying.

7:58 AM

Zelenskyy suspends some political parties for Russia connection

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the suspension of activities of some opposition parties with alleged connections to Russia, citing martial law.

“Given the full-scale war and ties of some political structures with this state (Russia), the National Security Council of Ukraine has decided to suspend any activity of a number of political parties,” Zelenskiy said in a video message on Sunday, according to Bloomberg.

6:53 AM

847 civilians killed in Ukraine as of March 18: UN agency

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said at least 847 civilians had been killed and 1,399 wounded in Ukraine as of March 18. The Ukrainian prosecutor general's office said that 112 children have been killed so far, Reuters reported.

5:43 AM

6,623 people evacuated from Ukraine cities on Saturday

A total of 6,623 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities through humanitarian corridors on Saturday, a senior official said, considerably fewer than managed to escape the previous day. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president's office, said in an online post that 4,128 people had left the besieged city of Mariupol, said Reuters. 

5:42 AM

Australia bans alumina exports to Russia

Australia has imposed an immediate ban on exports of alumina and aluminum ores, including bauxite, to Russia, the government said on Sunday as part of its ongoing sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. "Russia relies on Australia for nearly 20 percent of its alumina needs," the Australian government said in a joint statement from several ministries. It added that the move will limit Russia's capacity to produce aluminium, Reuters reported.

5:24 AM

Chinese envoy says NATO shouldn't expand east

A Chinese diplomat said NATO should stick to what he claimed was a promise not to expand eastward, the AP reported. In a speech on Saturday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng criticised the far-reaching Western sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine and said the root cause of the war in Ukraine “lies in the Cold War mentality and power politics.”

 

5:21 AM

India's forex reserves record biggest drop in 2 years

India's foreign exchange reserves declined by $9.646 billion to $622.275 billion in the week ended March 11, the sharpest decline in nearly two years, as the central bank heavily sold dollars to prevent the slide in the value of rupee.