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The first safe corridor designed to allow civilians to flee war-torn Ukraine opened Tuesday, in a major move that was met with skepticism after similar efforts failed as the number of people fleeing the country topped two million.
Mass immigration continues as President Joe Biden is reported to have been preparing to announce a ban on US imports of Russian energy, the latest effort to toughen sanctions against Russia over its brutal attack on its neighbor.
“The first phase of evacuating civilians from Sumy has just begun,” Ukraine’s communications agency wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “The Russian Defense Ministry officially approved the humanitarian corridor in a letter to the Red Cross,” she added.
The agency posted on Twitter a video of buses leaving Sumy, a city of 260,000 people in northeastern Ukraine near the Russian border. Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, said those fleeing Sumy and other cities would have the option of going to Russia or to western Ukrainian cities that were not targeted.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk has warned that the Russians are preparing to “disrupt humanitarian corridors and manipulate the route” to force people to go to Russia. The Ukrainian military claimed that Russia launched an attack in the direction of the humanitarian corridor outside the besieged southern city of Mariupol.
The UN Human Rights Office has recorded 1,335 civilian casualties since the war began, including 474 dead and 861 wounded. Among the dead were more than twenty children.
The UN said the true number is likely to be “much higher, especially in government-controlled territories and especially in recent days, where the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been ongoing” has been delayed and many reports await confirmation.
The UN refugee agency said on Tuesday that 2,011,000 Ukrainians have fled the country, most of them to Poland. Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs coordinator, said the EU could take in up to 5 million Ukrainian refugees if Russia continues to attack cities.
The latest developments:
Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said Russian Major General Vitaly Gerasimov, 45, was killed in a battle near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.
Energy giant Shell said on Tuesday it would stop buying Russian oil and natural gas and shutter service stations and other operations in the country.
Stocks in Asia fell on Tuesday after oil prices rose above $130 a barrel.
Senior US officials traveled to South America over the weekend to meet with President Nicolas Maduro’s government, a surprise high-level meeting between the two countries. Officials discussed easing oil sanctions on Venezuela amid the fallout from a potential oil embargo on Russia, according to Reuters.
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Reportedly, the United States to ban the import of Russian energy
The source, who spoke to USA TODAY on condition of anonymity, said the speech would focus on the upcoming embargo on Russian oil, liquefied natural gas and coal. Gas prices have already gone up since the war began and the embargo could push them up. But pressure is growing in Congress for the administration to take this step.
– Maureen Group and Courtney Subramanian
2 million have fled Ukraine
The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine reached 2 million on Tuesday, according to the United Nations, the fastest mass exodus seen in Europe since World War II.
Today, the influx of refugees from Ukraine has reached two million people. Two million million, Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, wrote on Twitter. Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said she was “deeply concerned about civilians caught up in active hostilities in many areas”.
Poland has been the escape point for more than 1.2 million refugees. Hundreds of thousands fled to other European countries, including about 100,000 to Russia. More than 15% of the country’s 45 million people are of Russian descent.
Russia warns that oil prices may reach $ 300 a barrel
Russia has warned that the price of oil may jump to $ 300 a barrel and He threatened a possible shutdown of gas supplies to Europe amid rising tensions against Western countries considering an embargo on Russian oil.
“It is absolutely clear that refusing Russian oil will have dire consequences for the global market,” he added. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak He said in a statement broadcast on state television, according to Reuters. “The rise in prices will be unexpected. It will be $300 a barrel, if not more.”
Novak referred to Germany’s decision last month to freeze certification of the Nord Stream 2 . gas pipeline It could stop the current Nord Stream 1 pipeline It is considered one of the most important natural gas sources in Europe.
“We have every right to make a corresponding decision and impose a ban on pumping gas through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline,” Novak said.
Gas prices are now the most expensive in US history
After days of skyrocketing gas prices in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the national average gallon of gas is now The highest number in US history, breaking the record that has been in place for nearly 14 years. As of Tuesday morning, regular gas in the United States costs $4.17, according to AAA, up from $4.06 on Monday. Last week, the average cost was $3.60.
The previous high national average was $4.11, set July 17, 2008, according to the AAA.
“Americans have never seen gasoline prices so high, and we’ve never seen the pace of increases so fast and furious,” Patrick de Haan, head of petroleum analysis at fuel-saving app GasBuddy, said in a statement Monday.
– Jordan Mendoza
Price manipulation?Are oil and gas companies manipulating consumers at the pump?
Lviv is struggling with the influx of Ukrainians hoping to flee to Poland
Many refugees cross into Poland through the westernmost city of Lviv. But the city is crumbling under the pressure of tens of thousands of people who have fled their towns in the hope of seeking refuge in another country. “We really need support,” said Mayor Andrei Sadovyi. He said the city needed big tents with kitchens to prepare food.
Once a popular tourist destination, the historic city had a population of 700,000 before the war. Now, more than 200 thousand displaced Ukrainians fill Lviv sports halls, schools, church buildings, hospitals.
– Selena Tibor
Congress reaches agreement on bill banning Russian oil
Congressional leaders on Monday reached agreement on legislation that would ban Russian oil imports into the United States and end Russia’s permanent normal trade relations status, according to an unidentified Senate aide discussing private deliberations. Voting can take place quickly but no timetable has been set.
President Joe Biden has been reluctant to ban Russian oil, fearing it would drive up inflation as the November midterm elections approach. Termination of normal trade relationship status may result in exorbitant tariffs on other Russian imports.
– Crystal Hayes
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