Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know now

(Reuters) – Russia said it would provide humanitarian corridors on Wednesday to flee Kyiv and four other Ukrainian cities, as the number of refugees who caused the biggest attack on a European country since World War Two exceeded 2 million. Read more

A senior Ukrainian official said Ukraine should halt the Russian offensive for the next seven to 10 days to deny Moscow any kind of victory.

arcade

* Russian forces will observe a “system of silence” from 10 am Moscow time (0700 GMT) to ensure the safe passage of civilians wanting to leave Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol, head of the Russian National Defense Monitoring Center, Mikhail Mezintsev. It was quoted by the TASS news agency.

It was not clear whether the proposed routes would pass through Russia or Belarus, conditions previously opposed by the Ukrainian government.

diplomatic efforts

* TASS quoted the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will travel to Turkey on Wednesday for talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba. Read more

* US Vice President Kamala Harris will cooperate with Poland and Romania on next steps in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and assure them of Washington’s support during her meetings with leaders of the two countries starting Thursday. Read more

Penalties

* Britain unveiled new aviation sanctions on Wednesday that give it the power to seize any Russian aircraft and ban the export of aircraft or space-related goods to Russia. Read more * The US embargo on Russian oil imports has increased oil prices. Prices have risen more than 30% since Russia invaded its neighbor on February 24. read more

* Britain said it aims to gradually stop imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022. The European Union plans to reduce dependence on Russian gas this year by two-thirds. Read more

* The region’s governor, Oleh Senhopov, said that the Ukrainian forces repelled the attempts of the Russian forces to enter the eastern city of Kharkiv.

– A Ukrainian presidential adviser said that Russian forces had repeatedly tried to seize Mykolaiv, the capital of the southern region, in attacks repelled by Ukrainian forces. Britain said Ukraine’s air defenses were having success against Russian planes, likely preventing Russia from gaining control of the airspace. Read more

– The UN human rights office said it has verified 1,335 civilian casualties so far in Ukraine, including 474 dead and 861 injured, but the true number is likely to be higher.

* Ukraine says its forces have killed more than 11,000 Russian soldiers. Russia has confirmed losses of about 500. Neither side has revealed any Ukrainian casualties. Read more

NATO aircraft

* The United States rejected a surprise offer by NATO ally Poland on Tuesday to move its Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets to a US base in Germany as a way to revamp Ukraine’s air force in its defense against invading Russian forces.

Read more

helps

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday that the IMF’s Executive Board was close to approving $1.4 billion in emergency financing for Ukraine on Wednesday to help it respond to the Russian invasion. Read more

Economic Impact

* McDonald’s Corporation (MCD.N)And Starbucks and L’Oreal temporarily close all outlets in Russia. Coca-Cola and Pepsi suspended sales of soda in the country.

* Unilever (ULVR.L) It became the first major European food company to stop imports and exports from Russia.

– The London Metal Exchange suspended trading in nickel after prices for the metal, a key component of electric car batteries, doubled to more than $100,000 a ton. Read more

Compiled by Thomas Janowski, Gareth Jones, Cynthia Osterman, Michael Perry and Raju Gopalakrishnan

Our criteria: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.