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RUSSIA’S WAR IN UKRAINE

Developments
AGENCIES
RUSSIA ADVANCES IN SOUTH
Russian forces take the Black Sea port of Kherson in southern Ukraine, the first major city to fall after a string of setbacks for Moscow. They also pound and encircle the strategic port city of Mariupol, which is without water or electricity.
OBSERVER KILLED IN KHARKIV
A Ukrainian observer for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is killed in the country’s second city Kharkiv, which has come under intense bombardment.
MOSCOW’S MILITARY ‘DISASTER’
Russia’s invasion so far has been astonishingly badly managed, a blundering “disaster, through and through”, US defence experts say. It is like Moscow “tripped over the doorframe on the way into the house,” one expert says, citing food and fuel shortages, poor intelligence and planning.
KYIV COLUMN ‘STALLED’
A senior US defence official says the massive column of Russian military vehicles amassed north of Kyiv has “stalled” due to fuel and food shortages and Ukrainian resistance.
NOT THINKING OF NUCLEAR WAR: LAVROV
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accuses of raising thoughts of “nuclear war” because of the invasion of Ukraine but says the idea is “not in the heads of Russians”.
ONE MILLION FLEE
More than one million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded, the UN’s refugee agency says, with the number rising rapidly.
FIRST RUSSIAN TOLL
Russia says 498 of its troops have been killed in Ukraine, its first death toll since President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion a week ago.
HUMANITARIAN CORRIDORS
Russia’s Defence Ministry announces “humanitarian corridors” for civilians to leave the most battered Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol.
CEASEFIRE TALKS
Russia floats the possibility of a ceasefire with talks with Ukraine due to restart on the Belarus-Poland border.
PARALYMPICS BAN
Russian and Belarusian athletes are banned from the Beijing Winter Paralympics, reversing an earlier decision to allow them participate.
‘JUNK’ DEBT RATING
Ratings agencies Fitch and Moody’s slash Russia’s credit rating to “junk” status, signifying it risks not being able to repay its debts.
MOSCOW RADIO SILENCED
The liberal Ekho Moskvy radio station, a symbol of media freedom in post-Soviet Russia, is taken off air over its coverage of the invasion.
WAR CRIMES PROBE
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor says a probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine “will immediately proceed” after his office received the backing of 39 countries.
RUSSIAN JETS IN SWEDISH AIRSPACE
The Swedish Armed Forces say four Russian fighter jets entered Sweden’s airspace to the east of the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea.