The United States prepares a ban on imports of Russian oil; March 8, 9:46 a.m.
President Joe Biden will announce an embargo on US imports of Russian oil on Tuesday, in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, US media reported.
The White House reported on his side that Biden will speak at 3:45 p.m. GMT to “announce actions to continue to sanction Russia for its unprovoked and unjustified war once morest Ukraine.”
According to US media, the ban will include Russian oil and liquefied natural gas. Washington’s European allies, which are more dependent on Russian energy than the United States, will not participate, at least for now.
Russia accounts for less than 10% of US imports of oil and crude oil products, meaning the shock to the world’s largest economy would be easier to bear.
Although Americans are worried regarding inflation, and now regarding rising oil prices, which are hurting Biden’s popularity with voters, the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, supports this embargo and a increased tariffs on other Russian products to “further isolate Russia from the global economy.”
Russia seeks to arrest Ukrainian politicians: Michelle Bachelet; March 8, 9:15 a.m.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, denounced this Tuesday before the UN Human Rights Council the thousands of arrests of opponents of the war that Russia is carrying out in Ukraine.
A total of “12,700 people were arbitrarily detained for having participated in peaceful demonstrations” once morest the war that began on February 24, Bachelet denounced.
In Russia “the space for discussion or criticism of public policies, including military action once morest Ukraine, is shrinking more and more deeply,” said Bachelet, who also denounced the censorship of the press.
The “media is forced to use only official information and terms,” said the UN human rights officer.
She was also moved by “the use of repressive laws” that prevent people from exercising their civil rights and criminalize non-violent behavior.
Ukrainian Ministry of Defense accuses Russia of not respecting humanitarian corridor in Mariupol; March 8, 5:45 a.m.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense accused Russia on Tuesday of not respecting the humanitarian corridor of Mariupol, a port city in southeastern Ukraine, on the thirteenth day of the Russian invasion.
“The enemy launched an attack exactly in the direction of the humanitarian corridor”the ministry denounced on its Facebook page, stating that the Russian army “did not let children, women and elderly people leave the city.”
The number of refugees from Ukraine already exceeds two million (UNHCR); March 8, 5:35 a.m.
The number of people who have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24 exceeded two million on Tuesday, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“Today, the outflow of refugees from Ukraine reached 2 million. 2 million”, trilled the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, who applauded the “exemplary” welcome provided by Romania, Moldova and Poland –countries bordering Ukraine–, during a press conference in Oslo.
The person in charge considered that “At the moment” these countries were managing the arrival of refugees because they have “some resources”. “It is possible that if the war continues … we will start to see people without resources and connections and this will be a more difficult problem for European countries to manage,” he stressed.
At Least 21 People Killed In Bombing In Ukrainian City Of Sumy; March 8, 5:20 a.m.
According to a new balance from local authorities, the Russian bombings once morest the Ukrainian city of Sumy left 21 dead: “The bodies of 21 people, two of them children, have been found” at the scene of the accident, the regional prosecutor’s office said in Facebook. In the previous official balance, the death of nine people had been confirmed.
Zelensky denounces the broken “promises” of Western countries; March 8, 5:10 a.m.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky denounced on Tuesday the unfulfilled “promises” of Western countries to protect Ukraine from Russian attacks.
“We have been listening to promises for 13 days. Thirteen days that they are telling us that they will help us (…) that there will be planes, that they will deliver them to us, ”he declared in a video posted on Telegram. “But the responsibility for all this also falls on those who have not been able to make a decision in the West for 13 days. On those who have not protected the Ukrainian sky from Russian murderers, ”he added.
Russia promises to open “humanitarian corridors” in Ukraine but fear persists; March 8, 1:45 a.m.
Russia planned to open humanitarian corridors on Tuesday to evacuate civilians from some besieged cities in Ukraine, a misleading offer for Kiev that accuses Moscow of making it impossible for the population to leave. The Russian Defense Ministry said that if Ukraine approved it, it would cooperate with the evacuation of civilians from the capital Kiev and other cities such as Mariupol, Kharkov and Sumy, which have been under heavy fire.
Ukraine did not initially respond to the offer and its president Volodmir Zelensky accused Moscow troops of disrupting previous evacuation attemptswith runners going towards Russian or Belarusian territory, firing on the roads and destroying the buses that were supposed to take the population to safe areas.
“There was an agreement on the humanitarian corridors. It worked? In their place were Russian tanksGrads [lanzacohetes] Russians, Russian mines,” Zelensky denounced in a video posted on the Telegram social network.
