TOP HEADLINES

• Ukraine's main television tower in the center of Kyiv was hit by a Russian airstrike, according to Ukraine's interior ministry. 

• Emergency services said five people were killed in the explosion.

• The attack was close to the Holocaust memorial complex, Babyn Yar, said the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. 

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia must stop its attack before meaningful talks on a ceasefire could start.

• Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said none of his country's military units had moved from their bases, but that the country could mobilise in two to three days, the state-run Belta news agency reported.

• Russia's military move on Kyiv has stalled as its forces face logistics challenges, a U.S. defense official said.

• A 60km convoy of Russian forces is heading toward Kyiv from the north

• Ukraine says 70 of its soldiers killed by artillery strike in north-eastern city of Okhtyrka

• UNCHR says more than 660,000 people have fled Ukraine

• Shipping giant Maersk temporarily halts all container shipping to and from Russia

• Russia imposes temporary curbs on foreign investors seeking to exit Russian assets

IN DETAIL

Strike on Kharkiv

A Russian strike caused a huge explosion in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, on Tuesday. At least 10 people were killed and 35 more injured, interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said, but "The rubble is being cleared and there will be even more victims and wounded."

The missile hit the regional government headquarters at Kharkiv's Freedom Square, around 40 kilometers from the Russian border. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, addressing the European Parliament by videolink, called the strike a war crime and a conscious destruction of people. "Evil, armed with rockets, bombs and artillery, must be stopped immediately, destroyed economically," he said. "We must show that humanity is able to protect themselves."

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, speaking via video to a Geneva-based disarmament forum, said "Nothing can justify missile shelling of residential buildings, kindergartens, orphanages, hospitals and emergency vehicles, passengers buses and millions of refugees fleeing Russian fire." 

Targeting other cities

Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych said Russian forces were trying to lay siege to Kharkiv and Kyiv. Russian troops fired artillery at Kyiv, Kharkiv and the southern port city of Mariupol overnight while the Ukrainian side shot down Russian military planes around the capital, Arestovych said in a televised briefing. He described the current situation as under control.

However, satellite images released by U.S. company Maxar suggested a 60-kilometer convoy of Russian tanks and fuel trucks was approaching Kyiv from the north. 

"For the enemy, Kyiv is the key target," Zelenskyy said. "We did not let them break the defense of the capital, and they send saboteurs to us… We will neutralize them all."

Britain's defense ministry said in an intelligence update that the Russian advance on Kyiv had made little progress in the past 24 hours, probably due to logistical problems. But it also warned of a shift in Russian tactics. "The use of heavy artillery in densely populated urban areas greatly increases the risk of civilian casualties," it said.

A Russian-backed separatist leader in eastern Ukraine said his forces aimed to encircle Mariupol today, the RIA news agency reported. "The task for today is to directly encircle Mariupol," it quoted Donetsk separatist leader Denis Pushilin as saying. The city's mayor said it was under constant shelling.

Ukraine says 70 of its soldiers were killed by artillery strike in the north-eastern city of Okhtyrka, between Kharkiv and Kyiv and around 50 kilometers from the Russian border. 

'Russophobic frenzy'

Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu said his country will continue its military operation in Ukraine until it achieves its goals, the Interfax news agency reported, saying Shoigu insisted Moscow's main goal was protecting itself from threats created by the West and said Russia was not occupying Ukraine's territory.

Russia's foreign minister told the Geneva disarmament meeting that Ukraine has been seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, calling this a real danger that it needed to prevent. "Ukraine still has Soviet technologies and the means of delivery of such weapons," said Sergei Lavrov. "We cannot fail to respond to this real danger," he said.

Lavrov also accused the European Union of engaging in a "Russophobic frenzy" by supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine during Moscow's military campaign there, and insisted that the West must not build military facilities in any countries of the former Soviet Union.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said the start of talks between Ukraine and Russia raises hope that hostilities may end, the RIA news agency quoted. The first round of talks held in Belarus on Monday produced no tangible results as fighting in Ukraine continued, but a second round of talks is expected to start tomorrow in the Brest region of Belarus.

Google Trends data suggests that the number of Russian searches for "emigration" has increased fivefold in recent weeks. The Russian foreign ministry has said that anti-Russian propaganda by companies such Google and Facebook's Metaverse will not be tolerated.

World reaction

European Union lawmakers will call Russia a "rogue state" and urge the 27-nation bloc to agree even tougher sanctions during today's emergency debate. A draft resolution will call for sanctions "aimed at strategically weakening the Russian economy and industrial base, in particular the military-industrial complex." The non-binding resolution also suggests Russian President Vladimir Putin "recalls the most dreadful statements of 20th-century dictators."

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called for punitive measures and stronger defense. "The sanctions package and strengthening of the eastern flank of NATO is what we need today and what we are focusing on," Morawiecki said.

Hungary is supporting an initiative by eight European Union leaders to start membership talks with Ukraine, said Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. "Hungary backs this initiative and we urge Brussels to put the issue on the agenda," Szijjarto said, referring to an initiative by the presidents of Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Italy would be able to weather a complete breakdown in gas supplies from Russia in the short-term, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said. Italy is seeking to reduce its reliance on Russia, which supplies more than 40 percent of its imported gas. "Our forecast is that we will be able to absorb any peaks in demand from what we have in storage or other import sources," Draghi said.

About 100 Serb nationalists rallied in front of an Orthodox church in Montenegro in a rare European display of support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin. "Good luck, Vladimir, you are the guardian of Orthodoxy!" shouted protest leader Veselin Djokovic. 

The German air force said its warplanes are patrolling the skies over Poland. "Safeguarding the skies over Poland," the air force said on Twitter, above a picture of a starting fighter jet. 

International organizations

More than 660,000 people, mostly women and children, have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries in the last six days, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said. Spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told a Geneva briefing there were reports of people waiting for up to 60 hours to enter Poland, while queues at the Romanian border are up to 20 kilometers long. Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau says his country has accepted 400,000 refugees so far.

Red Cross agencies have appealed for $273m to provide food, water and shelter to millions of people – both in Ukraine, where the humanitarian situation is "deteriorating rapidly," and to those who have fled abroad. "We need the funds in order to address the humanitarian needs which are already staggering – food, water, shelter, health care, psychological support – and they are growing by the hour," International Committee of the Red Cross regional director Martin Schuepp said.

At least 136 civilians have been killed, including 13 children, and 400 have been injured since Russia began its military operations last week, the UN human rights office said. "The real toll is likely to be much higher," said spokesperson Liz Throssell, adding that 253 of the casualties were in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine. The UN World Food Programme is scaling up activities in Ukraine so that it can support up to 3.1 million people, WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri said, adding: "Food supplies are running low."

Sanctions and responses

YouTube is blocking channels connected to Russian state-backed media outlets RT and Sputnik across Europe effective immediately. "It'll take time for our systems to fully ramp up. Our teams continue to monitor the situation around the clock to take swift action," a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement. On Monday, Facebook said it would restrict access to RT and Sputnik on its platforms across the European Union, while Twitter said it would label tweets from the Russian state-controlled media and reduce their visibility.

Shipping giant Maersk will temporarily halt all container shipping to and from Russia. Energy firms BP and Shell have abandoned multi-billion-dollar positions, while leading banks, airlines, auto makers and more have cut shipments, ended partnerships and called Russia's actions unacceptable. 

Russia will impose temporary curbs on foreign investors seeking to exit Russian assets to ensure they take a considered decision, not one driven by political pressure, the prime minister said. "In the current sanction situation foreign entrepreneurs are forced to be guided, not by economic factors, but to make decisions under political pressure," said Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

The world governing bodies for badminton and swimming suspended Russia and Belarus from international tournaments on Tuesday, although they said athletes would be allowed to compete under a neutral banner.