TOP HEADLINES

•  Ukraine and Russia agreed to create humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians in a second round of talks in Belarus, a top Ukrainian official said.  

•  Ukraine's interior minister says Russian tanks have entered the town of Zaporizhzhia, the site of Europe's biggest nuclear plant.

•  After a phone call with his Russian counterpart, French President Emmanuel Macron says "the worst is yet to come" in the Ukraine war.

• The Black Sea port of Kherson has fallen to Russian troops.

• The U.S. will impose new sanctions on Russian oligarchs, including a travel ban.

• The EU has agreed to give temporary protection for refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, while also setting up a humanitarian hub in Romania.

•  Russian will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against its expulsion from the 2022 World Cup and all international football competitions.

• More than one million people have fled Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, according to the UNHCR.

• "We are being destroyed," said Mariupol's city council, claiming Russia is constantly and deliberately shelling critical civilian infrastructure in the Ukrainian southern port.

• Russian Ministry of Defense says Mariupol is suffering a humanitarian disaster, and humanitarian disasters are also imminent in Kyiv, Kharkov and Sumy, RIA Novosti.

• The International Criminal Court (ICC) has launched an investigation into possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

• The Russian convoy is stuck, according to U.S. intelligence.

• Two women and five children were arrested in Moscow for protesting against the war.

• Russian and Belarus athletes have been banned from the Winter Paralympic Games.

• Richest Russian oligarch's superyacht has been seized by German authorities in Hamburg.

• Russia's liberal radio station Ekho Moskvy has been taken off air over its coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it will now shut down.

IN DETAIL

Second round of talks

According to a top Ukrainian official, Ukraine and Russia have agreed to create humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians.  

"The second round of talks is over. Unfortunately, Ukraine does not have the results it needs yet. There are decisions only on the organisation of humanitarian corridors," Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted.

Vladimir Mezinsky, head of the Russian delegation, said substantial progress has been made, and that the main issue in today's talks was saving civilians

Ukraine negotiators said the two sides agreed to continue with a third round of talks as soon as possible.

"The worst is to come"

In a 90-minute phone call with Vladimir Putin, Macron told his Russian counterpart that the invasion of Ukraine was a "major mistake" and that Russia will pay for it by ending up "isolated, weakened and under sanctions for a very long time."

But Macron said that there was "nothing in what President Putin told us that should reassure us," as Russia seems determined to seize "the whole" country. 

"The expectation of the president is that the worst is to come, given what President Putin told him," a senior aide to the French leader told reporters on condition of anonymity.

EU protection

EU interior ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday agreed to give temporary protection to refugees fleeing Ukraine, using a mechanism drawn up two decades ago in response to the wars in the former Yugoslavia - but never used.

Not only Ukrainian nationals will be offered protections under this move, but also the many Indian students (and many other nationalities) who found themselves cornered when Russia invaded.

"The significance of this moment for Europe cannot be underestimated (sic)," the Oxfam charity said in a statement, calling it "a turning point for Europe".

The fall of Kherson

Kherson - a Black Sea port 450km from Kyiv - has fallen to Russian troops, local authorities have confirmed. The city, home to 290,000 people, is the first major urban center to be captured by the Russians since the beginning of the invasion last Thursday.

"The (Russian) occupiers are in all parts of the city and are very dangerous," Gennady Lakhuta, head of the regional administration, wrote on Telegram late on Wednesday.

The mayor, Igor Kolykhaiev, said he's holding discussions with the "armed guests" and he has asked them "not to shoot people." He has asked residents to stay put and imposed a night curfew.

"Hour by hour, minute by minute, more people are fleeing"

More than one million people have fled Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, according to the UN refugee agency.

Over half of those fleeing have crossed into Poland, while others have sought shelter in Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova, Belarus and Russia. The UNHCR said that 8.5 percent of those who had fled the country into neighboring countries, about 88,147 people, had already moved on towards other European states.

The UNHCR estimates that the number of people fleeing will keep on soaring if the war goes on.

"Unless there is an immediate end to the conflict, millions more are likely to be forced to flee Ukraine," said UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi.

No water or power in Mariupol

Mariupol city council said the Russian attacks are leaving the city without water, heating or power and preventing bringing supplies or evacuating people. Authorities compared the airstrikes to the "old Leningrad," the deadly Nazi's siege of the then-Soviet city (now Saint Petersburg) in 1941.During two years of  that siege 1.5 million people died.

"We are being destroyed as a nation. This is genocide of Ukrainian people," a statement by the city council said.

The southern port city is currently surrounded by Russian troops, said Ukraine's interior ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko.

Oil prices surge

Oil prices soared again on Thursday, as Brent crude oil rose more than 5 percent to reach almost $120 per barrel, and is now up nearly 20 percent compared to last week. The cost of other commodities - like wheat and copper - is also rising.

In response to this, the euro fell to its lowest level against the pound since mid-2016.

Investors fear what analyst Shane Oliver described as a "stagflationary shock" - a horrible combination of slow economic growth, high unemployment and surging prices.

Japan has announced plans today to help residents and businesses facing difficulty due to soaring oil prices with $3 billion in relief funds.

Paralympics Committee U-turn

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced today that Russian and Belarusian athletes are banned from competing in the Beijing Winter Paralympics for the role their countries are playing in the war in Ukraine.

"In order to preserve the integrity of these Games and the safety of all participants, we have decided to refuse the athlete entries from RPC and NPC Belarus," the IPC said.

The ban is a reversal of a decision taken on Wednesday, which allowed the athletes to compete as neutrals in the Games which start on Friday.

Germany and France seize Russian billionaires' superyachts

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov's luxury yacht, worth nearly $600 million, has been seized by German authorities as the billionaire now faces EU sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The yacht, over 150 meters long and boasting a 25-meter swimming pool, was taken in the northern port of Hamburg, according to Forbes. 

On the same day, French authorities seized a yacht they said belonged to Rosneft's boss Igor Sechin.

At least five Russian billionaires have moved their yachts to Maldives as the EU imposed sanctions on Russian oligarchs, ship tracking data showed.