MAIN HEADLINES

• Moscow has opened humanitarian corridors to allow people to leave five Ukrainian cities: Cherhihiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, and the capital Kyiv, as well as Sumy, the Russia-based Interfax news agency reported. 

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the UK's House of Commons via video link, urging lawmakers to act and expressed his disappointment that calls for a no-fly zone have been rejected.

• Two million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the conflict, the head of the U.N. refugee agency said. European Union officials reported the bloc is preparing to receive 5 million in the coming weeks. 

• Ukraine's foreign ministry accused Russia of violating a ceasefire, by shelling the humanitarian corridor from Zaporizhzhia to the besieged city of Mariupol.

• The Russian Defense Ministry announced that 723 people had been evacuated from the Sumy-Poltava humanitarian corridor, including 576 Indians, 115 Chinese, 20 Jordanians, and 12 Tunisians. 

• British energy giant Shell announced it intends to stop buying Russian oil and apologized for buying a cargo of fuel last week, adding that it should not have happened.

• Russia warned oil prices could more than double to $300 a barrel, and it might close the main gas pipeline to Germany if the West halts oil imports.

• U.S. President Joe Biden is to announce new sanctions to "hold Russia accountable" for the invasion of Ukraine, with one AFP source stating Russian oil imports will be banned. It is understood the U.S will act alone but in close consultation with European allies who are more dependent on Russian energy supplies. 

• The UK will also ban Russian oil imports, Politico reported, however, there will not be a ban on Russian gas at the same time.

• Ukraine says its forces have killed more than 11,000 Russian troops while Russia has only confirmed just over 500 losses. Neither side has disclosed Ukrainian casualties. 

• The World Health Organization said that attacks on hospitals, ambulances, and other health care facilities in Ukraine have increased rapidly in recent days. 

 

IN MORE DETAIL

Oil import ban 

The U.S. is expected to impose a ban on Russian oil import, Democratic U.S. Senator Chris Coons said. In an interview with CNN, Coons said the announcement of the ban could come on Tuesday or Wednesday. 

Russia is the world's biggest exporter of oil and natural gas. Moscow is subject to global financial sanctions over the war, but its energy exports have been exempted until now.

The British government is expected to make a similar announcement later on Tuesday, banning imports of Russian oil but not gas, Politico reported. The publication said there would be a months-long lead-in time on the ban to allow the global market to adjust and to stop people panic-buying petrol. 

 

READ MORE:

Ukraine conflict timeline

Spain's Ukrainian diaspora helping out

 

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday, that the world could not simply stop using oil and gas from Russia but could accelerate the transition away from it.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak warned Monday that Moscow could cut Europe's gas supplies in response to sanctions and said any ban by Western allies on Russian oil imports would have "catastrophic consequences."

The economic impact of the war is already having an effect, fuelling concerns it could derail global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. gasoline pump prices hit a record high, London trade in industrial metal nickel had to be suspended after prices more than doubled in a matter of hours, and Britain's energy giant Shell is pausing spot purchases of Russian oil, apologizing for buying a shipment last week. 

 

WATCH: A fireball appears in the sky as a Russian jet is shot down by Ukrainian forces and oil depots were also set alight following two Russian air strikes.  

 

 

Humanitarian corridors

Russia opened a humanitarian corridor on Tuesday, letting Ukrainians flee the eastern city of Sumy, but Kyiv accused Moscow of shelling a similar route intended to allow residents to escape the besieged southern port of Mariupol.

"Ceasefire violated! Russian forces are now shelling the humanitarian corridor from Zaporizhzhia to Mariupol," Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko posted on Twitter.

"Eight trucks + 30 buses ready to deliver humanitarian aid to Mariupol and to evac civilians to Zaporizhzhia. Pressure on Russia MUST step up to make it uphold its commitments."

The Interfax news agency said Moscow was also opening humanitarian corridors for the cities of Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and the capital Kyiv. 

Russia's defense ministry said that Ukrainian authorities only confirmed one evacuation route for civilians, from Sumy through Poltava to the Polish border, out of 10 proposed. 

Earlier attempts to evacuate residents from Mariupol failed on Saturday and Sunday, with each side accusing the other of continuing to fire.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Mariupol residents faced "atrocious" conditions and were running out of food, water, and medical supplies.

"The bottom line today is that this situation is really apocalyptic for people," ICRC head of media Ewan Watson said in Geneva.

 

 

Two million refugees

The United Nations said the number of refugees who have fled Ukraine had surged past 2 million, describing the flight as one of the fastest exoduses in modern times.

At the Medyka border crossing, east of Przemysl in Poland, where refugees arrived by foot and by car, a line of waiting vehicles stretched about 6 kilometers with waiting times on the Ukrainian side running at 20 hours, two women told Reuters after they made it across.

The onslaught has created a huge refugee crisis for European countries that have taken in Ukrainians fleeing the conflict, particularly Poland.

"It doesn't stop," Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said.

 

Video editor: Steve Chappell