TOP HEADLINES

• China called reports of civilian deaths in the Ukrainian city of Bucha "deeply disturbing." Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian also said any "accusations should be based on facts" as he said any humanitarian situation should not be "politicized".

• Ukraine tells residents in the country's east to evacuate "now" or "risk death" ahead of a feared Russian onslaught on the Donbas region.

• The UK has put new sanctions on Russia, targeting two banks and eliminating all Russian oil and coal imports by the end of the year. The U.S has also added to its sanctions on Russia, including top public and private banks and two of Vladimir Putin's daughters.

• Russia edged closer to a potential default on its international debt on Wednesday as it paid dollar bondholders in rubles and said it would continue to do so as long as its foreign exchange reserves are blocked by sanctions.

• Russian forces struck a fuel depot near the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro overnight, regional authorities said on Wednesday. Russian attacks also continued in Mariupol and Kharkiv.

• Russian strikes killed at least two people and wounded five others near a humanitarian distribution point in the east Ukraine region of Donetsk, the regional governor said. 

• The website of Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian state gas giant Gazprom, went down on Wednesday after an apparent hack, in what appeared to be the latest attack on government-linked sites following Russia's actions in Ukraine.

• The EU has proposed banning Russian ships from European ports and halting Russian coal imports, but European Council president Charles Michel says the bloc would also have to act "sooner or later" on Russian oil and gas.

• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned hesitancy in Europe over barring Russian energy imports, arguing some leaders were more concerned with business losses than with war crimes.

• Washington announces it will send $100 million in additional anti-armor weapons to Ukraine, bringing U.S. military aid to Ukraine to over $1.7 billion, according to the Pentagon.

IN DETAIL

Russian attacks continue

Russian artillery pounded the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Kharkiv on Wednesday as the West prepared more sanctions against Moscow in response to civilian killings that Kyiv and its allies have called war crimes.

The besieged southern port of Mariupol has been under almost constant bombardment since the early days of the conflict that began on February 24, trapping tens of thousands of residents without food, water or power.

"The humanitarian situation in the city is worsening," UK military intelligence said on Wednesday. "Most of the 160,000 remaining residents have no light, communication, medicine, heat or water. Russian forces have prevented humanitarian access, likely to pressure defenders to surrender."

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister, Iryna Vereshchuk said authorities would try to evacuate trapped civilians through 11 humanitarian corridors on Wednesday, though people trying to leave Mariupol would have to use their own vehicles.

'Not our last sanctions'

The European Union will put more sanctions against Russia on top of the latest package announced on Tuesday, likely including measures against imports of Russian oil, the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.

"These sanctions will not be our last sanctions," she told European Parliament in a presentation of the latest sanctions package that includes a ban on buying Russian coal.

The bloc's leader was joined by President of the European Council Charles Michel, who said that "measures on oil and even gas will also be needed sooner or later."

"They (Russia) call it liberation. No. We call it war crimes and we really have to give it this name", von der Leyen concluded.

The EU is also looking to add two of Russian President Vladimir Putin's daughters to its sanctions blacklist, according to a list seen by the AFP news agency and confirmed by several diplomats.