Ukraine says Russian attacks block Mariupol evacuation: Live news | Russia-Ukraine war News
Russian troops have laid siege to the Ukrainian port city as US and its allies continue to pressure Moscow to end war.
- Russian shelling has prevented the evacuation of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol again, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister says.
- Ukrainian interior ministry adviser Vadym Denysenko says situation in Mariupol is “critical”.
- Russian forces have shelled Ukraine’s port city of Mykolayiv, regional governor says.
- US and its top allies are revoking Russia’s “most favoured nation” status amid pressure campaign on President Vladimir Putin to end the war.
- UN says it is not aware of a biological weapons programme in Ukraine.
- Ukrainian envoy to UN dismisses Moscow’s accusation that Kyiv is operating US-backed biological weapons laboratories as “insane delirium”.
Here are the latest updates:
Russia to supply Belarus with modern weapons: Belta news agency
The leaders of Russia and Belarus have agreed that Moscow would supply its neighbour with the most up-to-date military equipment in the near future, the official Belarus Belta news agency said.
Belta also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko agreed at their Kremlin meeting on joint steps for mutual support in face of Western sanctions, including on energy prices.
The news agency did not provide additional details.
US Defense Secretary to attend NATO meeting in Brussels
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will attend a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels on March 16, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby has said.
“We can expect the defence ministers to talk seriously about what NATO is doing to better shore up its defences,” Kirby told reporters.
Austin also will later travel to Slovakia for further discussions with leaders there, Kirby said.
Biden expected to sign bill containing $13.6bn in Ukraine aid
Biden is set to sign a spending bill that contains $13.6bn in emergency military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The US Senate gave final approval to the bill late on Thursday, sending it to Biden’s desk for final approval.
“We’re giving the Ukrainians billions for food, medicine, shelter, and support for the over two million refugees who have had to leave Ukraine,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Read more on the legislation here.
YouTube blocking access to Russian state-owned media
YouTube is immediately blocking access around the world to channels associated with Russian state-funded media, the company has said, citing a policy barring content that denies, minimises or trivializes well-documented violent events.
The world’s most used streaming video service said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine now fell under its violent events policy and violating material would be removed.
YouTube spokesman Farshad Shadloo said the blocking of the Russian outlets was in line with that policy.
Russian shelling prevents Mariupol evacuation, Ukraine says
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has said Russian shelling prevented evacuees from leaving the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, while Russian forces also stopped some buses of people trying to flee the Kyiv region.
In a video address, Vereshchuk said some planned evacuations were successful, including 1,000 people who were evacuated from the village of Vorzel, in the Ukrainian capital area.
Russian forces have laid siege to Mariupol, and Ukraine says 1,582 civilians have died there since the invasion began.
Welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
Read all the updates from Friday, March 11, here.
