NEW YORK — Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin says the country aims to spend around 1 trillion rubles ($9 billion) on measures to support an economy hit by international sanctions.
Mishustin said the government would work with other ex-Soviet countries to reshape their trade relationships with a focus on helping Russia to get the imports it needs.
Mishustin said the measures aim to “ensure the maximum flexibility for the economy, remove internal restrictions on business and give more freedom to entrepreneurs.”
Russia’s economy has been disrupted after foreign companies in a wide range of industries suspended their operations in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
The government’s responses so far have included programs to support lending to businesses, suspending some regulatory processes and restricting exports of grain and sugar.
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VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is praying for the people of Kyiv as Russia steps up its bombardment of the Ukrainian capital.
The Vatican said Tuesday that Francis had received a letter from the Kyiv mayor, inviting him to visit the city as a messenger of peace. The Vatican didn’t say if Francis had responded or was considering a visit.
Such a trip would be highly unlikely given security concerns, Francis’ efforts to maintain relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican’s tradition of quiet, behind-the-scenes diplomacy.
In a statement responding to the Kyiv city invitation, Holy See spokesperson Matteo Bruni said Francis was spiritually close “to the suffering of the city, its people, to those who were forced to flee and those who are called to run it. He prays to the Lord that they are protected from violence.”
The March 8 letter invited Francis to visit Kyiv or to participate in a virtual conference of religious leaders. “We appeal to you, as a spiritual leader, to show your compassion, to stand with the Ukrainian people by jointly spreading the call for peace,” the letter read.
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BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is concerned that Russia might be trying to create a pretext to use chemical weapons in Ukraine.
Stoltenberg said Tuesday that Russia’s “absurd claims” about biological labs and chemical weapons in Ukraine are “an absolute lie.”
“This is just another lie. And we are concerned that Moscow could stage a false flag operation, possibly including chemical weapons,” he told reporters in Brussels.
Stoltenberg says that any use of chemical weapons by Russia would be a violation of international law but he refused to say whether it would be a red line that might draw a military response from NATO.
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MOSCOW — The Russian Foreign Ministry says that U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and other top Biden administration officials have been put on the Russian sanctions list.
The ministry said in Tuesday’s statement that the measure is a response to the U.S. sanctions against the Russian leadership.
At the same time, it noted that Russia may not renounce official contacts with the U.S. officials targeted by the sanctions if such contacts are in the country’s national interests.
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ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s foreign minister says an operation to evacuate the country’s consul general from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol is underway.
The consul general, Manolis Androulakis, was being evacuated along with staff from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and their families, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said. Androulakis had been sheltering in the OSCE building in the city.
Greece had been trying for days to evacuate its consul general from the city, where the siege has left residents desperately short of food, water, medicine and heat. Earlier this month, Greek diplomats arranged an evacuation convoy from the city of more than 20 vehicles and more than 80 people, mostly members of the local Greek community in Mariupol. That convoy reached Moldova after three days.
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PRZEMSYL, Poland — Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children, collected food and snacks on Tuesday from volunteers after arriving at the train station in Przemsyl, Poland.
Marina Solonenko, 35, arrived with her children from the eastern city of Kharkiv. She said they are headed to Germany but want to eventually return home “only when it gets quiet.”
“It is very scary in Kharkiv,” she said, struggling to maintain her composure. “Everything is bombed. The city is destroyed. There are no buildings or houses. The center of the city has been destroyed. They hit the residential districts. Everything has disappeared. Many people are leaving. In Kharkiv, only quarter of the population remains.”
Natalia Zhelazna, a refugee from Ternopil in western Ukraine, said, “We live near the airport and it is a little bit scary. Nobody knows when something will happen. That’s why we decided to leave, some people will find shelter for us. Children need good sleep and normal education.”
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the country realizes that it can’t join NATO.
Speaking Tuesday to representatives of the U.K.-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), Zelenskyy said that “we heard for years about the allegedly open doors” of NATO, but “we have already heard that we won’t be able to join.” He added that “it’s the truth we must recognize, and I’m glad that our people are starting to realize that and count on themselves and our partners who are helping us.”
The JEF may consist of Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.
Zelenskyy again urged Western allies to provide Ukraine with warplanes.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s parliament has voted to extend martial law for another month.
Acting on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request, Ukrainian lawmakers voted Tuesday to extend the martial law for another 30 days starting March 26.
Under the measure, men between 18 and 60 are barred from leaving the country so they can be called up to fight in the war against Russia. Lawmakers approved a draft bill Zelenskyy sent to parliament prolonging the measure, which was set to expire March 26.
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LONDON — Ukraine’s president has told northern European leaders that they could “help yourself by helping us,” as he appealed for more weapons to counter Russia’s invasion of his country.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking to leaders of the Joint Expeditionary Force via videolink Tuesday, said the Ukrainian military is rapidly using up weapons and other hardware that western nations have shipped to his country.
He also appealed for a full trade embargo on Russia, saying sanctions have not been enough to counter the Russian advance.
“We have to acknowledge Russia as a rogue state and there has to be a trade embargo with Russia,” Zelenskyy said. “This is something that we need and you need as well, just like the rest of the world, to make sure there is peace in Europe and Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy also repeated his frustration with NATO over its refusal to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine as he addressed JEF leaders meeting Tuesday in London.
The United Kingdom-led JEF is a grouping of 10 north Atlantic countries designed to react quickly to international crises. It includes NATO members such as Britain and the Baltic states, as well as non-NATO countries such as Sweden and Finland.
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CHISINAU, Moldova — Italy has signed an agreement worth 10 million euros (US$11 million) to help Moldova, Europe’s poorest country, cope with an influx of Ukrainian refugees.
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio signed the cooperation agreement with his Moldovan counterpart, Nicu Popescu, during a visit to the capital Chisinau on Tuesday.
Later in the day, Di Maio is to formally deliver a preliminary eight metric tons of humanitarian aid, including generators, water, thermal blankets, stoves and sanitary kits, to support Moldovan centers housing people fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
At a press conference, Di Maio said the project, being undertaken in collaboration with the U.N. refugee agency, is focusing on “the needs of women and children and the protection of the most vulnerable refugees.”
Popescu said Moldova, with a population of 2.5 million, has received around 300,000 refugees so far, a third of whom have remained in the country.
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LONDON — The British government says it will raise import duties on vodka and other Russian products and ban the export of luxury goods to Russia.
The measures announced Tuesday are the latest round of economic sanctions designed to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The U.K. Department for International Trade said in a statement the measures are designed to hamper Putin’s war machine by depriving Russia of the preferential tariff treatment it receives from membership in the World Trade Organization.
Russian and Belarusian products ranging from vodka and white fish to iron, oil seeds and grain will face additional import tariffs of 35%.
“Our new tariffs will further isolate the Russian economy from global trade, ensuring it does not benefit from the rules-based international system it does not respect,’’ U.K. Treasury chief Rishi Sunak said.
In addition, the U.K. said it would join with other Group of Seven industrialized countries to ban the export of luxury goods, including luxury vehicles, high-end fashion and works of art, to Russia. The ban will ensure that members of the elite who have profited under Putin are “deprived of access” to such products, the department said.
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LONDON — Britain’s government says almost 89,000 households have signed up to a program to provide a home for Ukrainian refugees, with so much interest that the registration website crashed within the first few minutes of its launch.
Britain launched its “Homes for Ukraine” program Tuesday. It allows Britons to host a named person from Ukraine for a minimum of six months in their own homes or in rent-free separate housing. In exchange, the government will pay each sponsor 350 pounds ($456) a month.
Officials said there will be no limit on how many Ukrainians can enter the U.K. under the program.
Britain’s government had come under heavy criticism for responding too slowly to the Ukraine refugee crisis, with many of those trying to flee to the U.K. saying they were held up or turned away because of cumbersome paperwork.
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GENEVA — The International Organization for Migration says more than 3 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded last month.
The new milestone also indicated that some 157,000 third-country nationals — people who aren’t Ukrainian — were part of the outflow in what U.N. officials have called the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
IOM spokesman Paul Dillon said at a U.N. news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday that the totals were compiled from figures provided by national authorities.
The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, which provides a more detailed count than the IOM though based on similar data, has reported that more than 1.8 million of the refugees were in Poland.
UNHCR spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh said some 300,000 had moved on from there to Western Europe and noted that the vast majority of those fleeing have been women and children.
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ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Turkey is talking with both Moscow and Kyiv to secure the evacuation of around 100 Turkish citizens trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol.
Dozens of Turkish nationals and others have been sheltering inside a mosque in Mariupol, seeking refuge from the Russian attack on the encircled port on the Sea of Azov.
Turkish defense ministry officials also said Tuesday they hoped the evacuations from Mariupol would begin soon, following a “security evaluation” by Russian authorities.
The officials said roads in the area had been cleared of mines and that work was underway to open humanitarian corridors and for buses to enter Mariupol. The officials provided the information on condition of anonymity in line with the ministry’s rule.
Cavusoglu said Turkey has so far evacuated 14,800 of its citizens from Ukraine.
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BEIJING — China insists that its stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is “impartial and constructive.”
The Chinese government is also repeating its accusations that the U.S. is spreading misinformation over reports Beijing has responded positively to a Russian request for military supplies.
Speaking to reporters at a daily briefing Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian accused the U.S. of “immoral and irresponsible” conduct by spreading misinformation.
“What the U.S. should do is to deeply reflect on the role it has played in the development and evolving of the Ukraine crisis and do something practical to ease the tension in Ukraine,” he said, in a nod to China’s contention that Russia was provoked by NATO’s expansion and threats to its security.
The Biden administration is increasingly concerned that China is using the Ukraine war to advance Beijing’s long-term interests in its global competition for influence with the United States.
China has refused to criticize Russia over its invasion and the ensuing war, or even to refer to the conflict as such. In keeping with Russian preferences, Zhao referred to the war as the “Ukraine issue.” Beijing also opposes sanctions on the Russian economy.
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NEW YORK — Russian soccer player Artem Dzyuba has declined a call-up to the national team because he has family in Ukraine, which has been invaded by Russian forces.
The 33-year-old forward is the joint top scorer of the Russian men’s national team and is its former captain.
Russian coach Valery Karpin said in a statement on the Russian Football Union website Tuesday that “in connection with the difficult situation in Ukraine, where many of his relatives live,” Dzyuba had asked him to be excused from the national team for family reasons.
Russia called up 27 players Tuesday for a national team training camp as it challenges a ruling by FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, barring it from playing international games.
Russia was set to host Poland on March 24 for a World Cup qualifying playoff semifinal. Poland cited the war in refusing to play against Russia, with FIFA and European soccer authority UEFA later banning Russian national and club teams from their international competitions.
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NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus’s finance minister says the impact of sanctions against Russia on the Cypriot economy is expected to be limited because the east Mediterranean island has significantly reduced its exposure to the Russian economy and suspicious oligarch dealings.
Keen to shake its reputation as a money-laundering haven where Russian oligarchs could park their money, Cyprus instituted a string of measures to safeguard its economy following a 2013 financial crisis.
Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides told The Associated Press Tuesday that the main impact from the ongoing war in Ukraine would be on Russian tourist arrivals and inflationary pressures.
Russian deposits in Cypriot banks have been slashed, while Cypriot banks have closed up to 80,000 accounts deemed suspicious.
Among the recently introduced measures to shield Cyprus from illicit activities such as money-laundering is legislation prohibiting any transaction with known shell companies.
LVIV, Ukraine — Local authorities say the number of people killed in a Russian rocket attack on a TV tower in western Ukraine has risen to 19.
The Rivne regional government posted on its Facebook page Tuesday that 19 people were killed and nine were injured in the strike on the TV tower in Antopol, a village outside the city of Rivne.
The village is only about 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the border of NATO member Poland and comes as Russia presses its invasion of Ukraine.
Initial casualty reports had put the death toll from Monday’s TV tower attack at nine.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Outside a Kyiv apartment block hit by overnight Russian shelling, a young firefighter took a moment to rest Tuesday. He sat on the ground, tears falling.
He described rescuing a woman and her daughter and fighting through a flaming corridor before facing a problem with his equipment that forced him to leave.
“It’s very difficult. Yesterday we extinguished one fire, today another, it is very difficult,” said the firefighter, who would give only his first name, Andriy.
“People are dying, and the worst thing is that children are dying,” he told The Associated Press at the scene. “They haven’t lived their lives and they have already seen this. This is the worst.”
After a brief pause, he went back into the fiery building.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government announced new aid and evacuation efforts amid Russia’s invasion, starting Tuesday morning along nine corridors around the country including the Kyiv region.
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LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday underscored his drive for energy independence, saying the West’s failure to wean itself from Russian oil and natural gas after the annexation of Crimea paved the way for the invasion of Ukraine.
Western countries made a “terrible mistake” in returning to normal economic relations with Russia after the Crimean incursion and becoming even more dependent on Russian energy exports, Johnson wrote in a front page article in The Telegraph newspaper.
“And so when (Vladimir Putin) finally came to launch his vicious war in Ukraine, he knew the world would find it very hard to punish him. He knew that he had created an addiction,” he said. “That is why he feels able to bomb maternity hospitals. That is why he is emboldened enough to launch indiscriminate assaults on fleeing families.”
Ending the world’s dependence on Russian energy will starve Putin of cash, Johnson said as he made the case for the U.K. government’s plan to phase out imports of oil and gas from Russia by the end of this year.
To replace Russian energy and cut carbon emissions, the U.K. must expand production of wind power, and invest in other forms of renewable energy including solar, tidal, geothermal and hydroelectric power plants, Johnson said. The U.K. must also reverse the “historic mistake” of moving away from nuclear energy, he said.
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LONDON — Britain’s defense ministry says Russia may be planning to install a pro-Moscow government in Kherson, a Ukrainian city it has occupied, as it attempts to assert “political control” over areas of Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defense says Russia “may seek to stage a ‘referendum’ in Kherson in an attempt to legitimize the area as a ‘breakaway republic’ similar to Donetsk and Luhansk and Crimea.”
U.K. Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly said any attempt at local referendums would “be another attempt to put a veneer of credibility on what is an unacceptable, unjustified illegal invasion.”
In an intelligence update, the defense ministry says protests have been held against occupying Russian forces in the cities of Melitopol, Berdyansk and Kherson, where troops fired warning shots at demonstrators on Monday.
It says Russia has reportedly installed its own mayor in the southern city Melitopol following the alleged abduction of his predecessor on Friday, and the mayor of another city, Dniprorudne, has also reportedly been abducted by Russian forces.
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WARSAW, Poland — The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia are traveling on Tuesday to Kyiv, Ukraine's capital which is currently under fire, on a European Union mission to show support for Ukraine as Russia’s invasion intensifies.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said in a tweet: “The aim of the visit is to express the European Union’s unequivocal support for Ukraine and its freedom and independence.”
He will be joined by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is Polish the deputy prime minister for security but also the conservative ruling party leader.
Russia’s offensive in Ukraine edged closer to central Kyiv on Tuesday, with a series of strikes hitting a residential neighborhood in the capital as the two countries planned a second day of talks.
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KYIV, Ukraine – A series of Russian strikes hit a residential neighborhood of Ukraine’s capital on Tuesday, igniting a huge fire and frantic rescue effort in a 15-story Kyiv apartment building. At least one person was killed and others remain trapped inside.
The Ukrainian military said in a statement that the strikes were artillery strikes. They hit the Svyatoshynskyi district of western Kyiv, adjacent to the suburb of Irpin that has seen some of the worst battles of the war.
Flames shot out of the apartment building as firefighters rescued people from ladders. Smoke choked the air.
A firefighter at the scene confirmed one person died and that several have been rescued alive but others are still inside as rescuers try to reach them.
Russian forces also stepped up strikes overnight on the northwest suburbs of Irpin, Hostomel and Bucha, the head of the Kyiv region Oleksiy Kuleba said on Ukrainian television.
Russian forces also renewed efforts Tuesday to capture the important port city of Mariupol in the south, and unleashed new artillery strikes on downtown Kharkiv in the east, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said on Facebook.
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TOKYO — Japan’s government is freezing the assets of 17 more Russian politicians tycoons and their relatives to step up sanctions and pressure Moscow to end its invasion of Ukraine.
The list of sanction targets include 11 members of the Russian parliamentary chamber of Duma, banker Yuri Kovalchuk and his relatives, as well as billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, chairman of Renova Group, according to a statement jointly issued by the foreign, finance and trade ministries.
The move brings the number of Russians targeted by Japan’s asset freezes to 61.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters Tuesday the additional steps were taken "in order to stop Russia’s invasion (of Ukraine) as soon as possible.”
Matsuno said Japan will cooperate with other Group of Seven nations and other international community to respond appropriately in case of further sanctions.
Japan has previously imposed sanctions against Russian central bank, seven private banks, and Russian and Belarusian individuals and groups. Tokyo also imposed an export ban to Russia of items including high technology equipment that may be used for military purposes.
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UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations chief warned Monday that Russia’s war on Ukraine is holding “a sword of Damocles” over the global economy, especially poor developing countries that face skyrocketing food, fuel and fertilizer prices and are now seeing their breadbasket “being bombed.”
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters that “Russia and Ukraine represent more than half of the world’s supply of sunflower oil and about 30 percent of the world’s wheat” and that “grain prices have already exceeded those at the start of the Arab Spring and the food riots of 2007-2008.”
He told reporters that 45 African and least developed countries import at least one-third of their wheat from Ukraine and Russia, and 18 of them import at least 50%. These countries include Egypt, Congo, Burkina Faso, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, he said.
“All of this is hitting the poorest the hardest and planting the seeds for political instability and unrest around the globe,” Guterres warned.
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SEOUL, South Korea –Korean Air says it will suspend passenger and cargo flights to Moscow and Vladivostok at least through late April, citing concerns about airport operation and safety amid Russia’s war with Ukraine.
The South Korean airline also said it will also reroute cargo flights to Western Europe that had transited through Moscow so that they would pass through China, Kazakhstan and Turkey instead.
The airline has also been avoiding Russian and Ukrainian airspace on its flights to East Coast U.S. cities.
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KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations will continue Tuesday.
Speaking in a video address, Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian delegation did good work during Monday’s talks. He didn't provide further details.
He said he spoke Monday to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as part of efforts to “quickly end the war” and achieve “honest peace.” Bennett, who has sought to mediate a peaceful settlement, also spoke Monday to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy hailed a Russian state TV employee who interrupted the main evening news program on Russian Channel 1 by running into a studio with a poster against the war in Ukraine. The employee was later arrested by police.
The Ukrainian president again addressed the Russian soldiers, urging them to stop fighting and saying: “I’m offering you a chance to survive.”
In a bid to shore up the economy badly battered by the war, Zelenskyy announced a plan to sharply reduce taxes for business.
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The Kremlin-backed leader of the Russian region of Chechnya says that Chechen fighters are spearheading a Russian offensive on the strategic port of Mariupol.
Chechnya’s regional leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on the messaging app Telegram that Chechen fighters went 1.5 kilometers (about 1 mile) inside the Azov Sea city before pausing their attack when night fell.
Kadyrov said his close associate Adam Delimkhanov is leading Chechen fighters in Mariupol.
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LVIV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian military says it has repelled a Russian attempt to take control of the strategic port of Mariupol.
The Ukrainian military’s General Staff said in a statement that Russian forces retreated after suffering losses.
The Russian military has besieged the Azov Sea port city of 430,000 for a week and a half, leaving its residents desperate for power, water and food. More than 2,500 residents of Mariupol have been killed by the Russian shelling.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in televised remarks that Russian shelling on Monday thwarted another attempt to deliver food and medicines to the city.
A humanitarian convoy of 160 civilian cars left Mariupol after repeated failures to evacuate civilians because of Russian shelling.
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The fate of hundreds of planes leased by Russian airlines from foreign companies grew murkier Monday after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law letting the airlines register those planes and continue flying them.
Russian state media said the law will let Russian airlines keep their fleets and operate foreign planes on routes within Russia.
Many of the planes used by Russian airlines are leased from foreign companies, including several in Ireland, a member of the European Union. Last month, the EU banned the sale or leasing of planes to Russia as part of sanctions to punish Russia for invading Ukraine. It gave leasing companies until March 28 to end current contracts in Russia.
Last week, Russia’s air-transport agency advised airlines with foreign-registered planes not to take them out of the country because of the risk they could be repossessed.
Various estimates place the number of foreign-owned planes operated by Russian airlines at around 500 or more, and the vast majority of them were inside Russia when the war started Feb. 24. Aviation consulting firm Ishka estimates that the foreign-owned planes are worth $12 billion, nearly half of that by Irish-based lessors.
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BRUSSELS — The European Union announced late Monday that the 27-nation bloc has approved a fourth set of sanctions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
France, which holds the EU presidency, said in a statement that the bloc approved a package targeting “individuals and entities involved in the aggression against Ukraine,” along with sectors of the Russian economy.
The exact details of the latest package will be revealed in the EU’s official journal.
Since the war started last month, the EU has adopted tough measures targeting Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s financial system and the country's oligarchs. Last week, the bloc agreed to slap further sanctions on 160 individuals and added new restrictions on the export of maritime navigation and radio communication technology.
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MADRID — Spain’s prime minister says that authorities in the northeastern city of Barcelona have “immobilized” an 85-meter (279-foot) superyacht valued at 140 million euros ($153 million) while links to a prominent Russian armament tycoon are investigated.
The boat, named Valerie, has been moored at an exclusive shipyard in the port.
The yacht is connected through an intricate network of shell companies to Sergei Chemezov, the head of the Rostec state defense conglomerate, according to a consortium of journalists that last year investigated the so-called Pandora Papers involving the murky financial deals of the world’s richest people.
Chemezov is a former KGB agent who has long been close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The European Union last week included him in a list of sanctioned individuals over Moscow’s war on Ukraine.
“Today we have temporarily immobilized a yacht of one of Russia’s most prominent oligarchs, and there will be more to come,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said late Monday during an interview in LaSexta television.
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Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall was injured while reporting outside of Kyiv on Monday and was hospitalized, the network said.
Hall is a Washington-based correspondent who covers the U.S. State Department for Fox News, where he has worked since 2015.
“We have a minimal level of details right now, but Ben is hospitalized and our teams on the ground are working to gather additional information as the situation quickly unfolds,” Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said in a message to Fox employees.
Fox’s John Roberts read Scott’s statement about Hall on the air at Fox.
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NEW YORK — The live main evening news program on Russia’s state television was briefly interrupted Monday by a person who walked into the studio holding a poster against the war in Ukraine.
The OVD-Info website that monitors political arrests identified the woman who interrupted the broadcast on Channel 1 as Marina Ovsyannikova. The website said Ovsyannikova was detained and taken into police custody.
OVD-Info posted a video in which Ovsyannikova identified herself as an employee of Channel 1 and spoke against the war.
“What is going on now is a crime,” she said. “Russia is an aggressor country and Vladimir Putin is solely responsible for that aggression.”
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NEW YORK — Russia’s war against Ukraine is threatening the global food supply and putting developing countries, especially the world’s poorest, at risk, the United Nations chief and the head of the U.N. food agency warned on Monday.
More than 40 African and least-developed countries import at least one-third of their wheat from Ukraine and Russia, and 18 of them import at least 50%, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters. These countries include Egypt, Congo, Burkina Faso, Leban, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, he said.
“All of this is hitting the poorest the hardest and planting the seeds for political instability and unrest around the globe,” the secretary-general warned.
David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Program, told The Associated Press during a visit to the Ukrainian city of Lviv that 50% of the grain the program buys to feed “the 125 million people we reach on any given day, week or month” comes from Ukraine, as does 20% of the world’s supply of corn.
“So (the war) is going to have a dynamic global catastrophic impact,” Beasley said.
Guterres announced an additional $40 million from the U.N.’s emergency fund to get critical supplies of food, water and medicine into Ukraine, where at least 1.9 million people are displaced.
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JERUSALEM — Israel plans to set up a field hospital to provide medical treatment for refugees in western Ukraine, officials said Monday.
The project is spearheaded by the country’s foreign and health ministries, according to a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office. The hospital should be operational by next week, the foreign ministry said.
“It’s an initiative that not many countries can take upon themselves, and Israel has this ability and we are going forward,” Bennett said.
The Foreign Ministry said the hospital will operate for month, providing refugees with an emergency room, a delivery room, and other services.
It has dubbed the operation Kochav Meir — Hebrew for “Shining Star” — after the country’s first female prime minister, Golda Meir, who was born in Ukraine and founded the Foreign Ministry’s international development unit.
Israel has good relations with both Ukraine and Russia and has worked as an intermediary between the two countries since Russia invaded on Feb. 24. In recent days, however, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has become increasingly outspoken in his condemnations of Russia’s invasion of its western neighbor.
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MOSCOW — The Kremlin says that President Vladimir Putin has had another call with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to talk about Ukraine.
Bennett told Putin about his contacts with other heads of states, and Putin shared his assessments of talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives via video calls, the Kremlin said in a statement.
A senior Israeli official said Bennett’s conversation with Putin lasted 90 minutes, with discussions focusing on cease-fire talks and humanitarian issues. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic matters. Bennett's office later said that the prime minister also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday. It did not elaborate.
Bennett has visited Moscow for talks and has had numerous phone calls with Putin, Zelenskyy and Western leaders as he seeks to mediate an end to the war in Ukraine.
Israel is one of the few countries to have good working relations with both Russia and Ukraine, though in recent days Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has become increasingly outspoken in his condemnations of Russia’s invasion of its western neighbor.
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WASHINGTON — The Russian military was largely stalled in its attempted advance in Ukraine on Monday and made little progress over the weekend, a senior U.S. defense official said.
The official also said the Russians have not taken total control of the airspace. The official said all of the Russian military forces that had been arrayed around the country are now inside, and that the Russians still retain about 90% of their combat capabilities. The official said there are no indications the Russians are trying to bring in reinforcements.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military assessments.
The official also said the U.S. has not done any training of the Ukrainian military in the country since the Florida National Guard forces left as the war was beginning. And the official said a military training base the Russians hit in western Ukraine on Sunday close to the Polish border wasn't being used as a shipment site for U.S. military supplies to Ukraine.
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MOSCOW — The Russian military says it will carry out strikes to knock out Ukrainian military industries.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Monday that the Russian forces will “take measures to incapacitate enterprises of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex involved in production and maintenance and repair of weapons.”
He urged workers of those plants and residents of nearby areas to leave “potentially dangerous zones.”
Konashenkov’s statement came hours after Ukrainian authorities said two people were killed when the Russian forces struck the Antonov aircraft-making plant on the outskirts of Kyiv, sparking a large fire.
The Russian military also said that it will continue to target any foreign fighters who have come to Ukraine.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that the Russian forces will show “no mercy for mercenaries wherever they are in the territory of Ukraine.”