Thread by @AFP

#BREAKING At least nine dead in bombing of Ukraine city Sumy: rescuers

#UPDATE At least nine people, including two children, have died in an air strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, some 350 kilometres east of Kiev, rescue services say.

Sumy, near the Russian border, has been the scene of heavy fighting for days

The head of the UN's refugee agency says he expects the number of refugees fleeing the war in #Ukraine to top two million in the next two days

#BREAKING Ukraine's Zelensky denounces unkept "promises" by West

#UPDATE The UNHCR recently put the number of refugees fleeing #Ukraine at more than 1.7 million, and the UN agency also praised the "exemplary" welcome provided by Moldova, Poland and Romania
u.afp.com/wPxr

#BREAKING Death toll from air strike in Ukraine's Sumy rises to 21: local official

#UPDATE President Volodymyr Zelensky has denounced what he called unkept "promises" by the West to protect Ukraine from Russian attacks

Map of #Ukraine locating areas where major explosions, strikes and fighting have been reported and under Russian control.
Updated as of March 8, 0700 GMT
#AFPgraphics @AFP

#BREAKING Germany investigating possible war crimes in Ukraine: federal prosecutors

#UPDATE Germany's federal prosecutor has opened an investigation into possible war crimes by Russian troops since the invasion of Ukraine, a source in his office told @AFP, confirming earlier media reports

#BREAKING More than 2 million people have fled Ukraine war as refugees: UN

#UPDATE More than two million people have fled Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion less than two weeks ago, the United Nations said Tuesday

#BREAKING Ukraine defence minister says Russia violating Mariupol corridor

#UPDATE Ukraine has accused Russia of violating a humanitarian corridor aimed at enabling civilians to leave the beleaguered southern port city of #Mariupol

📸 View of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol

#BREAKING China's Xi urges 'maximum restraint' over Ukraine crisis in call with Macron, Scholz: state media

#UPDATE Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday urged "maximum restraint" over Ukraine, calling the crisis "deeply worrying" in a video summit with his French and German counterparts Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz

VIDEO: French President Emmanuel Macron speaks in a video conference call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Chinese President Xi Jiping about the Russian invasion of #Ukraine

What are the latest developments in Russia's war in Ukraine?
▶️ Moscow announces ceasefire in five cities
▶️ The UN says 2 million refugees from war
▶️ Zelensky slams unkept promises
▶️ China's Xi urges restraint

➡️ u.afp.com/wPgS by @DaveClark_AFP & @dmitryzaksAFP

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP Russia is directly targeting Ukraine's nuclear facilities in a strategy to undermine Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion but the tactic carries grave risks, observers say
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@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP "There should not be a full-scale invasion of another country in the 21st century."
Ex-soldier Hunter Francis has no connection to Ukraine. But when he saw that Russian troops were shelling residential areas there, he flew over to join the battle
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@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #UPDATE More than two million people have now fled #Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, according to the latest data from the United Nations
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@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP Latest developments in Russia's war with #Ukraine
➡️ u.afp.com/wPgS

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #BREAKING Biden to announce ban on Russian oil imports: US media

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #UPDATE President Joe Biden is expected to announce a ban on US imports of Russian oil on Tuesday, in the latest sanction in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, according to US media

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP VIDEO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounces unkept "promises" by the West, saying that the responsibility for the casualties from Russia's ongoing invasion "rests also on those who were not capable to take a decision in the West for 13 days"

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP Ukraine has stepped up calls for Western allies to supply military jets in the face of the Russian invasion, but quickly providing war planes would be highly unusual and risky.
What are the options?
u.afp.com/wPMr

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #BREAKING Crude prices surge as US expected to ban Russian oil imports

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #UPDATE The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, soared by more than five percent on Tuesday as President Joe Biden was expected to announce a US ban on Russian oil imports

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #UPDATE The EU wants to vastly reduce Russian gas imports this year, a top official said, as political pressure mounts to sever Russia's main economic lifeline over its invasion of #Ukraine
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@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #BREAKING Three killed, three children wounded by anti-personnel mine north of Kyiv: official

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP Having failed to make a decisive advance in the early phase of its Ukraine campaign, the Russian army is now facing a thaw that could make progression on key routes problematic due to mud
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@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #BREAKING Pentagon estimates 2,000 to 4,000 Russian soldiers already killed in #Ukraine

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #UPDATE Three adults were killed and three children wounded when an anti-personnel mine exploded under their car on a road in the Chernigiv region north of Kyiv, Ukraine's ombudsman said Tuesday

📸 An abandoned pram near a destroyed bridge on the outskirts of Kyiv

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #UPDATE The US Defense Department told lawmakers Tuesday it estimates between 2,000 and 4,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Moscow's nearly two-week-old invasion of Ukraine

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #BREAKING UK says will phase out Russian oil imports by end of year

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #UPDATE Britain said Tuesday it would phase out Russian oil imports by the end of this year, in line with an expected announcement by the United States following the invasion of Ukraine

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #BREAKING Russia lodges appeal against FIFA, UEFA bans over Ukraine invasion: CAS

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #BREAKING US bans Russian oil imports over Ukraine invasion: Biden

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #BREAKING Biden says ban on Russian oil imports decided 'in close consultation' with allies

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #UPDATE President Joe Biden announced a ban on US imports of Russian oil on Tuesday, in the administration's most far-reaching action yet to punish Moscow for invading Ukraine

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #BREAKING Ukraine will 'never be a victory for Putin': Biden

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #UPDATE The Football Union of Russia has lodged appeals against the suspension of Russian national teams and clubs from all FIFA and UEFA competitions over the invasion of Ukraine, sport's top court said Tuesday

@DaveClark_AFP @dmitryzaksAFP #UPDATE US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that Russia would be unable to ever control all of Ukraine, vowing the war would "never be a victory" for President Vladimir Putin