Latest on Ukraine-Russia: Putin puts nuclear deterrent forces on alert; EU to fund the purchase of weapons for Ukraine
The latest on Russia and Ukraine from Canada and around the world Sunday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.
1 p.m.: Some 66,000 refugees have entered Hungary from Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion on Thursday, with more than 23,000 entering on Saturday alone, according to the Hungarian police and Hungary's foreign minster.
Speaking from a border station between Zahony, Hungary and Chop, Ukraine on Sunday, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that his government would send 100,000 liters (about 26,400 gallons) of gasoline and diesel to Ukrainian authorities for use by paramedics, medical institutions and disaster management.
Hungary has a role to play in humanitarian disaster response and relief," Szijjarto said.
Some 28 tons of food aid has also been sent into Ukraine so far, Szijjarto said, adding that Hungary would provide 1 million euros ($1.1 million) in aid to Ukraine on Monday.
12:45 p.m.: Hundreds of people protested Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Belarus on Sunday. The protests came despite the fact that the authoritarian Belarusian government has sided with Moscow.
The anti-war rallies spanned at least 12 Belarusian cities, and human rights advocates reported that more than 170 people have been arrested. In the capital of Minsk, demonstrators marched in different parts of the city carrying Ukrainian flags. A large pile of flowers kept growing at the building of Ukraine's Embassy.
Pavel Latushko, Belarusian top opposition figure in exile in Poland, condemned Belarus' role in the Russian attack on Ukraine.
The illegitimate regime in Belarus, headed by the usurper of power (President Alexander) Lukashenko, has made our country an accomplice in the aggression against the brotherly Ukrainian people," Latushko said. We consider aggression against Ukraine an international crime on the part of the Russian and Belarusian regimes."
12 p.m.: The European Union's chief executive says the 27-nation bloc will close its airspace to Russian airlines, fund supplies of weapons to Ukraine and ban some pro-Kremlin media outlets in response to Russia's invasion.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday that for the first time ever, the European Union will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment to a country that is under attack."
Von der Leyen added that we are shutting down the EU airspace for Russians. We are proposing a prohibition on all Russian-owned, Russian registered or Russian-controlled aircraft. These aircraft will no more be able to land in, take off or overfly the territory of the EU."
She said also the EU will ban the Kremlin's media machine. The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, as well as their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin's war and to sow division in our union."
Von der Leyen added that the EU will also target Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko for supporting Russia's widespread military campaign in Ukraine.
We will hit Lukashenko's regime with a new package of sanctions," she said.
11:05 a.m.: Authorities say Greece is sending ammunition, assault rifles and missile launchers to Ukraine in response to a request by Ukraine's government.
The military aid was decided at a meeting Sunday morning between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and senior defence officials.
A C-130 plane with the equipment has arrived in Poland, and a second one will arrive later, a Defense Ministry official said.
Two more planes carrying humanitarian aid such as blankets and food have also left Athens International Airport for Poland, the spokesman said.
11:05 a.m.: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says Japan has decided to join the United States and European nations in cutting key Russian banks from the SWIFT international financial messaging system to step up sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Japan will also freeze assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top Russian officials, while sending $100 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Kishida told reporters.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a unilateral attempt to change the status quo and the act shakes the foundation of the international order. It's an outright violation to international law and we strongly denounce the act," Kishida said. Japan stands by the Ukrainian people who are fighting hard to defend their sovereignty and territory, their homeland and families."
11:05 a.m.: France is joining many other European countries in closing their airspace to all Russian aircraft as the West ramps up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin for ordering an invasion of Ukraine.
Germany, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Luxembourg have already announced they were closing their respective airspace to Russian planes.
To the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Europe responds with total unity," Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari tweeted Sunday.
Separately, Air France announced that it was suspending flights to and from Russia for safety reasons until further notice."
11 a.m.: Britain's foreign secretary has said she would absolutely" support Britons who choose to go to Ukraine to help fight the Russian invasion.
Absolutely, if people want to support that struggle I would support them in doing that," Liz Truss said Sunday when asked by the BBC whether she would back British people who want to answer the Ukrainian president's call for international volunteers to help defend his country.
The people of Ukraine are fighting for freedom and democracy, not just for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe," she added.
9:06 a.m. (updated) : Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says effective immediately, Canada's airspace is closed to all Russian aircraft operators.
He says in a tweet today that Canada will hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked attacks against Ukraine.
Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot operates multiple flights per day through Canadian airspace en route to the U.S. and beyond.
Several other countries, including the United Kingdom, Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, have suspended Aeroflot's foreign carrier permit.
Estonia, Latvia and Slovenia have said they would do the same.
In a tit-for-tat response, Russia has banned commercial flights from the U.K., Poland, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic.
9 a.m. (updated): The office of Ukraine's president has confirmed that a delegation will meet with Russian officials as Moscow's troops draw closer to Kyiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy office said Sunday on the Telegram messaging app that the two sides would meet at an unspecified location on the Belarusian border and did not give a precise time for the meeting.
The meeting news came shortly after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces put on high alert in response to what he called aggressive statements" by leading NATO powers.
9 a.m.: Approximately 100,000 people have turned out in Berlin to protest Russia's invasion of Ukraine and show solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
Police said large crowds have filled the area originally planned for the demonstration, around the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin, and that they were allocating additional space to accommodate the protesters.
Sunday's protest was peaceful, including many families with children. People waved yellow and blue Ukrainian flags to show their support. Some carried placards with slogans such as Hands off Ukraine" and Putin, go to therapy and leave Ukraine and the world in peace."
Beate Schmid, who works as a scientist in Berlin, said she works closely with academics in Ukraine. Their sons and brothers and husbands are now being drafted to fight against the Russians," she said. It's so sad. Simply unbelievable."
8:15 a.m. (updated): In a dramatic escalation of East-West tensions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces put on high alert Sunday in response to what he called aggressive statements" by leading NATO powers.
The order means Putin has ordered Russia's nuclear weapons prepared for increased readiness to launch, raising the threat that the tensions could boil over into a nuclear war. In giving it, the Russian leader also cited hard-hitting financial sanctions imposed by the West against Russia, including Putin himself.
Speaking at a meeting with his top officials, Putin directed the Russian defence minister and the chief of the military's General Staff to put the nuclear deterrent forces in a special regime of combat duty."
Western countries aren't only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading NATO members made aggressive statements regarding our country," Putin said in televised comments.
The alarming step came as street fighting broke out in Ukraine's second-largest city and Russian troops squeezed strategic ports in the country's south, advances that appeared to mark a new phase of Russia's invasion following a wave of attacks on airfields and fuel facilities elsewhere in the country.
7:30 a.m.: Western nations agreed to unleash new sanctions to further isolate Russia's economy and financial system after initial penalties failed to persuade President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his forces from Ukraine.
A decision to penalize Russia's central bank and exclude some Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system, used for trillions of dollars worth of transactions around the world, was announced Saturday in a joint statement by the U.S., European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, U.K. and Canada. The agreement includes restrictive measures that will prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves in ways that undermine the impact of our sanctions."
Russia's war represents an assault on fundamental international rules and norms that have prevailed since the Second World War, which we are committed to defending," the Western governments said. They said they were prepared to take further measures to hold Russia to account for its attack on Ukraine."
The move is aimed at Russian banks that have already been sanctioned by the international community, but can be expanded to other Russian financial institutions if necessary, officials said. One official said the White House is looking at exemptions for transactions involving the energy sector, which the U.S. administration has sought to exclude to prevent oil prices from surging.
More penalties against the central bank could come this weekend, according to a U.S. official. Russia has about $640 billion in reserves.
7:30 a.m.: Canada's minister responsible for broadcasting said the government was investigating all options" for getting a state-owned Russian TV network off the nation's airwaves amid rising anger over the invasion of Ukraine.
I share the concerns of many Canadians about the presence of Russia Today in our broadcasting system," Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said Saturday on Twitter. We're looking at all options."
The three largest telecommunications companies all offer RT to their television subscribers, according to their websites. Spokespeople for those companies - Rogers Communications Inc., Telus Corp. and BCE Inc. - did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside of regular business hours.
RT and other state-funded media outlets such as Sputnik are active participants in advancing Russian President Vladimir Putin's geopolitical agenda, according to a paper published by the U.S. State Department in January.
7:25 a.m.: Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, was reportedly back under Ukrainian control, according to this post from the chairman of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration.
7:22 a.m.: The number of casualties so far from Europe's largest land conflict since World War II remain unclear amid the fog of combat.
On Saturday, Ukraine's health minister reported that 198 people, including three children, had been killed and more than 1,000 others wounded. It was unclear whether those figures included both military and civilian casualties. Russia has not released any casualty information.
The UN, however, said it has confirmed at least 240 civilian casualties, including at least 64 people killed, in the fighting in Ukraine that erupted since Russia's invasion on Thursday - though it believed the real figures are considerably higher" because many reports of casualties remain to be confirmed.
A 6-year-old girl was reportedly killed due to Russian gunfire near a pediatric cancer hospital in Kyiv.
7:21 a.m.: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Germany is committing 100 billion euros ($112.7 billion) to a special fund for its armed forces, raising its defence spending above 2% of its GDP.
7:20 a.m.: Ukraine's president says that Russia should be thrown out of the United Nations Security Council following its invasion of his country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message Sunday that the Russian invasion of Ukraine amounts to an act of genocide, saying that Russia has taken the path of evil and the world should come to depriving it of its U.N. Security Council seat."
Russia is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, giving it veto power over resolutions.
Zelenskyy said that Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities should be investigated by an International War Crimes Tribunal and denounced the Russian invasion as state terrorism."
He dismissed as lies Russia's claims that it wasn't targeting civilian areas.
7:20 a.m.: Israel's prime minister says the country is sending 100 tons of humanitarian aid to assist civilians caught up in the fighting in Ukraine.
Naftali Bennett told a meeting of his Cabinet Sunday that the aid includes medical equipment and medicine, tents, sleeping bags and blankets.
Bennett did not comment on a report by Israeli public broadcaster Kan which said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the Israeli leader to mediate talks on ending the crisis with Russia. Bennett's office confirmed there had been a call but declined to comment on the report. The Ukrainian embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.
Bennett has treaded carefully in his public comments on Russia's invasion. He has voiced support for Ukrainian civilians but has stopped short of condemning Russia. Israeli relies on Russia for security co-ordination in Syria, where Russia has a military presence and where Israel frequently strikes hostile targets.
7:20 a.m.: British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says Russian President Vladimir Putin could use the most unsavoury means," including banned chemical or biological weapons, to defeat Ukraine.
I urge the Russians not to escalate this conflict but we do need to be prepared for Russia to seek to use even worse weapons," Truss told Sky News.
She said the International Criminal Court is watching events in Ukraine, and that Putin and the Russian government would face serious consequences" if it committed war crimes.
Britain has slapped sanctions on Russian banks, companies and oligarchs in response to the invasion, and agreed with the European Union and the U.S. to block some Russian banks from the SWIFT global financial messaging system.
Truss said tough sanctions will have an economic cost on Britain, including in higher energy costs. But she insisted it's a price worth paying to stop Putin threatening more countries.
7:15 a.m.: Street fighting broke out in Ukraine's second-largest city and Russian troops squeezed strategic ports in the country's south Sunday, advances that appeared to mark a new phase of Russia's invasion following a wave of attacks on airfields and fuel facilities elsewhere in the country.
Following its gains on the ground, Russia sent a delegation to Belarus for peace talks with Ukraine, according to the Kremlin. Ukraine's president suggested other locations, saying his country was unwilling to meet in Belarus because it served as a staging ground for the invasion.
Until Sunday, Russia's troops had remained on the outskirts of Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million about 20 kilometres south of the border with Russia, while other forces rolled past to press the offensive deeper into Ukraine.
Videos posted on Ukrainian media and social networks showed Russian vehicles moving across Kharkiv and Russian troops roaming the city in small groups. One showed Ukrainian troops firing at the Russians and damaged Russian light utility vehicles abandoned nearby.
The images underscored the determined resistance Russian troops face while attempting to enter Ukraine's bigger cities. Ukrainians have volunteered en masse to help defend the capital, Kyiv, and other cities, taking guns distributed by authorities and preparing firebombs to fight Russian forces.