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Last week, more than a dozen religious and political leaders sat on the dais of the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Volodymyr on the Upper West Side, listening to solemn prayers and fiery speeches denouncing Russia and extolling Ukrainian resistance to the invasion that began two weeks earlier.

They gave speeches, one by one: the leaders of the Ukrainian, Greek and American Orthodox churches; a prominent rabbi; the leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York; even Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York.

But one group was missing from this interfaith tableau: the Russian Orthodox Church, whose leader, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, is an ally of President Vladimir V. Putin. Organizers said Russian Orthodox leaders in New York had been invited but did not reply.

Here in America theyre not taking a position against the Moscow Patriarchate or against the political leadership of Russian Federation, Archbishop Daniel, a leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., said of Russian religious leaders in New York. Theyre trying to dance a political dance.

The world of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is complex, with more than a dozen self-governing branches whose leaders live primarily in cities across Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Because New York is home to hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Christians, many of their churches treat it as an American base of operations. Those include the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church and a subsidiary to it, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. The three have outposts within walking distance of one another; the headquarters of the Russian branches are practically neighbors on Manhattans Upper East Side, while the an ornate Ukrainian cathedral sits across Central Park.

Patriarch Kirill is based in Moscow and is the highest authority for both the Russian Church and its New York-based American branch, which merged with the Moscow Patriarchate in 2007. He is also the highest religious authority for most Russian Orthodox parishes in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church became independent in 2019 by decree of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the religious authority for all Eastern Orthodox branches. That decision outraged Russian political and religious leaders, and the future of the Ukrainian church may hinge on the outcome of the war.

Patriarch Kirill has declined to condemn the Russian invasion. Instead, he has attacked Western culture, in particular gay rights, in recent weeks, and has given a religious cast to Mr. Putins rhetoric about the oneness of Russia and Ukraine.

In a recent statement, Patriarch Kirill asked God to preserve the Russian land from evil forces and specified that he was referring to the land which now includes Russia and Ukraine and Belarus and other tribes and peoples.

That and other statements have drawn rebukes from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine and the United States. In an interview, Archbishop Daniel described Patriarch Kirill as a product of a Soviet system and a political tool of the Russian state.

The church is one of the departments of propaganda or control of the society, and it has been since the collapse of Soviet Union, the archbishop said. Obviously he will say what he needs to say.

Across the park, an atmosphere of fear has descended on the Ukrainian Cathedrals Russian counterpart, Saint Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral, which is the Moscow Patriarchates administrative and religious headquarters in the United States.

The cathedral draws worshipers from across the former Soviet Union, including Ukraine. In recent days, some parishioners and priests seemed hesitant to discuss the war. Some cited the Russian governments increasing repression, saying they feared endangering loved ones in Russia and Ukraine.

March 15, 2022, 5:21 a.m. ET

One congregant, her face twisted in anguish as she stood on the cathedrals rain-slicked steps, apologized for turning down an interview with a reporter, explaining that her family is in Kharkiv (Ukraines second-largest city, which has been bombed relentlessly since the war began).

A priest, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal, said the cathedral had gotten hate mail since the invasion began, and a protester had even come into the sanctuary and disrupted a religious class. She left after priests called the police, he said.

Whether anyone believes us or not, we are in pain from this, the priest said. We have relatives and friends in Ukraine. Parishioners have relatives and friends in Ukraine.

He said clergy members do not talk about politics in public in part because they do not want to stoke division in the parish. But he said anguish about the war seemed pervasive among the parishioners.

We are trying to explain to people that we are not politicians or about politics, the priest said. At least here, no one asked us our position on whether or not we should begin fighting against Ukraine or not. Everyone here is against it.

Father Sergey Trostyanskiy, a rector of St. Gregory the Theologian Orthodox Mission at Union Theological Seminary, said public discussion of politics was a violation of canon law in the Russian Church, even though Patriarch Kirills public utterances are politically freighted.

Father Trostyanskiy is also a priest with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, which was founded in New York after the Russian Revolution and reunited with the Moscow Patriarchate 15 years ago. The church, just blocks away from St. Nicholas, also declined to send a representative to the interfaith event, where the Russian government was denounced, sometimes in vividly religious language.

In a speech at the interfaith prayer service, Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraines ambassador to the United Nations, described his Russian counterpart, Vasily Nebenzya, as the herald of Satan and said Ukraine would prevail over Russia because we believe in God. His remarks drew a standing ovation.

Father Trostyanskiy said: The Russian church cannot participate in any event like this.

He said Patriarch Kirills speeches should be read not as endorsements of war, but as an effort to protect the unity of the church, which operates in Ukraine and Russia, by refusing to antagonize the Kremlin.

The bottom line is people expect him to take part in political endeavors, and it is impossible, Father Trostyanskiy said. All the statements from Kirill are constantly, Lets do things peacefully, lets pray and supplicate. That is quite clear. But he will never go against the Russian authorities.

American journalist killed. Brent Renaud, an award-winning American filmmaker and journalist who drew attention to human suffering, was fatally shot while reporting in a suburb of Kyiv. Mr. Renaud, 50, had contributed to The New York Times in previous years, most recently in 2015.

To do so, he added, might be dangerous for any priest or parishioner.

If people participate in more public endeavors where they make more open statements people at this time try not to do that because it might affect their future or the future of their relatives, Father Trostyanskiy said. After this war you never know what is going to happen.

Other Orthodox leaders said Patriarch Kirill was morally obligated to oppose the war publicly, not least for his many followers in Ukraine.

It hurts because we are part of the same church, the Orthodox Church, said Archbishop Daniel, at the Ukrainian cathedral. He is a spiritual leader also for Ukrainian Orthodox Christians who follow the Moscow Patriarchate, and he is not defending them.

But the fear of speaking out was palpable at St. Nicholas, the Russian Orthodox church. Speaking after services there recently, some parishioners said the war had overwhelmed them emotionally. Others said they were afraid of what might happen to their families if they stated their views publicly, even in New York.

One woman, who gave only her first name, Olga, out of fear for her relatives in Russia, including a son and her mother, said she was still haunted by the 15 years her grandfather had spent in a Soviet prison.

I think that kind of thing can happen again, definitely, she said. The situation is getting worse and worse and the newspapers are not telling people the truth.

Coming to St. Nicholas brought her comfort, she said, with prayer and the elaborate rituals of the Orthodox faith providing a respite from worry.

Even normal people cannot say what they think because they are afraid, she added, before walking into the cathedral to pray. Even me, I am thinking about my family.

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How Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches Are Handlng the War - The New York Times

On his visit to Poland last weekend, Secretary of State Antony Blinken walked fifteen feet into Ukraine, as snow began to fall, to meet briefly with its foreign minister. It was symbolic of the Biden Administrations deliberately calibrated policygoing up to the border, but not beyondto avoid any move that the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, could perceive as provocative. For everything were doing for Ukraine, the President also has a responsibility to not get us into a direct conflict, a direct war, with Russia, a nuclear power, and risk a war that expands even beyond Ukraine to Europe, Blinken told Meet the Press the next day, from Moldova. Yet, just two weeks into the war, the U.S. increasingly fears being drawn into a war with Russia. The undercurrent to frantic diplomacy and waves of U.S. military deploymentsthousands more troops dispatched to Europe, Patriot-missile batteries to Poland, and B-52 bombers flying over Central Europeis the palpable fear that the unthinkable is now thinkable.

On Tuesday, a new U.S. intelligence assessment concluded that Russia will pursue its interests in competitive and sometimes confrontational and provocative ways, including pressing to dominate Ukraine and other countries in its near-abroad. In testimony on the Hill, William Burns, the C.I.A. director and a former Ambassador to Russia, was pressed about Vladimir Putins intent. Hes not going to stop at Ukraine, correct? asked Representative Jackie Speier, of California. Burns replied, Thats what makes it more important than ever to demonstrate that hes not going to succeed in Ukraine. The stakes, Burns acknowledged, are bigger. This is one of those pivotal points where we and all of our allies and partners need to act.

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Since Russias invasion, the besieged Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has repeatedly warned the West about the danger that Putin would target other European nations. Everyone thinks that we are far away from America or Canada. No, we are in this zone of freedom, Zelensky said in a television interview, on Monday. And, when the limits of rights and freedoms are being violated and stepped on, then you have to protect us. Because we will come first. You will come second. Because, the more this beast will eat, he wants more, more, and more.

The U.S., however, pushed back this week on key military requests from Ukraine, for fear of Russias reaction. Putins reckless offensive has forced the U.S. to adopt awkward policy positions. On March 5th, Zelensky made an impassioned appeal to members of the House and Senate for more military aid, notably help in obtaining Soviet-era warplanes that Ukrainian pilots are trained to fly and that could balance Russias air superiority. On Wednesday, the Pentagon rejected an offer from Poland to turn over twenty-eight MIG-29 fighter jets to U.S. custodyflying them to a base in Germanyfor transfer to Ukraine. U.S. intelligence officials assessed that an American role in a transfer may be mistaken as escalatory and could result in significant Russian reaction that might increase the prospects of a military escalation with NATO, the Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, told reporters. U.S. involvement was deemed to be high risk. The majority of Ukraines warplanes are still intact, a senior Defense Department official added, while acknowledging that Russias surface-to-air missiles now have an umbrella that covers virtually all of Ukraine.

The Administration cited the same fears about Zelenskys request for help from NATO in establishing a no-fly zone over part of Ukraine to protect civilians. We also have to see to it that this war does not expand, Blinken said on Wednesday, at a joint press conference with his British counterpart. Our goal is to end the war, not to expand it, including potentially expand it to NATO territory. Otherwise, he warned, its going to turn even deadlier, involve more people, and I think potentially even make things harder to resolve in Ukraine itself.

On Thursday, Avril Haines, the director of National Intelligence, acknowledged that the U.S. is now in a uniquely challenging position. We are obviously providing enormous amounts of support to the Ukrainians, as we should and need to do, she told the Senate Intelligence Committee. But at the same time trying not to escalate the conflict into a full-on NATO or U.S. war with Russia. And thats a challenging space to manage.

Yet, at each of his four stops in NATO countries near Russia, Blinken heard dire predictions about the broader Russian threat beyond Ukraineand the need for the U.S. to do more. In Riga, on Monday, the Latvian Foreign Minister, Edgars Rinkvis, lamented to Blinken, We have no illusions about Putins Russia anymore. In Vilnius, the Lithuanian President, Gitanas Nauseda, turned to Blinken and said, Deterrence is no longer enough. We need more defense here, because otherwise it will be too late here, Mr. Secretary. Putin will not stop in Ukraine; he will not stop. And in Tallinn, on Tuesday, the Estonian Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, said that NATO countries need to adapt to the new reality of a very aggressive Russia and permanently strengthen their defenses in the air, on land, and at sea. Pressed on what specifically countries on Russias borders needed, she replied, Everything.

Eastern European countriesnotably those once allied with, or part of, the former Soviet Unions empirehave long warned of the potential for Russian aggression. We, the Poles, are already tired of reminding everyone: We told ya so, Marek Magierowski, Polands Ambassador to the U.S., told me in an interview this week. He cited the forewarning by the late Polish President Lech Kaczynski during the Russian invasion of Georgia, in 2008. Today Georgia, tomorrow Ukraine, the day after tomorrowthe Baltic states and later, perhaps, time will come for my country, Poland, Kaczynski had said.

Magierowski added, We have never had any doubts whatsoever about Vladimir Putins neo-imperial ambitions. Putin has been waiting for this window of opportunity for years, he said. He convinced himself that the West is weak, divided, wallowing in a decadent mood. He thought the free world wouldnt care about Ukraines fate, as it didnt care about Czechoslovakias in 1938, when Europe tolerated Nazi Germanys annexation of the Sudetenland. Putin, he told me, is similarly emboldened because the West was tragically lenient and outrageously complacent after Russia murdered the defector Alexander Litvinenko, in 2006; invaded and annexed Crimea, in 2014; helped destroy the Syrian city of Aleppo, in 2016; reportedly used chemical weapons to poison the former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, in 2018; and poisoned the opposition leader Alexey Navalny, in 2020. Over the past three decades, Eastern Europeans have often encountered skepticism of their view of Putin as the U.S. and Western Europeans, notably the former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, advocated dealing pragmatically with Russia.

During his European trip, Blinken repeatedly promised that NATO, this time, would prevent further Russian expansion. We will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of our collective power, he vowed, in Estonia. But U.S. experts worry, too, about an unintended incident triggering a wider war, like the spark that ignited the First World War, a conflict that dragged on for four years and killed tens of millions. Russias invasion of Ukraine could easily escalate into a larger conflict stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea and further west into Europe, Thomas E. Graham, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, warned in a new report issued on Tuesday. It might not matter what the U.S. does, he wrote. Crippling sanctions could provoke Putin to lash out with greater violence, Graham cautioned. But, if NATO appeared restrained, Moscow could be tempted to press militarily even further into Europe to enlarge its sphere of influence. The rippling impact of broader Russian aggression would stress the geopolitical, economic, and institutional foundations of the international order created after the Second World War, Graham wrote.

Given the Russian leaders history, Angela Stent, a former National Intelligence officer and the author of Putins World: Russia Against the West and with the Rest, is worried about a miscalculation. The concern we have to have immediately is that the war in Ukraine doesnt inadvertently spread to Poland or Romania by some unforeseen clash, which would then have to involve NATO in a war with Russia, she told me. Stent also worries about Putins intentions short of war. You can use nonmilitary means to disrupt societies. And hes already been doing that for the past couple of decades. As the Russian leader grows increasingly cornered, she added, he will seek to exploit popular sentiment in countries like Serbia, where a pro-Russia march to support the war was held last week. The new U.S. intelligence assessment warns that Russia will employ an array of tools to undermine the interests of the U.S. and its NATO allies. We expect Moscow to insert itself into crises whenever it sees an opportunity, it concludes.

On Wednesday, the Biden Administration issued a forceful denial after Russias bizarre claim that the U.S. and Ukraine were developing chemical and biological weapons. The State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, said that Moscow has a long track record of accusing the U.S. of the very crimes that Russia is perpetrating. These tactics are an obvious ploy by Russia to try to justify further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attacks, he said.

Russia, as the aggressor, still has the upper hand. But, for the U.S. and its allies, the one positive sign is that the performance of the Ukrainian military has exceeded expectations. Russian forces have fallen far short of Putins goal of a swift seizure of Kyiv and the ouster of Zelenskys government. The first two weeks have, instead, been grinding for Moscow. U.S. intelligence estimates that between two thousand and four thousand troops fighting for Russianot all of them Russianhave died in the first two weeks. The bravery of Ukrainians, so far, has prevented the worst-case scenario.

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The Growing Fear of a Wider War Between Russia and the West - The New Yorker

Long before the first shot was fired, diplomats the world over have been trying to find a way to broker some sort of peace between Ukraine and Russia.

After two grueling weeks of bitter combat, that goal is more elusive than ever.

With the war seemingly poised to drag on, ABC News spoke to foreign policy experts about Russian President Vladimir Putin's next strategic steps, the fine line the West is walking to support Ukraine, and how the conflict could ripple beyond its borders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the government via teleconference in Moscow, March 10, 2022.

'A cornered beast, if you will, can be dangerous'

Putin's invasion into Ukraine has been met by expectedly punishing sanctions from the U.S. and its allies, as well as unexpectedly effective resistance from Ukrainian fighters. At least for now, both seem unlikely to change the Kremlin's calculations or diminish Putin's determination.

While it will take time for Russia to feel the full impact of economic restrictions levied against it and Ukraine's ability to withstand a prolonged assault is an open question, Dan Hamilton, a former high-level State Department official and now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said pushing Putin to the brink could have unpredictable consequences.

"In his mind, he doesn't want to go down in history as the leader who 'lost Ukraine,'" he said. "A cornered beast, if you will, can be dangerous."

But despite setbacks, Andrew Lohsen, a Russia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says Putin is undaunted.

"We've heard from Vladimir Putin himself that he thinks that this war is still winnable. He hasn't given up on his objectives. And his he seems still very determined to press on," said Lohsen. "The indications that we have so far is that he is still really doubling down and pressing further with his invasion rather than taking a step back."

Explosions are seen during shelling in a residential district in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 10, 2022.

Just as they made clear what the consequences of an incursion would be before Russia advanced into Ukraine, Lohsen says world leaders will ultimately need to identify an "off-ramp" for Putin by indicating exactly how de-escalation will yield sanctions relief.

"We need to give the sanctions time to bite," he said. "Once we start to see some sort of concern among the top levels of leadership, then I think it would be appropriate to start a conversation about the conditionality of these sanctions. What would we remove in exchange for a withdrawal of Russian forces?"

But whether Putin will elect to take that off-ramp is another question entirely.

"My concern is that Putin has painted this conflict in such hyperbolic terms, I think it's going to be really hard for him to step back from the brink. He said that Ukrainians have committed genocide, he said Ukraine has a desire to acquire nuclear weapons," Lohsen said, referencing the lies Putin used to justify military action. "So when you're engaging in a war with a state with such supposedly nefarious aims, them how do you reach a negotiated solution where you leave that leadership in place and you don't completely stop that country from pressing on with the objectives you've ascribed to it?"

And for Putin, negotiating an end to the conflict he started wouldn't mean an end to its consequences.

"They want to bring Putin up on was crimes -- take him to The Hague. Those things don't go away," said Hamilton. "It's very hard to see how Putin would sign an agreement when he's being prosecuted."

This image taken from video issued by Mariupol City Council shows the aftermath of the Mariupol Hospital after an attack, in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 9, 2022. A Russian attack severely damaged the children's hospital and maternity ward in the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials said.

Should the US and allies do more?

Amid an onslaught of grim reports and haunting images from the streets of Ukraine, a "wait and see" kind of approach can feel frustratingly futile. While the crisis has prompted a rare bipartisan outpouring of support in the U.S., funneling assistance to the country remains a delicate dance.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly called for establishing a no-fly zone over Ukraine to protect civilians, but the Biden administration and NATO have made it clear it's a nonstarter because enforcing airspace restrictions would almost certainly mean direct conflict with Russia.

"The fear of nuclear escalation is the number one consideration here," said Clint Reach, a former Russian linguist with the Department of Defense and a policy analyst at RAND. "That's the elephant in the room when it comes to direct military intervention."

As made evident by the Pentagon rejecting Poland's plan to send fighter jets to Ukraine via a U.S.-NATO airbase in Germany, there's significant concern that roundabout assistance could also spur significant blowback.

"We don't have a full understanding of Russian red lines and how much intervention they're willing to accept," said Reach.

Zelenskyy and Republicans on Capitol Hill have argued that funneling more military equipment into Ukraine sooner would have made a difference in the conflict. Experts aren't so certain.

"We could have just sped up the invasion timeline," countered Reach. "No Russian president is ever going to allow Ukraine to become a U.S. aircraft carriermeaning Ukraine becomes a platform for military capability that could threaten Russia. If they felt that scenario was playing out, they probably would have intervened."

"Until Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, I think there was adequate caution in trying not to engage in anything that might provoke this scenario," said Lohsen. "What we got wrong collectively was the belief that Putin could be deterred."

A U.S. Army MIM-104 Patriot anti-missile defense launcher stands pointing east at Rzeszow Jasionska airport, currently being used by the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division, on March 08, 2022 near Rzeszow, Poland.

Could the conflict spiral beyond Ukraine?

Despite the great pains taken to avoid escalation, many predict it's only a matter of time before the discord metastasizes further into Europe -- and perhaps even beyond the continent.

Hamilton points out that while Moldova -- a small country abutting Ukraine's southern border -- has already seen a surge of refugees fleeing the fighting, it could also become a launching pad for Russian troops closing in on Odesa.

"Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe," Hamilton said. "We already have a humanitarian crisis, and we could have a next crisis of military escalation involving troops coming not just from Belarus and Russia, but also from Moldova. That's very problematic."

And while Western powers attempt to walk a tightrope while supplying aid to Ukraine, whether they are ultimately drawn into the fight depends in part on Russia's reaction.

"The question has been would Russia try to preempt some arm transfers at the point of originlike firing missiles into Poland at bases where they thought this military equipment was housed," said Reach, noting that while that would be at the severe end of the spectrum, the Kremlin could also retaliate with asymmetric attacks, like cyberstrikes.

While escalatory, Reach believes it's a move Moscow could ultimately make.

"There are potentially large tradeoffs for Russia that they'd have to think long and hard about," he said.

Read more:

What is the threat of a 'cornered' Putin as the Russia-Ukraine conflict drags on? - ABC News

Honeywell's decision to halt business activities in Russia following the country's invasion of Ukraine is unlikely to cause problems for the company's balance sheet, CEO Darius Adamczyk told CNBC on Monday.

"It has some implications, but it's the right thing to do, it's a little bit north of 1% of our overall shares, and our manufacturing presence there is relatively small," Adamczyk said in an interview on "Mad Money."

"We'll see what happens. We're monitoring the situation," he added.

The technology firm is one of hundreds of companies that have stopped or curtailed operations in Russia including Adidas, McDonald's and Apple. The company announced its decision to "substantially" suspend its activities on March 8.

As for the company's other possible headwinds, Adamczyk said that Honeywell's supply chain and raw material costs have been manageable. Honeywell's fourth quarter revenue fell short of expectations last month due to supply chain issues, among other factors.

"We've actually done a good job of protecting that business. Titanium is something we watch very closely and some of the components there, but we've been a little bit ahead of the game and secured sources of supply, so we're in pretty good shape there."

Honeywell stock was up 0.53% at the end of Monday's trading session.

When asked about future plans, Adamczyk said that the company plans to buy $4 billion worth of shares, which he considers to currently be a "bargain," and look toward making acquisitions.

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Honeywell CEO says suspending business in Russia wont be a major headwind - CNBC

The 1930s tariffs were crafted to charge high levies on imports of manufactured goods and farm products but low rates on imports of raw materials a design that would limit costs for U.S. factories, Mr. Gresser wrote in a blog post.

The U.S. tariff on palladium, for example, which is used in catalytic converters, would remain at 0 percent after the change, according to Mr. Gressers research. Tariffs on other significant exports from Russia, like king crab, uranium and urea, which is used in fertilizer, would also remain at 0 percent.

Tariffs would be somewhat higher for other products, like unwrought aluminum alloy, birch-faced plywood, bullets and certain steel products.

Energy imports from Russia which accounted for about 60 percent of what the United States imported from the country last year would face slightly higher tariffs. But Mr. Biden already announced this week that the United States would stop all shipments of Russian oil, gas and coal, a far more sweeping measure.

Mr. Gresser wrote that revoking Russias preferential trading status would impose some penalties, but in most cases not very significant ones.

It may nonetheless be an appropriate symbolic and moral gesture, in particular if many W.T.O. members join in it, he wrote. But as a policy measure meant specifically to impose economic cost, the energy import ban is the one with practical real-world impact.

Russia or another country, such as China, could challenge the decision to strip Russia of its trade status by bringing a case against the United States, the European Union or other countries at the World Trade Organization. But the global trade body offers large exceptions for actions taken to protect national security, and the United States and Europe could cite that rationale in their defense.

Reporting was contributed by Catie Edmondson, Katie Rogers, Alan Rappeport and Liz Alderman.

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US and Allies Will Strip Russia of Favored Trade Status - The New York Times

WASHINGTON Top U.S. intelligence officials said on Tuesday that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had been surprised and unsettled by the problems that have hampered his military in Ukraine, issues that will make it more difficult for Russian forces to control the country.

But Mr. Putin is determined to succeed in Ukraine, and will try to double down and use ever more brutal tactics, the officials said during an appearance before the House Intelligence Committee.

Americas intelligence agencies, which before the attack released information on Russias troop buildup and war plans, will work to highlight Russian atrocities and crimes, a continuation of the information war that helped rally the West to impose tough sanctions on the country, the officials said.

Before the invasion, Mr. Putin thought the war would be relatively quick, allowing him to rapidly seize Kyiv and overwhelm Ukrainian forces, Avril D. Haines, the director of national intelligence, told lawmakers.

Moscow underestimated the strength of Ukraines resistance and the degree of internal military challenges we are observing, which include an ill-constructed plan, morale issues and considerable logistical issues, Ms. Haines said.

Controlling all of Ukraine will necessitate even more forces than Russia has committed to the fight, she said.

Some allied intelligence services believe that Mr. Putins early military problems could cause him to readjust his plans to take control of the whole country, and stop his advance after he captures Kyiv, particularly if military officers highlight how many additional forces it will require to secure Ukraine.

But diplomats are also quick to add that they are not sure how rationally Mr. Putin is viewing the situation. At the hearing, Ms. Haines said Mr. Putin appeared intent on intensifying his campaign, despite his militarys logistical problems.

Our analysts assess that Putin is unlikely to be deterred by such setbacks, Ms. Haines said, and instead may escalate, essentially doubling down to achieve Ukrainian disarmament, neutrality, to prevent it from further integrating with the U.S. and NATO.

Given the problems the Russian military has faced, and the rising will of Ukraine to fight, intelligence officials predicted the war would intensify. William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, is anticipating an ugly next few weeks.

I think Putin is angry and frustrated right now, Mr. Burns said. He is likely to try to grind down the Ukrainian military with no regard for civilian casualties, he added.

Lt. Gen. Scott D. Berrier, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said there was a limit to how long Kyiv could hold on as Russian forces encircled Ukraine and tightened the vise. With supplies being cut off, it will become somewhat desperate in, I would say, 10 days to two weeks, General Berrier said.

Other estimates are similar. Some allied governments believe Russia will finish encircling Kyiv in a week and, given the strength of Ukraines resistance, the city may be able to hold out for another month, a European diplomat said on Tuesday.

March 15, 2022, 5:21 a.m. ET

While the intelligence chiefs said Mr. Putin felt aggrieved, Mr. Burns said it would be incorrect to view his actions as crazy.

The Russian leaders increasing isolation and insulation from conflicting views make him extremely difficult to deal with, Mr. Burns said. Without aides willing to push back, Mr. Putin entered the war misunderstanding the will of Ukraine to fight back and the West to take action.

Germany, for example, suspended the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which would have allowed imported Russian natural gas to bypass Ukraine; sent weapons directly to Ukraine; and expanded its defense budget.

Hes been unsettled by Western reaction and allied resolve, particularly some of the decisions that the German government has taken, Mr. Burns said. I think hes been unsettled by the performance of his own military.

American journalist killed. Brent Renaud, an award-winning American filmmaker and journalist who drew attention to human suffering, was fatally shot while reporting in a suburb of Kyiv. Mr. Renaud, 50, had contributed to The New York Times in previous years, most recently in 2015.

General Berrier said he had low confidence in reports of Russian casualties, but put Moscows losses at 2,000 to 4,000.

Mr. Burns said the American government was keeping a close eye on Mr. Putins domestic support. With state-controlled media dominating what the Russian public hears and independent reporting on the invasion essentially being made illegal, it will take time for Russians to absorb the consequences of Mr. Putins actions.

But, over time, funerals of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine will have an impact, Mr. Burns said.

You also see, in relatively small numbers, a lot of very courageous Russians out on the street protesting, Mr. Burns said. Something like 13 or 14,000 have been arrested since then, which is not a small thing in a deeply repressive society like Russia.

Other governments said another crucial factor is whether Mr. Putins support within the military erodes. Before the invasion, Russian officers complained about the plan, according to intercepts obtained by Western intelligence. The discontent with the Kremlins planning now continues, the European diplomat said.

The intelligence community will expand its information war with Russia, working to expose Moscows war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine, Ms. Haines said. American spy agencies were working with other agencies to document Russian actions in Ukraine, including war crimes, and to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Russian forces are at the very least operating with reckless disregard for the safety of noncombatants, as Russian units launch artillery and airstrikes into urban areas as they have done in cities across Ukraine, Ms. Haines said.

Such an information campaign to expose Russias attacks on civilians and other missteps would build on the intelligence released before the invasion, which sought to expose Russias war plans, rally allied support for tough financial sanctions and deny Moscow the chance to create a false pretext for an attack.

Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, the director of the National Security Agency, said that the United States had closely tracked three or four Russian cyberattacks on Ukraine, and that reinforced Ukrainian defenses had helped blunt wider Russian cyberattacks.

In terms of why they havent done more, I think thats obviously some of the work that the Ukrainians have done, some of the challenges that the Russians have encountered and some of the work that others have been able to do to prevent their actions, General Nakasone said.

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U.S. Intelligence Tells Congress Putin Is Unlikely to Be Deterred - The New York Times

Russia (Russian: ), officially called the Russian Federation (Russian: )[12] is a country in Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with a population of about 146.7 million people. It is the most populous country in Europe, and Moscow is its capital city, which is also Yekaterinburg is its the largest city in Europe. Russia's official language is Russian, the most spoken language in Europe, as well as the most widely spoken Slavic language. This is the largest country in the world, covering most of its inhabitable landmass, followed by Canada, the United States, and China.

Russian Federation

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Density

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Russia shares land borders with 16 countries, in both Europe and Asia: Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It has links with 16 seas, and 3 oceans; and is the country the most land borders in the world.

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the largest religion in Russia.

Russia is a very large and diverse country. From 1922 to 1991, it used to be the main part of the Soviet Union. It was a country based on Communism, but today its government is a federal semi-presidential republic. It has elements of democracy. The President is chosen by direct election, but challenging candidates do not have access to the mass media, although they have full access to social media, internet news websites, and international media, and election results match domestic, international, and exit polling. Its current President is Vladimir Putin. The President rules the country, and the Russian Parliament plays a secondary role.

At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800sqmi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the world's eighth most populous nation with 140million people as of 2022. Russia produces a lot of energy made from oil and natural gas.[13]

Extending from eastern Europe across the whole of northern Asia, Russia spans eleven time zones and has a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources,[14] and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world.[15][16] Russia has the world's largest forest reserves,[17][18] and its lakes contain about one-quarter of the world's fresh water.[19]

Russia is a federal semi-presidential republic. It has a president and a parliament.[20] Russia consists of 85 federal subjects (territorial units). All subjects of the federation shall be equal. All entities are subject to uniform federal law. Subjects of the federation have two representatives in the parliament. Subjects of the Russian Federation do not have a right to secession from it. Important issues are decided by the Federation President; lesser powers are given to the member republics.

At the end of the twentieth century, Russia experienced many political changes. Some people fought to leave the federation.

Elections are held at all levels. According Steve White, the present government made it clear that they had no plans of making a "second edition" of the American or British political system, but rather a system that was closer to Russia's own traditions.[21] Richard Sakwa wrote that the Russian government is considered legitimate by the majority of the Russian people. It seeks to deliver a set of public goods without trying to fit to extra-democratic logic to achieve them. Whether the system is becoming less autocratic (dictatorial) is debatable.[22]

There are four big political parties in Russia. United Russia ( ) is the biggest party.

The United Russia is the ruling party, which supports the government. The other parties in the Duma (Russian parliament) do not criticize the government strongly, for fear of losing their places in the Duma. Many opposition parties, such as the People's Freedom Party and the Other Russia, have been unable to register due to the strict rules. In the 2000s the government led a war in Chechnya, and in the process, civil liberties and independent media were restricted. Corruption is widespread and human rights, especially in the North Caucasus, are frequently violated. In 2008 Putin's government was in a war with Georgia in a dispute over a region with many ethnic Russians.

The roots of Russia's history began when the East Slavs formed a group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD.[23] The Vikings and their descendants founded the first East Slavic state of Kievan Rus' in the 9th century. They adopted Christianity from the Byzantine Empire in 988.[24] This form of Christianity influenced Russian culture greatly.[24] Kievan Rus' eventually broke up and the lands were divided into many small feudal states. The most powerful successor state to Kievan Rus' was the Grand Duchy of Moscow. This area served as the main force in later Russian unification and the fight against the Golden Horde from Asia. Moscow slowly gained control of the regions around it and took over the cultural and political life of Kievan Rus'.

In the 18th century, the nation had expanded through conquest, annexation and exploration to become the Russian Empire, the third-largest empire in history. It stretched from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth eastward to the Pacific Ocean and Alaska. The empire was ruled by an emperor called the Tsar.

Peter the Great ruled Russia from 1689 until 1725. Peter moved the capital from Moscow to a new city named Saint Petersburg. He made Russian society more modern in many ways. The government began building ships for the Russian navy.

The Russo-Japanese War started in 1904 and ended in 1905 with Japan winning the war. The Russian defeat was one of the reasons for later revolutions.

In October 1917, the Bolsheviks (later called "Communists"), influenced by the ideas of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, took over the country and murdered the Tsar and other people who stood against them. Once they took power, the Bolsheviks, under Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky, created the first Marxist Communist State.

From the 1920s to the 1950s, Josef Stalin ruled as an absolute dictator of Soviet Russia, and destroyed anything and anyone that was against his rule, including taking the property of farmers and shopkeepers. Many millions of people starved and died in the resulting famines. Stalin also removed, or "purged", all military personnel who were not loyal to him, and many were killed or sent to prison camps, or gulags, for many years. Even in the gulags, many prisoners died.

Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany agreed not to attack each other in 1939. In June 1941, Germany broke the agreement and attacked in Operation Barbarossa. The attack was part of World War II. The war lasted in Europe until May 1945, and Russia lost more than 20 million people during that time. In spite of this large loss, Russia was one of the winners of the war and became a world superpower.

From 1922 to 1991, Russia was the largest part of the Soviet Union, or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). People sometimes used the name "Russia" for the whole Soviet Union, or sometimes "Soviet Russia". Russia was only one of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics. The republic was in fact named the "Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic" (RSFSR).

The Soviet Union fell apart in the early 1990s. Russia took over the place of the USSR in the United Nations (UN).

Boris Yeltsin was made the President of Russia in June 1991, in the first direct presidential election in Russian history. Wide-ranging reforms took place, including privatization and free trade laws.[25] Radical changes "(shock therapy) were recommended by the United States and International Monetary Fund.[26] A major economic crisis followed. There was 50% decline in GDP and industrial output between 199095.[25][27]

The privatization largely shifted control of enterprises from state agencies to individuals with inside connections in the government system. Many of the newly rich businesspeople took billions in cash and assets outside of the country .[28] The depression of state and economy led to the collapse of social services. Millions went into poverty, from 1.5% level of poverty in the late Soviet era to 3949% by mid-1993.[29] The 1990s saw extreme corruption and lawlessness, the rise of criminal gangs and violent crime.[30]

The 1990s had many armed conflicts in the North Caucasus. There were both local ethnic battles and separatist Islamist insurrections. Since the Chechen separatists declared independence in the early 1990s, a Chechen War was fought between the rebel groups and the Russian military. Terrorist attacks against civilians caused hundreds of deaths. The most notable of these were the Moscow theater hostage crisis and Beslan school siege.

Russia took responsibility for settling the USSR's external debts, even though its population made up just half of the population of the USSR at the time of its dissolution.[31] High budget deficits caused the 1998 Russian financial crisis[32] and resulted in further GDP decline.[25]

On 31 December 1999 President Yeltsin resigned, or quit being the president. The job of president was given to the recently appointed Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin. Putin then won the 2000 presidential election. Putin stopped the Chechen rebellion quickly, but violence still occurs in the Northern Caucasus at times.

High oil prices and initially weak currency followed by increasing domestic demand, consumption and investments has helped the economy grow for nine straight years. This improved the standard of living and increasing Russia's influence on the world stage. While many reforms made during the Putin presidency have been criticized by Western nations as un-democratic,[33] Putin's leadership led to stability, and progress. This won him widespread popularity in Russia.[34]

On 2 March 2008, Dmitry Medvedev was elected President of Russia, whilst Putin became Prime Minister. Putin returned to the presidency following the 2012 presidential elections, and Medvedev was appointed Prime Minister.

Russia's capital and biggest city is Moscow. The second biggest city is Saint Petersburg, which was the capital of Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Cities in Russia with more than one million people are, in order:

The most western point of Russia is near Kaliningrad, formerly named Knigsberg. The most eastern point of Russia is Diomid island, 35km from Chukotka (Russia) and 35 kilometres (22mi) from Alaska (USA). The most southern point is in Caucasus, on the border with Azerbaijan. The most northern point is on Franz Josef Land archipelago in Arctic Ocean, 900 kilometres (560mi) from the North Pole.

Russia has a population of 142 million citizens. Most people (73.7%) live in cities. The population decreased by 5 million people since the fall of the Soviet Union. The current population growth is close to zero, and the population went down by 0.085% in 2008.

Russia's area is about 17 million square kilometers (6.5 million sq. mi.). It is the largest country in the world.[35] Its population density is about 8.3 people per square kilometer (21.5 per sq. mi.). This is among the lowest country densities in the world. The population is most dense in the European part of the country, centering around Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Siberia has a very low density.

The main religion in Russia is the Russian Orthodox Church. It is one of the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

World-renowned composers of the 20th century included Alexander Scriabin, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Prokofiev, and Dmitri Shostakovich. Russia has produced some of the greatest pianists: Anton Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz and Vladimir Ashkenazy are among the all-time greats.

Russian composer Tchaikovsky created famous ballets such as The Nutcracker. The impressario Sergei Diaghilev was responsible for the development of ballet in the early 20th century with the Ballets Russes. Dance companies at the Mariinsky Theatre and the Bolshoi Ballet produced many famous dancers.[36]

Russians have contributed many famous works of literature.[37] Alexander Pushkin is considered a founder of modern Russian literature. He was a poet from the 19th century.[38]

Other famous poets and writers of the 19th century were Anton Chekhov, Mikhail Lermontov, Leo Tolstoy, Nikolai Gogol (he was born in what is now Ukraine, but during his lifetime Ukraine was a part of Russia), Ivan Turgenev and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky are considered by many people to be two of the greatest novelists ever.[39][40] Three Russians won the Nobel Prize for Literature in the 20th century: Boris Pasternak (1958), Mikhail Sholokhov (1965) and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1980). Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita was also a novel of the highest quality.

Soccer, ice hockey and basketball are among the most popular sports. Boxing, gymnastics, weightlifting, and tennis are also popular sports. Track suits are popular clothing items for many Russians. Sports people to gain world fame include former tennis world number one Maria Sharapova, who has won three Grand Slam titles, and was the world's highest paid female athlete in 2008.[41]

Since the 1952 Olympic Games, Soviet and later Russian athletes are in the three in gold medals collected at the Summer Olympics. The 1980 Summer Olympic Games were held in Moscow while the 2014 Winter Olympics were hosted in Sochi.

For the 2018 Winter Olympics which were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, a lot of athletes could not compete because the International Olympic Committee found out they had been doping. Those who were not caught doping were able to play in the 2018 Olympics under the title of "Olympic Athletes from Russia", and they took home two gold medals, including one in ice hockey.[42][43]

Chess is the main intellectual sport in Russia. In the 20th century there were nine Russian World Chess Champions, more than all other nations combined.

Notes

Continued here:

Russia - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Ukrainian Parliament member describes the 'unimaginable pain' of the invasion04:47

TikTok suspends livestreams, uploads from Russia04:53

Zelenskyy urges Western leaders for most support01:28

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Senior defense official: 95% of Russian forces amassed at border now inside Ukraine01:41

NYT photojournalist describes moment Russian mortar hit family in front of her05:15

Ukrainians flee country hit by intense shelling06:30

Blinken: U.S., EU allies looking at prospect of banning Russian oil imports01:46

Macron urged Putin to end military operations, protect nuclear sites during phone call03:48

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Mastercard and Visa suspend operations in Russia00:37

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Russia gains ground in Ukraine after seizing Europes largest nuclear plant. It comes as NBC News learns about 92% of amassed Russian military is now inside Ukraine. Meantime, the U.N. confirms at least 1.2 million people have fled the country, worsening the humanitarian crisis. Plus, President Zelenskyy plans to hold a virtual meeting with the U.S. Senate on Saturday.March 5, 2022

UP NEXT

Ukrainian Parliament member describes the 'unimaginable pain' of the invasion04:47

TikTok suspends livestreams, uploads from Russia04:53

Zelenskyy urges Western leaders for most support01:28

U.S. in talks to boost Ukrainian defenses and ban Russian oil02:09

Senior defense official: 95% of Russian forces amassed at border now inside Ukraine01:41

NYT photojournalist describes moment Russian mortar hit family in front of her05:15

Read more:

Russia seizes Ukraine nuclear plant - msnbc.com

It was chilly in Geneva on Thursday morning, and there was no reason to think the talks between the top diplomats from the U.S. and Russia the following day would be any warmer. Tension between the two global powers continues to rise, with President Biden saying on Wednesday that it was his "guess" Russian President Vladimir Putin would use the roughly 100,000 forces he has massed along the border to "move in" to Ukraine.

"He has to do something," Mr. Biden said during a White House news conference, warning that if Putin did decide to invade his neighbor, Russia would suffer "consequential" loss of life. The president didn't elaborate on the level of military assistance the U.S. might offer Ukraine in the face of an invasion, but it came as his administration worked with NATO allies to bolster Ukraine's forces and quickly.

U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News that the Biden administration had given permission to several NATO allies to send emergency shipments of U.S.-made weapons including anti-tank missiles to Ukraine to reinforce the country's defenses. State Department sources said allies including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the U.K. were cleared to make "Third Party Transfers" of U.S.-made and supplied equipment to Ukraine, which one official described as part of a race "to get as much gear to the Ukrainians as quickly as possible."

Russia, meanwhile, was moving military hardware and troops into Belarus a close Russian ally that borders not only Ukraine, but also Lithuania, Latvia and Poland for military exercises set to take place in February. American officials have voiced concern that Russia could use its troop presence in Belarus as another route to stage an overt invasion of Ukraine, or a so-called "false-flag" operation to create a "pretext for invasion."

Russia's defense ministry also announced on Thursday that it would conduct naval exercises "in all areas of responsibility of its fleets," including the Mediterranean, the northern Arctic seas, the northeastern Atlantic and in the Pacific Ocean. The drills, to take place in January and February, will involve more than 140 ships, 60 aircraft and about 10,000 forces, the ministry said.

The ministry said the drills would cover regions of seas and oceans adjacent to Russian territory, as well as what the Russian military called "operationally important areas" of other bodies of water.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Germany on Thursday, where he met with allies who, by President Biden's own admission, are not all on the "same page" about the level of sanctions to impose on Russia should Putin choose to invade his neighbor again. Russian forces last openly invaded Ukraine in 2014, when Putin unilaterally annexed the Crimean Peninsula.

American officials have played down divisions within NATO over how much pressure to exert on Russia. The U.S. and Britain, for instance, have extended direct military aid to Ukraine, while Germany has declined to do so.

There was scant immediate reaction from EU capitals to President Biden's tough rhetoric on Thursday, but French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe should have its own negotiations with Russia and not rely on the U.S. to speak for it.

Asked about the divisions among allies, a senior State Department official insisted to CBS News on Thursday that there was "universal agreement on the steep costs" Russia must be forced to pay if it does invade, and the U.S. and its allies were "in the process of finalizing the mechanics" on how to ensure that could be done.

Blinken, asked on Thursday to clarify Mr. Biden's remarks from the previous day, when he indicated that any U.S. response to a Russian invasion may be adjusted depending on the scale of Russia's actions, said the administration had been "very clear throughout: If any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border and commit new acts of aggression against Ukraine, that will be met with a swift, severe response from the United States and our allies and partners."

After Blinken's meetings on Thursday with French, German and British officials in Berlin, the State Department said the diplomats had discussed "joint efforts to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine, including Allies' and partners' readiness to impose massive consequences and severe economic costs on Russia for such actions."

The biggest outstanding question, from the perspective of U.S. officials and their allies, had not changed as Blinken prepared for his Friday meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: What does Putin really want?

Kremlin officials have insisted that Russia has no plans or intentions to invade Ukraine, and Putin and his top aides insist it is the U.S. and NATO fueling animosity by threatening sanctions and moving military hardware and personnel close to Russia's western borders. But Moscow also issues continual warnings of military action if Putin's demands are not met chiefly his insistence that NATO reject Ukraine's bid for membership.

The Biden administration has called that demand a non-starter, but both sides have shown a willingness to at least keep talking, most notably with the Friday meeting between Blinken and Lavrov on the neutral ground in Geneva.

Despite President Biden's "guess" on Wednesday, American officials say they still don't know for certain if Putin has decided to launch an invasion of Ukraine, on any scale, or whether the brinkmanship is merely intended to extract concessions from the U.S. and NATO as Moscow seeks what it calls "security guarantees."

Mr. Biden said on Wednesday that he didn't believe Putin wanted a "full-blown war," but that he expected the Russian leader to test the U.S. and NATO's resolve as much as possible.

State Department officials have said they still don't know what Putin is thinking, but they're planning for all eventualities. A large part of Blinken's mission when he meets Lavrov on Friday will no doubt be to assess, to the extent possible, Moscow's intentions.

CBS News' Margaret Brennan in Washington and Mary Ilyushina in Moscow contributed to this report.

Read the rest here:

As Biden predicts Russia will invade, U.S. rushes weapons ...

Here are the latest updates:

48 mins ago (01:48 GMT)

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the chamber is exploring legislation to ban import of Russian oil and that Congress intends to enact this week $10bn in aid for Ukraine in response to Russias military invasion of its neighbour.

The House is currently exploring strong legislation that will further isolate Russia from the global economy, Pelosi said in a letter.

Our bill would ban the import of Russian oil and energy products into the United States, repeal normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, and take the first step to deny Russia access to the World Trade Organisation.

1 hour ago (01:20 GMT)

Sasha and Nastia slowly inhale the smoke from their cigarettes. Their paths have never crossed before, but they exchange knowing glances in wordless understanding when they realise they are both from Ukraines Donbas region.

The women, who only gave their first names, are standing in front of the main train station in Przemysl, a Polish border city, where hundreds of refugees arrive daily on trains from the Ukrainian city of Lviv.

Both had fled Ukraine following the Russian invasion of February 24. But there is more that they have in common.

Read more here.

2 hours ago (00:33 GMT)

Two of the so-called Big Four accounting firms KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers are pulling out of Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Both the firms said they would end their relationships with their Russia-based member firms. KPMG said it was also pulling out of Belarus.

KPMG International said in a statement it would be incredibly difficult to have its Russia and Belarus firms leave the network. KPMG has more than 4,500 employees in the two countries.

PricewaterhouseCoopers said it has 3,700 employees at its PwC Russia firm and is working on an orderly transition for the business.

3 hours ago (23:53 GMT)

Russian forces have stepped up their shelling of Ukrainian cities in the centre, north and south of the country, presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich says.

The latest wave of missile strikes came as darkness fell, he said on Ukrainian television.

He said the areas that came under heavy shelling include the outskirts of Kyiv, Chernihiv in the north, Mykolaiv in the south, and Kharkiv, the countrys second-largest city.

Arestovich described a catastrophic situation in the Kyiv suburbs of Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin, where efforts to evacuate residents failed. Evacuations also failed in Mariupol in the south and Volnovakha in the east because of the shelling.

4 hours ago (22:44 GMT)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appealed to the West to strengthen sanctions on Russia.

In a video statement, Zelenskyy criticised Western leaders for not responding to the Russian defence ministrys earlier announcement that it would attack Ukraines military-industrial complex.

I didnt hear even a single world leader react to this, Zelenskyy said. The audacity of the aggressor is a clear signal to the West that the sanctions imposed on Russia are not sufficient.

Zelenskyy also called for organising a tribunal to bring to justice those who order and carry out such crimes. Think about the sense of impunity of the occupiers that they can announce such planned atrocities, he said.

The Russian defence ministry had said its forces intend to attack Ukraines military-industrial complex with what it said were precision weapons and urged staff to leave, in a statement carried by the Russian state news agency Tass.

4 hours ago (22:13 GMT)

The United States does not believe a Russian amphibious assault in or near the Ukrainian city of Odesa is imminent, a senior US defence official has said, amid growing concern about a potential attack on the city.

The official, who spoke to the Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity, estimated Russia had launched about 600 missiles since the start of its invasion and deployed into Ukraine about 95 percent of combat forces it had pre-staged outside of the country.

Russian forces continued to try to advance and isolate Kyiv, Kharkiv and Chernihiv and are meeting strong Ukrainian resistance, the official said.

4 hours ago (22:07 GMT)

Streaming giant Netflix has suspended its service in Russia.

A statement from the company cited circumstances on the ground for its decision to suspend its Russian service but did not offer any additional details.

The US-based platform had already halted its acquisitions in Russia, as well as its production of original programmes.

Earlier, social media giant TikTok announced it was suspending the posting of all video content from Russia in order to keep its employees safe and comply with new regulations in the country.

Moscow on Friday signed into law a bill introducing jail terms of up to 15 years for what is deemed fake news about the Russian army.

5 hours ago (21:58 GMT)

Tugan Sokhiev, the music director and principal conductor at Moscows prestigious Bolshoi Theatre, has announced his resignation, saying he came under pressure to condemn Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian said in a statement that he was resigning with immediate effect from his post at the Moscow theatre as well as his equivalent position at Frances Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

Read the full story here.

5 hours ago (21:45 GMT)

Russian forces have tightened their control on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant since seizing it on Friday, the United Nations nuclear watchdog has warned.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said he was extremely concerned after Ukraines nuclear regulator informed the agency that staff members at the plant, the largest in Ukraine, are now required to seek approval from Russian forces for any operation, even maintenance.

Read more about this story here.

5 hours ago (21:38 GMT)

More than a million refugees have crossed the border from Ukraine into Poland since Russia launched its invasion, Polish border guards have said.

Today at 8:00 pm [19:00 GMT] the number of people from Ukraine into Poland exceeded a million. This is a million human tragedies, the border guard service wrote on Twitter.

5 hours ago (21:19 GMT)

The US government is consulting with its European allies on a potential import ban of oil from Russia.

We are now talking to our European partners and allies to look in a coordinated way at the prospect of banning the import of Russian oil, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN.

The debate also revolved around making sure that there is still an appropriate supply of oil on world markets, Blinken said. Thats a very active discussion as we speak.

US President Joe Biden has not explicitly ruled out such a move.

There are more details on this development here.

Welcome to Al Jazeeras continuing coverage of the Ukraine-Russia crisis.

Read all the updates from Sunday, March 6, here.

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Russia-Ukraine live news: Zelenskyy says sanctions not sufficient - Al Jazeera English