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

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.

See original here:

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