A look at the latest developments on the Ukraine-Russia crisis:

  1. As Russian troops closed in on Kyiv, Vladimir Putin told Ukrainian military in a video message: “Take power into your own hands”, reports The Guardian.
  2. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that his country was ready to talk to Kyiv if the Ukrainian military “laid down its arms”, reported AFP. This came hours after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “sit down at the negotiating table”.
  3. More than 470 Indian students living in Ukraine are set to leave the country and enter Romania through the Porubne-Siret border between the two nations, the Indian embassy in Kyiv said on Friday evening. The embassy did not specify an exact timeline for the evacuation, but said that it would be carried out on “Friday afternoon” Ukrainian time. The Indian Standard Time is three-and-a half hours ahead of Ukraine’s time zone.
  4. United States President Joe Biden announced new sanctions on Russia a day after the latter launched an attack on Ukraine. The sanctions are aimed at five major Russian banks, including the government-backed Sberbank and VTB, the two large lenders in Russia.
  5. Over the past two days, the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Australia, among other countries, have imposed sanctions against Russia. However, as of now, the United States and the European Union have refrained from imposing especially damaging sanctions on Russia, which has led to disenchantment from Ukraine. Some countries have desisted from imposing sanctions even as they have criticised Moscow’s actions.
  6. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that 137 of its citizens have been killed so far, including civilians, reported Al Jazeera. Ukraine’s deputy defence minister has claimed that approximately 2,800 Russian troops have been killed so far.
  7. As Russia continued its invasion of Ukraine, several sporting bodies have come out to strip Moscow of holding events, reported Reuters. Russia will not be hosting its annual Formula One Grand Prix. European soccer governing body UEFA has also decided to relocate the Champions League final to Paris. The International Olympic Committee has also urged all international sports federations to move their events from Russia and Belarus to other countries.
  8. The Kremlin said that Russia will impose retaliatory sanctions on Western countries on the basis of reciprocity, reported Reuters. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that sanctions would cause problems for Russia but they would be solvable as Moscow had reduced its dependence on foreign imports. 
  9. The United Nations’ refugee agency has said that about 1 lakh Ukrainians have been displaced, with thousands fleeing to nearby European states, reported Al Jazeera. Meanwhile, Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that the European Union will take in all people fleeing Ukraine.  
  10. In an unprecedented papal gesture, Pope Francis visited the Russian embassy in Rome to express his concern about the war in Ukraine, reported the Associated Press. Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni confirmed that the the pope’s gesture was to clearly “express his concern about the war.”