The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24 topped 2.5 million, the UN said on Friday. The news came as Brussels banned the export of luxury goods to Russia, striking a “direct blow to the Russian elite” and Russian troops continued to edge closer to the capital, Kyiv. Follow our live updates for all the latest developments.
- The EU will ban the export of luxury goods to Russia, striking a "direct blow to the Russian elite" as the war in Ukraine rages, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Friday.
- European Union leaders said Friday they will continue applying pressure on Russia by devising a new set of “massive” sanctions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
- The European Commission aims to double the EU's military aid to Ukraine and has proposed earmarking another €500 million for the cause, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Friday.
- Russian troops have launched a high-precision, long-range attack on two military airfields in the Ukrainian cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk and taken them out of action, Russia's defence ministry said.
- Civilian targets came under Russian shelling in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro Friday, killing one, emergency services said, in what appeared to be the first direct attack on the city.
- US, EU and G7 are set to revoke Russia’s “most favoured nation” status over its invasion of Ukraine.
- The UN Security Council will hold an urgent meeting Friday at the request of Russia over the alleged development of biological weapons in Ukraine. Both Washington and Kyiv have denied the existence of laboratories intended to produce biological weapons in Ukraine, saying the allegations were a sign that Moscow could soon use the weapons itself.
- The UN said the number of refugees fleeing Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24 surged past 2.5 million.
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(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AFP and AP)
