The EU is proposing to ban all Russian oil imports in a sixth package of sanctions aimed at Russian president Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced the proposals in a speech in the European parliament.
The measures include “a complete import ban on all Russian oil, seaborne and pipeline, crude and refined oil. We will make sure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly fashion, in a way that allows us and our partners to secure alternative supply routes and minimises the impact on global markets.”
Other measures proposed include listing high-ranking military officers and other individuals who are accused of committing war crimes in Bucha, banning three Russian state-owned broadcasters from EU airwaves and expelling SberBank from the Swift payment system.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has said that the remaining Ukrainian forces in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol are “securely blocked”.
Buses have left Mariupol carrying civilians this morning, according to Ukraine’s governor of Donetsk, Pavlo Kyrylenko.
Russia’s defence ministry says it has disabled six railway stations in Ukraine used to supply Ukrainian forces with foreign weapons.
One person died and two were injured as a result of the shelling by Ukrainian forces of an oil depot in Makeyevka, which is in the Russian-controlled area of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in the east of Ukraine.
Russia has deployed 22 battalion tactical groups near Izium in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine in its attempt to advance along the northern axis of the Donbas, the UK ministry of defence has said.
The armed forces of Belarus began sudden large-scale drills to test their combat readiness, its defence ministry said. Ukraine has said it does not ruled out the possibility that Russia could use armed forces from Belarus in the war.
Russia’s foreign ministry has announced sanctions against 63 Japanese officials, journalists and professors for engaging in what it called “unacceptable rhetoric” against Moscow.
The European Union is considering additional military support to Moldova, EU Council president Charles Michel said on a visit to Chișinău.
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