European ambassadors met in Brussels today to debate the European Commission’s proposal for new sanctions against Russia as Russian forces intensify attacks in Ukraine.
There is an agreement to pass the package very quickly, but there are a lot of technical questions, “which is normal as it is a very dense package,” according to an EU source.
Meanwhile, the US also declared a new round of punishment, including targeting the adult daughters of Russian President Putin and major Russian financial institutions.
On the ground in Ukraine, civilian casualties continue to rise.
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Civilian casualties: At least 1,563 civilians have been killed since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The United Nations agency has recorded 3,776 civilian casualties in Ukraine to date: 1,563 killed and 2,213 injured, the agency said in its latest update posted Wednesday.
In Kyiv, at least 89 people have been killed, including four children, and 167 homes damaged since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the Kyiv Municipal Administration wrote in a statement on one page. Telegram was verified on Wednesday. Another 398 people, including 20 children, were wounded in the fighting.
Since February 24, the Russian military has damaged 44 schools in Kyiv, 11 administrative buildings, 26 kindergartens and an orphanage.
Authorities urged people not to let their guard down and take shelter at the first signs of air alarm.
On the ground: The town of Severodonetsk has come under heavy shelling, the head of the Luhansk regional military government said on Wednesday, adding that 10 high-rises in the town were on fire.
“The Russians fired on Severodonetsk – 10 high-rises are on fire,” regional governor Serhii Haidai said on Telegram. “Information about casualties is being clarified.”
Haidai said that while the shelling did not hit any strategic or military facilities, it did hit a production workshop in Lysychansk and a house in Rubizhne.
Russian forces attacked towns and villages in the Luhansk region a total of 81 times the night before, Haidai added.
The US assesses that Russian forces have completely withdrawn from the areas near Kyiv and Chernihiv to “reconsolidate and re-equip in Belarus and in Russia”, according to a senior US defense official.
The official also said Russia has not yet “secured” Mariupol despite isolating the city.
Russia has now launched more than 1,450 missiles against Ukraine since the invasion, the official said.
NATO head predicts Ukraine conflict could continue ‘for a long time’Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said: Although Russia is currently focusing its offensive on eastern Ukraine, NATO has yet to show “signs” that Putin’s goal of controlling the entire country has changed, Secretary-General Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. Jens Stoltenberg said.
Speaking to reporters ahead of a meeting in Brussels of NATO foreign ministers, Stoltenberg also warned that the war in Ukraine could drag on for years.
“We see no sign that President Putin has changed his ambitions to control all of Ukraine and also to rewrite the international order, so we need to prepare for the long haul,” he said. “We have to be realistic and realize that this can last for long periods of time, months, even years.”
NATO foreign ministers will meet on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss increased support for Ukraine.
Sanctions: The US is taking additional actions to increase economic pressure on Russia and Putin later Terrifying images from the Ukrainian city of Buchanotification new sanctions Fourth on Russian financial institutions, as well as a number of people, including the adult daughters of Putin and the wife and daughter of his foreign minister.
“Today, we are significantly reducing the financial shock by imposing full containment sanctions on Russia’s largest financial institution, Sberbank and its largest private bank, Alfa Bank,” a senior administration official briefed on the report said.
Sberbank holds almost a third of all assets in Russia’s banking sector, the official said, adding that the US has now completely blocked “more than two-thirds of Russia’s banking sector”.
Second, the senior official announced, “In keeping with the G7 and the EU, we are announcing a new investment ban in Russia.” That will be done with an executive order signed by US President Joe Biden.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US would not participate in the G20 meetings Russia joined on Wednesday.
Speaking at the House Financial Services Committee, Yellen said she made that position clear to other finance ministers on the team.
