Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now - March 9

President Joe Biden banned Russian oil and other energy imports to the United States, piling pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin to halt the assault on Ukraine, and more global brands including McDonald's, Starbucks and Coca-Cola stopped sales in Russia.


: A man and a child escape from the town of Irpin, after heavy shelling on the only escape route used by locals, while Russian troops advance towards the capital of Kyiv, in Irpin, near Kyiv, Ukraine March 6, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
: A man and a child escape from the town of Irpin, after heavy shelling on the only escape route used by locals, while Russian troops advance towards the capital of Kyiv, in Irpin, near Kyiv, Ukraine March 6, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
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LONDON (Bywire News) - Ukraine's government accused Russia of shelling a humanitarian corridor it had promised in Mariupol.

SANCTIONS

* Biden acknowledged the ban on Russian energy imports, which has bipartisan support, would drive up U.S. energy prices. A /Ipsos poll found 80% of U.S. respondents said Americans should not buy Russian oil or gas even if it causes gasoline prices to rise.

* Britain said it aimed to phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022. The EU plans to cut dependency on Russian gas this year by two-thirds.

* Russian forces will stop firing from 10 a.m. Moscow time (0700 GMT) on Wednesday to provide humanitarian corridors for people to leave Kyiv and four other cities, Tass news agency cited a senior Russian official as saying.

DEATH TOLL

* The United Nations human rights office said it had verified 1,335 civilian casualties so far in Ukraine, including 474 killed and 861 injured, but the true toll was likely to be higher.

* Ukraine says its forces have killed more than 11,000 Russian troops. Russia has confirmed about 500 losses. Neither side has disclosed Ukrainian casualties.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

* McDonald's Corp, Starbucks and L'Oreal are temporarily closing all outlets in Russia Coca-Cola and Pepsi suspended soda sales in the country.

* Unilever became the first major European food company to stop imports and exports out of Russia

* The London Metal Exchange halted trade in nickel after prices of the metal, a key component in electric vehicle batteries, doubled to more than $100,000 a tonne.

INSIGHTS

* 'I am fine': Whispered words are a ray of hope on Ukraine children's ward [L5N2VB5XT]

QUOTES

* Ukraine's Zelenskiy told Britain's House of Commons via videolink: "The question for us now is to be or not to be. I can give you a definitive answer: it's definitely to be."

"Russia may continue to grind out its advance at a horrible price, but this much is already clear: Ukraine will never be a victory for Putin," Biden told reporters. "Putin may be able to take a city, but he'll never be able to hold the country."

 

(Compiled by Tomasz Janowski, Gareth Jones and Cynthia Osterman)

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