UK, EU slap Moscow with barrage of fresh sanctions
A photograph taken on March 7, 2022 shows EU flags and Ukrainian flags flying near the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France.
Frederick Florin | AFP | Getty Images
The U.K. and the EU both revoked Russia’s “most favored nation” trading status on Tuesday, paving the way for Russian goods to be subject to harsh import tariffs.
“Most-favored nation” status is a classification within the World Trade Organization that exempts a country from tariffs.
Britain’s government said Tuesday that it would ban exports of high-end luxury goods to Russia, while hitting hundreds of imports from the country with new tariffs.
It published an initial list of Russian and Belarusian goods worth £900 million that would now be subject to an additional 35% import tariff on top of existing levies. Products on the list include vodka, fur, cement and several metals.
The move to ban the export of goods such as luxury vehicles, high-end fashion and works of art was a coordinated effort being undertaken by G-7 nations, and would come into force soon, the U.K. government said.
Meanwhile, EU lawmakers on Tuesday approved several new measures, including a ban on transactions with certain Russian state-owned businesses, a ban on Russian steel imports, a ban on new investments in Russia’s energy sector and an export ban on luxury goods to Russia.
Banning imports of Russian steel to the EU would amount to 3.3 billion euros ($3.63 billion) in lost export revenue for Russia, the EU said.
— Chloe Taylor
Many killed in fresh attacks across Ukraine
Firefighters extinguish a fire in an apartment building in Kyiv on March 15, 2022, after strikes on residential areas killed at least two people, Ukraine emergency services said as Russian troops intensified their attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
Aris Messinis | AFP | Getty Images
Fresh bombings across Ukraine have led to multiple civilian deaths, Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday.
Vitalii Koval, head of the Rivne regional state administration, said on Telegram that 19 people had died following an airstrike on a television tower in the region yesterday, while a further nine had been wounded.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian State Emergency Services said Tuesday that two people had died in Kyiv’s Sviatoshyno district when a 16-storey residential building caught fire following a Russian shelling attack.
— Chloe Taylor
9 humanitarian corridors open in Ukraine
A child among a group of civilians who managed to flee Mariupol on March 10, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Nine humanitarian corridors have been opened in Ukraine to evacuate civilians from besieged towns and cities, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced Tuesday.
The safe routes will also allow the import of humanitarian aid, including tons of water and medicine.
Cities where evacuations are planned include Mariupol, Sumy, Trostyanets and three villages in the Kyiv region.
“We promise not to leave anyone behind,” Vereshchuk said in a statement. “We remember, we know and we really want to save you.”
Some evacuation attempts in recent weeks have had to be abandoned, with Ukrainian authorities saying Russian forces had violated cease-fire agreements and attacked the safe routes out of certain cities.
— Chloe Taylor
Kyiv prepares for 35-hour curfew
Destruction after an apartment building hit by Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine on March 14, 2022.
Alejandro Martinez | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Mayor of Kyiv Vitaliy Klitschko has announced a 35-hour curfew in the Ukrainian capital starting Tuesday evening.
From 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday until 7 a.m. Thursday, Kyiv residents will be prohibited from moving through the city without a special pass, and will only be allowed to leave their homes to reach bomb shelters.
Klitschko said in a Telegram post Tuesday morning that the decision had been made by military command because the city had found itself in “a difficult and dangerous moment.”
“I ask all…
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