A three-mile column of Russian troops and tanks has been moving slowly towards Kyiv as Belarus was reported to be sending troops to support its ally’s offensive.
Belarus is expected to send reinforcements into Ukraine as soon as Monday after a referendum paved the way for the country to host nuclear weapons and Russian forces permanently.
A US official with direct knowledge of intelligence assessments says the decision by Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on whether to bring Belarus further into the war depends on talks between Russia and Ukraine in the coming days.
The latest development came after the European Union decided for the first time in its history to supply weapons to a country at war. Fighter jets were expected to arrive overnight.
In an unprecedented move, the 27-nation EU on Sunday decided for the first time in its history to supply weapons to a country at war.
Describing the move as a watershed moment, EU President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc would also close its airspace to Russian airlines.
Vladimir Putin put Russia’s nuclear arsenal on standby on Sunday amid growing fears he could deploy weapons of mass destruction to avoid the humiliation of defeat in Ukraine.
Putin blamed the West’s “unfriendly steps” when ordering Russia’s military command to put its nuclear deterrent “into a special mode of combat service”.
05:33 AM
Facebook, Twitter block hackers and fake accounts
Meta Platforms said a hacking group used Facebook to target a handful of public figures in Ukraine, including prominent military officials, politicians and a journalist.
Meta said in the last 48 hours it had also separately removed a network of about 40 fake accounts, groups and pages across Facebook and Instagram that operated from Russia and Ukraine, targeting people in Ukraine, for violating its rules against coordinated inauthentic behaviour.
A Twitter spokesperson said it had also suspended more than a dozen accounts and blocked the sharing of several links for violating its rules against platform manipulation and spam. It said its ongoing investigation indicated the accounts originated in Russia and were attempting to disrupt the public conversation around the conflict in Ukraine.
05:17 AM
UN General Assembly to hold first emergency session in decades
The United Nations’ two major bodies – the 193-nation General Assembly and the more powerful 15-member Security Council – are holding separate meetings on Monday, reflecting widespread demands for a ceasefire and escalating concern for the millions of Ukrainians caught up in the war.
The Security Council gave a green light on Sunday for the first emergency session of the General Assembly in decades. It will give all UN members an opportunity to speak about the war and vote on a resolution later in the week that US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said would “hold Russia to account for its indefensible actions and for its violations of the UN Charter”.
French Ambassador Nicolas De Riviere announced that the Security Council will hold a meeting on Monday afternoon on the humanitarian impact of Russia’s invasion, a session sought by French President Emmanuel Macron to ensure the delivery of aid to growing numbers of those in need in Ukraine.
04:32 AM
Russia makes Facebook largely unusable
Russia has apparently rendered Facebook largely unusable across leading Russian telecommunications providers amid rising friction between Moscow and the social media platform.
The London-based internet monitor NetBlocks reports that Facebook’s network of content-distribution servers in Russia was so badly restricted Sunday that “content no longer loads, or loads extremely slowly making the platforms unusable.”
Russian telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor on Friday announced plans to “partially restrict” access to Facebook. That same day, Facebook’s head of security policy had said the company was barring Russian state media from running ads or otherwise profiting on its platform anywhere in the world.
Facebook says it has also refused a request by the Kremlin not to run fact checks related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the platform for users inside Russia.
04:05 AM
Biden to hold secure call with allies
US President Joe Biden will hold a secure call with allies and partners on Monday to discuss “developments” in Russia’s attack on Ukraine and “coordinate our united response,” the White House said.
The administration did not elaborate on who would participate in the call.
Russia has become an international pariah as its forces do battle on the streets of Ukraine’s cities, and is facing a barrage of sanctions including a ban from Western airspace and key financial networks.
Earlier Sunday, the G7 threatened fresh sanctions as top US diplomat Antony Blinken said the group of wealthy nations was “fully aligned” against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
03:49 AM
Russian missile strikes north of Kyiv
A Russian missile struck a residential building in Chernihiv, a city 150km north from Kyiv, according to the State Communications Service.
The Kyiv Independent said two lower floors were set on fire, with one woman injured. The fire has since been put out.
The State Communication Service was also reporting blasts in Kyiv and Kharkiv early on Monday morning.
03:31 AM
Missiles hit radioactive waste site, reports nuclear watchdog
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog says missiles have hit a radioactive waste disposal site in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, but there are no reports of damage to the buildings or indications of a release of radioactive material.
In a statement late Sunday, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said Ukrainian authorities informed his office about the overnight strike. He says his agency expects to soon receive the results of on-site radioactive monitoring.
The report came a day after an electrical transformer at a similar disposal facility in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was damaged.
03:27 AM
Japan ‘working with West’ to block Russian finances
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday that Japan was asked to join in measures blocking Russia from SWIFT by Western nations and was working with them to make the measures effective.
He said Japan will continue to cooperate with other nations, including the Group of Seven, but declined to comment when asked about sanctions on the Russian central bank. (Reporting by Kantaro Komiya and Elaine Lies; Editing by Tom Hogue)
03:18 AM
Rouble plunges to all-time low on back of sanctions
The rouble plunged to an all-time low on Monday, and the dollar soared against nearly all peers after Western nations announced fresh sanctions to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin put nuclear-armed forces on high alert.
The rouble dropped to as low as 119 per dollar in early trading, screaming through its previous low of 90 roubles per dollar.
The declines came despite Russia’s central bank announcing a slew of steps on Sunday to support domestic markets, after Western allies ratcheted up sanctions including blocking certain banks from the SWIFT international payments system.
02:56 AM
Minsk ‘now an extension of Kremlin’
A US administration official has confirmed that Belarus is preparing to send troops into Ukraine in support of Russia.
“It’s very clear Minsk is now an extension of the Kremlin,” the source told The Washington Post, saying the deployment could happen as early as Monday morning.
The results of a referendum held on Sunday in Belarus, Russia’s neighbour and ally, have paved the way for the nation to house Russian nuclear weapons.
02:45 AM
Bank of China’s Singapore arm stops Russian deals
Bank of China’s Singapore operation has stopped financing deals involving Russian oil and Russian companies, amid concerns of western sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sources report.
02:10 AM
Russia scrambles to manage financial fallout
Russia’s central bank announced a slew of measures on Sunday to support domestic markets, as it scrambled to manage the fallout of harsh Western sanctions over the weekend.
The central bank said it would resume buying gold on the domestic market, launch a repurchase auction with no limits and ease restrictions on banks’ open foreign currency positions.
It also increased the range of securities that can be used as collateral to get loans and ordered market players to reject foreign clients’ bids to sell Russian securities.
The steps came after Western allies ratcheted up sanctions on Saturday, including blocking certain banks from the SWIFT international payments system and targeting the Russian central bank.
01:53 AM
Belarus to join Russian fight ‘within hours’
Multiple sources in Belarus say Vladimir Putin has called on his ally Aleksandr Lukashenko to join Russia’s military operation.
The Kyiv Independent reports that the first transport aircraft carrying Belarusian paratroopers is likely to take off in the early hours of Monday morning.
The speculation comes after Belarus held a referendum on Sunday that enabled them to ditch the country’s non-nuclear status.
The new constitution could see nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union.
01:40 AM
Saudi Arabia ‘committed’ to Russian oil agreement
Saudi Arabia confirmed its commitment to the OPEC+ agreement with Russia, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made the comments during a conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron that also covered the situation in Ukraine and its impact on the energy markets.
“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince affirmed the Kingdom’s keenness on the stability and balance of oil markets and the Kingdom’s commitment to the OPEC Plus agreement,” the agency added.
Members of the OPEC+ oil producers’ group will meet on Wednesday to discuss loosening the taps just days after the Russian invasion sent crude soaring past $100 a barrel.
01:33 AM
Satellite images show Russian convoy heading to Kyiv
The Russian column of troops and tanks was captured via satellite by Maxar Technologies and extended for more than 3.25 miles.
The space technology company said the convoy was north-east of the Ukrainian city of Ivankiv and contained fuel, logistics and armoured vehicles, including tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled artillery.
Maxar has been tracking the buildup of Russian forces for weeks.
01:21 AM
G7 leaders threaten fresh sanctions
Leaders of the G7 threatened fresh sanctions against Russia as the top US diplomat Antony Blinken said the group of wealthy nations was “fully aligned” against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States warned in a joint statement that they would “take further steps” to add to the sanctions already announced if Russia did not cease its operation.
Russian military gains in Ukraine achieved through its ongoing campaign leading to “any change of status” such as the annexation of territory “will not be recognised”, G7 foreign ministers said in a joint statement.
01:18 AM
New York cancels Russian investments
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Sunday forbidding her state from doing business with Russia, including cancelling its investments there.
The governor also said New York will welcome Ukrainian refugees in response to Russia’s invasion, noting that her state is home to the largest Ukrainian population in the US.
“We have said we’ll open up our hearts, our homes, our resources to the people of the Ukraine, to say, ‘We stand with you,”‘ she said.
Federal estimates show that about 140,000 of more than one million people in the US who report Ukrainian ancestry live in New York.
01:08 AM
Google disables Maps tools to protect Ukrainians
Google confirmed on Sunday it has temporarily disabled in Ukraine some Google Maps tools which provide live information about traffic conditions.
The company said it had taken the action for the safety of local communities in the country, after consulting with sources, including regional authorities.
