Putin is ‘preparing a terrorist attack’ on Chernobyl nuclear plant, Ukraine claims

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed a possible reform to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) during his address on Tuesday.

The United Nations General Assembly voted Thursday to suspend Russia from its human rights body.

Russian state television suddenly cut away from President Vladimir Putin speaking at a packed Moscow stadium to mark the eighth anniversary of Crimea’s annexation on Friday, showing patriotic songs being performed at the event instead.

Russian President Vladimir Putin justified the invasion of Ukraine before a packed soccer stadium on Friday, but coverage of his speech on state television was unexpectedly interrupted by what the Kremlin said was a technical problem with a server.Speaking on a stage at the centre of Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, Putin promised to tens of thousands of people waving Russian flags and chanting “Russia, Russia, Russia” that all of the Kremlin’s aims would be achieved.“We know what we need to do, how to do it and at what cost. And we will absolutely accomplish all of our plans,” Putin, 69, told the rally from a stage decked out with slogans such as “For a world without Nazism” and “For our president.”Many of the Russian slogans used at the rally incorporated the “Z” symbol that Russian forces have used as a motif in Ukraine.

WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden and China's Xi Jinping are set to speak on Friday as the White House warns Beijing that providing military or economic assistance for Russia's invasion of Ukraine will trigger severe consequences from Washington and beyond.Planning for the call has been in the works since Biden and Xi held a virtual summit in November, but differences between Washington and Beijing over Russian President Vladimir Putin's prosecution of his three-week-old war against Ukraine are expected to be at the center of the call.White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would question Xi about Beijing's "rhetorical support" of Putin and an "absence of denunciation" of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine."This is an opportunity to assess where President Xi stands," Psaki said.China on Friday again sought to highlight its calls for negotiations and donations of humanitarian aid, while accusing the U.S. of provoking Russia and fueling the conflict by shipping arms to Ukraine."China has called for every effort to avoid civilian casualties all the time," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters at a daily briefing.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) - Russian forces struck Ukrainian cities from a distance again on Friday, hitting sites in the capital Kyiv and the country’s west as their ground offensive inched forward under fierce Ukrainian resistance.The war launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin ground into its fourth week as his troops have failed to take Kyiv — a major objective in their hopes of forcing a settlement or dictating the country’s future political alignments.Missiles and shelling struck the edges of Kyiv as well as Lviv, close to Ukraine’s western border with NATO countries such as Poland.LVIV, UKRAINE - MARCH 18: Smoke is seen above buildings close to the airport on March 18, 2022, in Lviv, Ukraine. (Photo by Getty Images) Late Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nighttime video address to the nation that he is thankful to U.S.

Around the world, superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs are being seized and impounded thanks to ongoing sanctions from Canada, the U.S. and the European Union in response to Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine.

Western rivals are keeping an eye on Vladimir Putin as the Russian president talks about his desire for a “purge” of society.

American-Austrian politician and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a video on social media on Thursday where he implored the Russian people to understand the “illegal war” in Ukraine, and told Russia President Vladimir Putin to put an end to what he started.

The Kremlin said on Thursday that many people in Russia were showing themselves to be “traitors” and pointed to those who were resigning from their jobs and leaving the country.

Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, chief executive officer of OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, reacts while speaking to the media after an annual general meeting with shareholders at the President hotel in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, June 29, 2012.

Zelenskyy invoked 9/11 during an urgent appeal to the U.S. Congress for more weapons to stem the Russian assault.

NEW YORK - A Russian model who had called Vladimir Putin a "psychopath" has reportedly been found dead with her body stuffed inside a suitcase.Gretta Vedler, 23, went missing a year ago after an anti-Putin social media rant but they appear to not be connected.Her ex-boyfriend, 23-year-old Dmitry Korovin, has confessed to strangling her, the Daily Star reports.Korovin told authorities that he slept in a hotel room for three nights with her dead body, which was stuffed in a newly-bought suitcase.

The international volunteer force assembled to fight the Russian invasion of Ukraine has recruited a significant number of Canadians, according to the group’s spokesperson.

LATEST UPDATE: 12:08 p.m. Eastern

Canada is imposing new sanctions on 15 Russian officials who it says helped Russian President Vladimir Putin invade Ukraine.

Russian social media influencers could be heard across the internet before going dark when Instagram was banned in the country on Monday.Russian state media regulators followed through on the promise to ban Instagram after alleging the platform is being used to call for violence against Russian citizens and military personnel.Russia has already blocked access to Facebook (owned by Meta Platforms, which also owns Instagram), limited access to Twitter and criminalized the intentional spreading of what Moscow deems to be “fake” reports, as part of President Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on social media and news outlets like the BBC. Over 2.8 million refugees have fled Ukraine amid Russian invasion, UN says Many Russian influencers said tearful goodbyes to their followers before asking fans to migrate to other platforms like Telegram and VK, both of which are still permitted in Russia.NEXTA, a Belarusian media outlet, shared a video of an unnamed Russian influencer claiming to be in the “first stages of grief” over the Instagram ban.

A man looks at a computer screen watching a dissenting Russian Channel One employee entering Ostankino on-air TV studio during Russia's most-watched evening news broadcast, holding up a poster which reads as "No War" and condemning Moscow's military A woman went viral on Monday for crashing a newscast on Russian-state television to protest the war in Ukraine. During the evening broadcast on Channel One Russia, the most prominent news network in the country, a demonstrator with a sign rushed onto the set standing behind the anchor and chanted in Russian, "No to war! Stop the war!" RUSSIA-UKRAINE CRISIS: RUSSIA MEDIA SPINNING COVERAGE TO ‘CONFUSE’ PUBLIC, EXPERTS SAYHer sign read in Russian, "Stop the war! Don’t believe propaganda! They’re lying to you here!" with "Russians against war" written in English. The broadcast immediately cuts away to a pre-recorded report. The anchor, Ekaterina Andreeva, is seen as an iconic figure in Russian media.The woman, identified as Channel One editor Marina Ovsyannikova, released a video statement before her stunt to denounce Russian President Vladimir Putin. "What’s happening in Ukraine is a crime and Russia is the aggressor.

Tesla founder Elon Musk has fighting words for Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Elon Musk Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for TIME) (Vladimir Putin photo by Massimo Di Vita/Archivio Massimo Di Vita/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images) NEW YORK - Tesla founder Elon Musk, 50, has fighting words for Russian President Vladimir Putin, 69.

A Ukrainian serviceman stands guard on a street in front of a damaged church in the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on March 13, 2022. (DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images) WASHINGTON - A U.S. official said Russia asked China for military equipment to use in its invasion of Ukraine, a request that heightened tensions about the ongoing war ahead of a Monday meeting in Rome between top aides for the U.S.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said on Fox News Sunday that they are seeing “some signs of willingness” from Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage in peace talks.

David Gilmour said he and Pink Floyd are protesting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by removing a large portion of their music catalog from streaming properties in Russia and Belarus."To stand with the world in strongly condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the works of Pink Floyd, from 1987 onwards, and all of David Gilmour's solo recordings are being removed from all digital music providers in Russia and Belarus from today," an announcement shared Friday to the band’s Twitter account states.The included works that are set to be leaving Russian and Belarusian streaming platforms are Pink Floyd studio albums "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" (1987), "The Division Bell" (1994) as well as 2014’s "The Endless River." Gilmour has released four solo studio albums in his career, the most recent being "Rattle That Lock" in 2015. His entire solo discography is also being removed from streamers.Last week, Gilmour tweeted in support of Ukraine, writing, "Russian soldiers, stop killing your brothers.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday Ukraine was at a “strategic turning point” in the war as Russian forces bombarded cities across the country and appeared to be regrouping for a possible assault on Kyiv, with satellite images showing them firing artillery as they closed in on the capital.

We’re now past two weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine and there remains hope that the Russian advance can be stalled long enough for sanctions to so badly damage the invader’s economy that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be forced – one way or another – to end his war.

Russian NHL star Alexander Ovechkin is making his way across Western Canada this week as his team, the Washington Capitals, take on the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks.

Former Latvian president Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga said Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin has become “notably unhinged,” adding that his invasion of Ukraine is “not the actions of a sane man interested in the welfare of his country.” Vīķe-Freiberga says Putin is a “megalomaniac with really strong paranoid tendencies.”

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (front L) and China's President Xi Jinping (C) arrive for a banquet for leaders in Beijing, China. (Nicolas Asfouri - Pool/Getty Images) BANGKOK - As Russia intensifies its assault on Ukraine, it is getting a helping hand from China in spreading inflammatory and unsubstantiated claims that the U.S.

Russian invasion of Ukraine entered its third week, Russian forces appeared to expand the offensive by striking new areas in the west and President Vladimir Putin approved the recruitment of "volunteer" fighters from Syria and elsewhere.The war has forced more than 2.3 million people to flee Ukraine as others try to seek refuge in basements, subway stations and underground shelters.Ukraine's president said 100,000 people were evacuated over the past two days in the north and center of the country. Humanitarian corridors to facilitate the exodus were agreed to by Russia and Ukraine during ceasefires in those areas.More evacuations are expected Friday, though repeated attempts to reach the besieged city of Mariupol in the south have failed under continued Russian shelling.On Friday, Russia appeared to be pushing its offensive westward with authorities in Ukraine saying airstrikes hit two cities that had been far from Russia’s main targets elsewhere.Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with his Belarus counterpart at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 11, 2022.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a joint news conference with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw on Thursday. “(Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to know that the consequences for his actions, already, will be severe.

Vladimir Putin will “lose” in his war against Ukraine, Justin Trudeau said Thursday as Canada chipped in more funding for humanitarian efforts in the conflict.

report from Castellum.ai, a global sanctions-tracking database. Russia has now become the target of nearly 3,000 new sanctions after dozens of nations condemned President Vladimir Putin’s attempts to overthrow the Ukrainian government. With the combination of sanctions against Russia that had already been put in place before the invasion as well as the latest penalties, Russia has racked up a historic 5,532 sanctions.Russian sanctions even surpassed Iran who faces over 3,600 sanctions mostly for its continued efforts to manufacture a nuclear program as well as its financial support of well-known terrorist organizations. The United States and its allies have retaliated against Russia with a series of financial penalties, reflecting a massive change in how conflicts can be waged in a world that is globalized, digital and highly dependent on accessing money electronically.There have been economic targets in the past that depended on military maneuvers such as factory bombings, blockades and the capture of strategic resources.

PHILADELPHIA - The price of gas across the country will likely continue to balloon after President Joe Biden banned Russian oil imports Tuesday to turn the screws on Russian leader Vladimir Putin's assault of Ukraine. "We're banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy. That means Russian oil will no longer be accepted at U.S.

There have been claims that Vladimir Putin could be seriously ill, with some suggesting he may have cancer.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. She’s well aware that anyone who speaks out against the Kremlin could be in danger – but personal safety is the least of Baronova’s concerns. "The problem is, I know these people very well.

Ukraine on the advice of President Vladimir Putin’s top critic, Alexei Navalny.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the new sanctions while in the United Kingdom alongside British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte.The 10 individuals are “complicit in this unjustified invasion,” Trudeau said. Their identities were not immediately revealed.“This includes former and current senior government officials, oligarchs and supporters of Russian leadership,” he said.

The Chinese Foreign Minister on Monday called Russia Beijing’s “most important strategic partner” amid China’s continued refusal to condemn the invasion of Ukraine.

Queen Elizabeth, 95, made her first in-person appearance on Monday, March 7 after recovering from COVID-19. The British monarch was pictured graciously shaking hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, 50, at her residence at Windsor Castle in England. The Queen looked healthy and had a big smile on her face. She was dressed in a stylish blue floral dress for the meeting.

KYIV, Ukraine - Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its 12th day following what Ukrainian authorities described as increased shelling of encircled cities and another failed attempt to start evacuating hundreds of thousands of civilians from the besieged southern port of Mariupol.Russia announced yet another cease-fire and humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to flee Ukraine starting Monday. Two previous cease-fire attempts have failed.

Ukraine, incited by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 24, prices aren’t expected to go down anytime soon, experts say.

Russia’s war in Ukraine.TikTok said Russian users of the popular social media app would no longer be able to post new videos or livestreams and they also wouldn’t be able to see videos shared from elsewhere in the world.Netflix said it was suspending its service in Russia but didn’t provide additional details.RELATED: Russian attacks halt planned civilian evacuations in Ukraine for 2nd time, official saysThe actions are likely to further isolate the country and its people after a growing number of multinational businesses have cut off Russia from vital financial services and technology products in response to Western economic sanctions and global outrage over the invasion of Ukraine.Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday intensified a crackdown on media outlets and individuals who fail to hew to the Kremlin line on the war, blocking Facebook and Twitter and signing into law a bill that criminalizes the intentional spreading of what Moscow deems to be "fake" reports."In light of Russia’s new ‘fake news’ law, we have no choice but to suspend livestreaming and new content to our video service while we review the safety implications of this law," TikTok said Sunday in a statement on Twitter. "Our in-app messaging service will not be affected."Ukrainian refugees fleeing to Medyka, Poland, were greeted with live music, as a man played the piano near the border crossing on March 4.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a “miscalculation” if he thinks the West will move on from his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, says Canada’s ambassador to the sovereign democracy.In an interview with The West Block guest host Eric Sorenson, Larisa Galadza spoke from Poland where the ambassador and Canada’s diplomatic staff are operating amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.Galadza and the Canadian embassy staff had been based in Kyiv before relocating to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv as the invasion began, and subsequently left the country for Poland.“It’s like a sea of humanity. It’s people standing in lineups, many of them on foot, but a lot of them are still in cars coming over the border,” Galadza said in describing Ukrainians fleeing their country.She said any assumptions on the part of Putin that the West will move on or get over his invasion of Ukraine is just “another miscalculation.”“It’s not the first miscalculation, I think, that Russia has made,” she added.“The response that we’re seeing from our like-minded governments, the response that we’re seeing from Ukrainians themselves, is unprecedented.”Some 1.2 million Ukrainians have been forced to flee as a result of the first land war on the European continent since the Second World War.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Saturday that any implementation of a no-fly zone over Ukraine by a third-party would be seen as participation in the war. It came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded with U.S.

As Russian troops closed in on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, Anastasiia Yalanskaya insisted she would stay, even while her friends and family fled around her.

A Russian-born businessman is willing to pay $1 million to officers who arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin amid his invasion into Ukraine.Announced in a social media post from Alex Konanykhin, a citizen of Russia and an entrepreneur, the bounty will be paid to officers who comply with their "constitutional duty" and "arrest Putin as a war criminal under Russian and international laws.""Putin is not the Russian president, as he came to power as the result of a special operation of blowing up apartment buildings in Russia, then violated the Constitution by eliminating free elections and murdering his opponents," Konanykhin wrote. "As an ethnic Russian and a Russia citizen, I see it as my moral duty to facilitate the denazification of Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has survived at least one assassination attempt since Russia invaded his country over a week ago, according to official accounts, with media reports suggesting he may have dodged two more.Ukrainian officials have confirmed one of the attempts, which they say was to be carried out by a unit of Kadyrovites, an elite special forces team based in Chechnya that serves the country’s president Ramzan Kadyrov.Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told a media briefing on Tuesday that the plot was foiled last weekend after anti-war agents of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) — the successor to the KGB — tipped the Ukrainians off.“We are well aware of the special operation that was to take place directly by the Kadyrovites to eliminate our president,” Danilov said.“I can say that we have received information from the FSB, who today do not want to take part in this bloody war. And thanks to this, I can say that Kadyrov’s elite group was directly destroyed, which came here to eliminate our president.” Zelenskyy criticizes NATO for refusing to impose no-fly zone over Ukraine The Times of London reported Thursday that two more attempts to kill Zelenskyy have been carried out in recent days by members of the Wagner Group, a private mercenary group whose leader is tied to Russian President Vladimir Putin.Those attempts were also stopped by Ukrainian forces protecting the president, the paper reported, with the mercenary groups suffering losses.

President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Western sanctions on Russia were akin to a declaration of war and warned that any attempt to impose a no-fly zone in Ukraine would be tantamount to entering the conflict.

DUSSELDORF, Germany - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday intensified a crackdown on media outlets and individuals who fail to hew to the Kremlin line on Russia's war in Ukraine, blocking Facebook and Twitter and signing into law a bill that criminalizes the intentional spreading of what Moscow deems to be "fake" reports.The moves against the social media giants follow blocks imposed on the BBC, the U.S. government-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and Latvia-based website Meduza.

Justin Trudeau is defending NATO’s decision to reject establishing a no-fly-zone over Ukraine, warning the move would lead to an “unfortunate” escalation in the conflict.He made the comment during a press conference on Friday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enters the ninth day of his call for NATO to impose and enforce a ban on Russian jets flying in Ukrainian skies.“The thing that we have so far avoided — and will continue to need to avoid — is (creating) a situation in which NATO forces are in direct conflict with Russian soldiers,” Trudeau said.“That would be a level of escalation that is unfortunate that we need to avoid.” What is a no-fly zone? Here’s why the West isn’t imposing one in Ukraine Canada “will continue to impose punishing consequences on Putin,” until both he and the Russian people “understand just how terrible a mistake Vladimir Putin has just made,” Trudeau said.Implementing a no-fly zone over the country isn’t as simple as telling Russia it’s no longer allowed in the airspace — it also requires enforcement.That means if NATO were to put a ban on Russian planes in Ukrainian skies, they’d be forced to send in NATO jets to shoot down any Russian aircraft in that airspace.“We understand the desperation but we also believe that if we did that, we would end up with something that could lead to a full-fledged war in Europe involving much more countries and much more suffering,” said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in a Friday news conference.While NATO has enforced no-fly zones in previous conflicts, including in Iraq, Libya and Bosnia, there’s a major difference when it comes to what’s happening in Ukraine: Russia has nuclear weapons.That hasn’t deterred Zelenskyy, who made yet