Russia’s military will hold fire and open humanitarian corridors in several Ukrainian cities, the Defence Ministry said, after fighting halted weekend evacuation efforts and civilian casualties from Russia’s invasion mounted.
* Australia presses China
China must act on its declarations of promoting world peace and join the effort to stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Australia’s prime minister said, warning that the world was in danger of being reshaped by an “arc of autocracy”.
* China is a “rock solid” friend
China’s friendship with Russia is “rock solid” and the prospects for cooperation are very broad, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
* Japan in talks on oil
Japan, which counts Russia as its fifth-biggest supplier of crude oil, is in discussion with the United States and European countries about possibly banning Russian oil imports, Kyodo News reported.
*Fleeing conflict, caught in shelling
Ukrainians fleeing the town of Irpin just outside Kyiv were caught in shelling by Russian forces and forced to dive for cover, Reuters witnesses said.
*’No war’ protests in Russia
Police detained more than 4,600 people at Russia-wide protests against President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to an independent protest monitoring group.
* Sporting rebuke
Putin and a Russian businessman Arkady Rotenberg have been removed from all positions in the International Judo Federation, the sport’s governing body said, in the latest sporting rebuke following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
*QUOTES
“In Ukraine rivers of blood and tears are flowing. This is not only a military operation but a war which is leading to death, destruction and misery,” said Pope Francis, rejecting the term “military operation” that Russia has used to describe its actions.
