US bans Russian energy imports; two million people have fled Ukraine, says UNHCR

As the Russian-Ukraine crisis entered 13th day, Filippo Grandi, head of the UN's refugee agency, said that the number of people fleeing Ukraine has now reached two million.

He also warned the second wave of refugees is likely to be more vulnerable than the first. "If the war continues, we will start seeing people that have no resources and no connections," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said at a press conference in Oslo.

In a bid to target the Russian economy, US President Joe Biden announced his administration is banning Russian oil, natural gas and coal imports to the US in response to the Russian military action in Ukraine.

Amid "Russia's atrocities" in Ukraine, Shell plc, a multinational oil and gas company based in the UK, announced its intent to withdraw from its involvement in all Russian hydrocarbons, including crude oil, petroleum products, gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Tuesday said that around 12,000 Russian forces have been killed since the invasion of Ukraine started. According to the MFA data, 1036 armoured vehicles of different types, 48 aircraft, 80 helicopters, 303 tanks, 120 artillery pieces and 56 MLRs were hit during the combat.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday denounced Western powers for not approving necessary decisions against Russian military operations in Ukraine and also not saving the country from the missiles and bomb attacks.

Ukraine on Tuesday began the evacuation of civilians from Sumy to Poltava, including foreign students after Russia declared a ceasefire amid the ongoing from 10 am (Moscow time) to provide humanitarian corridors in the cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol.

The third round of talks between Russia and Ukraine were held in Belarus on Monday, which apparently ended up in failure. In the meeting, both sides addressed the issues of civilian evacuation and the Ukrainian side assured Russia that the humanitarian corridor will start working from Tuesday.

Under Operation Ganga, the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday announced that it had evacuated all Indian students from Ukraine's Sumy. "Happy to inform that we have been able to move out all Indian students from Sumy. They are currently en route to Poltava, from where they will board trains to western Ukraine. Flights under #OperationGanga are being prepared to bring them home," tweeted MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

The number of Indians airlifted by 75 special civilian flights has gone up to 15521. IAF had flown 12 missions to bring back 2,467 passengers, as part of Operation Ganga, and carried over 32-tonne relief material.

Among the civilian flights, 4,575 passengers have been brought from Bucharest by 21 flights, 1,820 from Suceava by 9 flights, 5571 from Budapest by 28 flights, 909 passengers by 5 flights from Kosice, 2404 Indians from Rzeszow by 11 flights, and 242 persons by a flight from Kyiv.

The Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions, Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics.

(ANI)

Also Read: Russia-Ukraine War: POTUS Biden announces ban on Russian oil, gas and coal imports to US