European ambassadors met in Brussels today to discuss the European Commission’s proposal for new sanctions against Russia after Russian forces stepped up attacks on Ukraine.
According to an EU source, there is an agreement to adopt this package very quickly, but there are many technical issues, which is “normal as it is a very dense package”, according to the source.
Meanwhile, the United States has announced a new round of sanctions, including against the elderly daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin and major Russian financial institutions.
On the ground in Ukraine, the number of civilian casualties continues to rise.
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Civilian casualties: At least 1,563 civilians have been killed since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The UN agency has registered 3,776 civilian casualties in Ukraine so far: 1,563 killed and 2,213 injured, according to its latest update, released Wednesday.
At least 89 people, including four children, have been killed in Kyiv, and 167 homes have been damaged since the start of the Russian invasion, the Kyiv City State Administration said in a statement on a checked Telegram page on Wednesday. Another 398 people, including 20 children, were wounded in the war.
Since February 24, Russian troops have damaged 44 schools in Kyiv, 11 administrative buildings, 26 kindergartens and an orphanage.
The administration urged its residents not to lose vigilance and to take shelter at the first signs of air alarms.
On the ground: The city of Severodonetsk has been heavily shelled, the head of the Luhansk region’s military administration said on Wednesday, adding that 10 high-rise buildings in the city were on fire.
“The Russians fired on Severodonetsk – 10 tall buildings are on fire,” regional governor Sergei Haidai told Telegram. “The information about the victims is being clarified.
Although the shelling did not affect any strategic or military facilities, it damaged a factory in Lisichansk and a house in Rubezhne, Haidai said.
Russian forces have struck towns and villages in the Luhansk region a total of 81 times the night before, Haidai added.
The United States estimates that Russian forces have withdrawn completely from areas near Kyiv and Chernihiv in order to “consolidate and re-equip in Belarus and Russia,” according to a senior US defense official.
The official also said that Russia has not yet “secured” Mariupol, although it has isolated the city.
Russia has already fired more than 1,450 missiles at Ukraine since the invasion, the official said.
NATO chief predicts conflict in Ukraine could continue “for a long time”: Although Russia is now focusing its attack on eastern Ukraine, NATO has seen “no indication” that Putin’s goal of controlling the country has changed. said Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters ahead of a meeting of NATO allies’ foreign ministers in Brussels, Stoltenberg also warned that the war in Ukraine could last for years.
“We have not seen any indication that President Putin has changed his ambition to control the whole of Ukraine and also to rewrite the international order, so we need to be prepared for the long term,” he said. “We have to be realistic and realize that this can take a long time, many months or even years.”
NATO foreign ministers meet on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss boosting support for Ukraine.
Sanctions: US takes further action to increase economic pressure on Russia and Putin following horrific photos from the Ukrainian city of Bucha, announcing new sanctions Wednesday against Russian financial institutions and some people, including Putin’s older daughters and his wife and daughter Minister.
“Today we are drastically escalating the financial shock by imposing full blocking sanctions on Russia’s largest financial institution, Sberbank, and its largest private bank, Alfa Bank,” a senior administration official told reporters.
Sberbank holds nearly a third of the total assets of the Russian banking sector, the official said, adding that the United States has now completely blocked “more than two-thirds of the Russian banking sector.”
Secondly, the high-ranking official announced: “In accordance with the G-7 and the EU, we are announcing a ban on new investments in Russia.” This will be done with an executive order signed by US President Joe Biden.
The United States will not participate in G20 summits involving Russia, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday.
Speaking to the House Financial Services Committee, Yellen said she had clarified the position of other finance ministers in the group.
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