Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

March 3 (Reuters) – Russia’s advance on Kyiv has made scant progress and Ukrainian forces still held Kharkiv and several other cities under attack, British military intelligence said, a day after Moscow said it had captured the Black Sea port of Kherson.

The invasion of Ukraine was denounced by the United Nations in a historic vote, as global brands exited Russia and the rouble hit record lows. read more

MORE HEADLINES

* Ukraine’s defense lines were holding against the Russian attack, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his latest video, adding there had been no respite in Moscow’s shelling of Ukraine since midnight. read more

* Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian state television that he believed some foreign leaders were preparing for war against Russia. Lavrov said nuclear war was only in Western politicians heads, not in Russian heads.

* The second round of talks between Russia and Ukraine may start in Belarus at 1200 GMT, Belarusian state news agency Belta quoted Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky as saying.

* Mariupol city council said Russia was constantly and deliberately shelling critical civilian infrastructure in the Ukrainian southern port, leaving it without water, heating or power and preventing bringing supplies or evacuating people. read more

* Russia’s advance on the Ukrainian capital has made little progress over the past three days and the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol remain in Ukrainian hands, according to British military intelligence. read more

* The Moscow branch of a Chinese state bank has seen a surge in enquiries from Russian firms wanting to open new accounts, a person familiar with the matter said, as the country’s businesses struggle with international sanctions after its invasion of Ukraine. read more

* Pro-Russian forces may launch targeted strikes on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol unless Ukrainian forces there surrender, the Interfax news agency quoted a Donetsk separatist commander as saying on Thursday. read more

* The International Criminal Court opened an investigation into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine, following a request to do so by 39 of the court’s member states. read more

* French bank Societe Generale, (SOGN.PA) said its exposure to Russia stood at 18.6 billion euros, and that it could cope if stripped of Russian assets. read more

QUOTES

* “We have nothing to lose but our own freedom,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his latest video.

* “In just seven days, one million people have fled Ukraine, uprooted by this senseless war. I have worked in refugee emergencies for almost 40 years, and rarely have I seen an exodus as rapid as this one,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said.

* “Russia is an economic island….Nothing is off the table in terms of future sanctions,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

* “There were armed visitors in the city executive committee today,” Kherson Mayor Igor Kolykhayev said in a statement. “My team and I are peaceful people – we had no weapons and there was no aggression from our side… I didn’t make any promises to them… I just asked them not to shoot people.”

Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Lincoln Feast and Alex Richardson

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