Residents at a train station in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv (Anadolu/Getty)

Monday’s Coverage: Zelenskiy — “We Will Not Forgive. We Will Not Forget”

UPDATE 2040 GMT:

More departures of international companies from Russia….

Starbucks is closing its cafes. McDonalds is shutting fast-food restaurants but continuing to pay staff. Pepsi and Coca-Cola are suspending sales.

UPDATE 2030 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked the Biden Administration for banning imports of Russian oil, gas, and coal.

UPDATE 2020 GMT:

After days of detailed negotiations, Poland will supply warplanes to Ukraine via the US.

The Polish Government issued a statement:

The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Government, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America.

At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes.

The Polish Government also requests other NATO Allies – owners of MIG-29 jets – to act in the same vein.

Poland publicly opposed the supply of the jets, as Russia might see it as escalation of the conflict, while seeking support from the US and NATO for delivery to Warsaw of American F-16 jet fighters.

The Polish military is believed to have 28 of the Soviet-era MiG-29s.

UPDATE 1810 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has addressed the UK’s MPs in the House of Commons by video link.

After being given a standing ovation, Zelenskiy linked Ukraine’s situation amid the Russian invasion with the UK’s experience in World War II:

I would like to tell you about the 13 days of war, the war that we didn’t start and we didn’t want. However we have to conduct this war, we do not want to lose what we have, what is ours, our country Ukraine….

Just the same way you once didn’t want to lose your country when the Nazis started to fight your country and you had to fight for Britain….

Ukraine were not looking to have this war. The Ukraine have not been looking to become big but they have become big over the days of this war. We are the country that are saving people despite having to fight one of the biggest armies in the world. We have to fight the helicopters, rockets….

The question for us now is to be or not to be. Oh no, this Shakespearean question. For 13 days this question could have been asked but now I can give you a definitive answer. It’s definitely yes, to be.

Zelenskiy continued with the World War analogy with a paraphrase of UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill:

We will not give up and we will not lose.

We will fight til the end, at sea, in the air. We will continue fighting for our land, whatever the cost. We will fight in the forests, in the fields, on the shores, in the streets …

We are looking for your help, for the help of western countries.

UPDATE 1707 GMT:

President Joe Biden has announced a US ban on Russian oil imports:

This is a step that we’re taking to inflict further pain on Putin, but there will be further cost as well here in the United States.

I said I would level with the American people form the beginning. When I first spoke of this in the beginning, I said defending freedom is going to cost us as well in the United States.

Biden also said the US will “share in the responsibility” with Europe of taking care of more than 1 million refugees who have fled war in Ukraine:

The UK Government is phasing out imports of Russian oil by the end of the year. It is exploring options to end imports of Russian gas, currently about 4% of British supply.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has posted a thread on Twitter:

UPDATE 1555 GMT:

After arresting almost 5,000 people on Sunday, Russian police are keen to shut down any possibility of protest. From St. Petersburg:

UPDATE 1550 GMT:

The UN has ordered staff from using the words “war” or “invasion” with reference to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

The command was given in an e-mail on Monday amid Russia’s ban on either of the words.

UN staff must refer to the war as a “conflict” or a “military offensive”. They were instructed, “Do NOT add the Ukrainian flag to personal or official social media accounts or websites.”

The e-mail said the orders are needed because of “a serious possibility of reputational risk that has been flagged by senior officials recently”.

UPDATE 1525 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has issued another video statement to the nation:

UPDATE 1520 GMT:

Amid its propaganda over “humanitarian corridors”, Russia’s shelling continues today. From Kalynivka in northern Ukraine:

UPDATE 1200 GMT:

The toll from an overnight Russian strike on Sumy in northeast Ukraine has risen to 19 adults and two children.

The Regional Prosecutor’s Office said “one house was completely destroyed” and “16 were partially destroyed”.

An evacuation corridor has been declared for the city today (see 0810 GMT).

UPDATE 1155 GMT:

The London Metals Exchange halted trading of nickel on Tuesday after an “unprecedented” price increase of 75% because of the “evolving situation in Russia and Ukraine”.

Nickel is a key component in stainless steel and in batteries for electric vehicles.

UPDATE 1145 GMT:

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko says Russia, repeating its pattern of Saturday and Sunday, is shelling the evacuation route for civilians trying to leave besieged Mariupol in southern Ukraine.

UPDATE 1128 GMT:

Shell has ended all purchases of oil, gas, and petroleum from Russia.

The company apologized after buying a shipment of Russian oil last week at a discounted price. Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said:

We are acutely aware that our decision last week to purchase a cargo of Russian crude oil to be refined into products like petrol and diesel — despite being made with security of supplies at the forefront of our thinking — was not the right one and we are sorry.

Shell will also close its service stations, aviation fuel, and lubricants operations in Russia.

UPDATE 1125 GMT:

An update from the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees:

UPDATE 1120 GMT:

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says more than 12,000 Russian personnel have been killed in the 13-day invasion.

The Ministry claimed Russian losses of 48 aircraft, 80 helicopters, 303 tanks, 1,036 armed vehicles, 120 artillery pieces, and 27 anti-aircraft warfare systems.

UPDATE 1115 GMT:

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says two humanitarian corridors have been opened in southern Ukraine between besieged Mariupol, with a population of 430,000, and Zaporizhia.

UPDATE 1105 GMT:

The World Health Organization says Russian attacks on Ukraine’s hospitals, ambulances, and other health care facilities are increasing “rapidly” as vital medical supplies run low.

The WHO confirmed at least nine people have died in 16 attacks on facilities since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24.

Hans Kluge, the regional director for Europe, said the WHO is trying to get vital aid such as oxygen, insulin, personal protective equipment, surgical supplies, children’s vaccines, and blood products to Ukraine. He also said mental health expertise and women’s needs are priorities.

UPDATE 0840 GMT:

The UK has been conspicuously harsh in its response to Euroope’s biggest movement of refugees since 1945, initially granting only 50 visas to Ukrainians and then 300.

On Monday, the Home Office said a total of 17,700 applications have been started, with about 9,000 yet to be completed.

Applicants noted that the visa appointment website crashed halfway through the process. They were having difficulties uploading crucial documents, finding any appointment slots, or having to post supporting material to an office in London’s Wandsworth.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on Monday morning that his Ministry is ready to support the Home Office to deal with the issues.

A petition calling on the UK Government to waive all visa requirements has been signed by more than 100,000 people.

UPDATE 0810 GMT:

Pursuing its propaganda over “humanitarian corridors”, the Russian Defense Ministry claims routes have opened from Kyiv, Cherhihiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv in the north and Mariupol in the south.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a televised statement, “It has been agreed that the first convoy will start at 10 a.m. [0800 GMT) from the city of Sumy. The convoy will be followed by the local population in personal vehicles.”

The first group is moving from Sumy to Poltava in central Ukraine.

A Ukrainian official said evacuation has also begun from Irpin, a heavily-shelled area northwest of Kyiv.

Oleksiy Kuleba, governor of the Kyiv region, said that more than 150 residents have been evacuated as of 9:30 a.m. [0730 GMT].

UPDATE 0800 GMT:

A scene from Ukraine’s capital Kyiv:

UPDATE 0745 GMT:

The chief of staff of Russia’s 41st Army, Maj. Gen. Vitaly Gerasimov, has been killed in fighting near Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv.

Gerasimov was a veteran of Russia’s offensives in Chechnya, the Crimea, and Syria. Ukrainian intelligence intercepted a discussion of his death by two officers of Russia’s intelligence service FSB.

Other senior officers are believed to have been killed alongside Gerasimov.

Last week the 41st Army’s deputy commander, Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, was slain.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Russia continues its deadly shelling of Ukraine civilians, making a mockery of its pretense of “humanitarian corridors” for safe evacuation.

Even as a third set of Ukraine-Russia talks took place on the Belarus border, Vladimir Putin’s forces — frustrated in their ground offensive outside a corridor of southern Ukraine along the Black Sea — attacked civilians in cities across Ukraine.

In Makariv, near Kyiv, at least 13 civilians were killed in Russian shelling of a bread factory, with five people rescued from rubble. At least 10 residents, including children, were killed in aerial attacks on Sumy in northeast Ukraine.

A day earlier, eight people, including a family of four, were slain in Irbin, northwest of the capital. At least eight people were killed in Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv.

Addressing the nation on Monday night, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy deplored the “medieval” assaults.

Speaking from his office for the first time in 12 days, Zelenskiy said, “We will insist on negotiations until we find a way to tell our people that we have come to peace. Exactly to peace.”

He added, “Every day of resistance brings better conditions to us.”

The President vowed to stay in Kyiv, “I am not hiding from anyone.”

Ukraine Presidential advisor Mikhailo Podolyak reported only “small positive developments” from the third set of talks with a Russian delegation.

Moscow’s representative Vladimir Medinsky, apparently playing for time for the Russian military offensive, said, “Expectations from negotiations were not fulfilled.”

Having broken ceasefires on Saturday and Sunday to halt evacuations in southern Ukraine, Russia repeated its phrase “humanitarian corridors” on Monday — but only for Ukrainians to move to Belarusian or Russian territory. President Zelenskiy noted in his Monday night address that the “cynical” proposal had been rejected.

Meanwhile, in a UN Security Council session, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia amplified Putin’s lie that Ukraine forces were shelling their own civilians.

UN officials said the number of Ukrainian refugees passed 1.7 million, with more than 1.2 million now in Poland — where 141,500 people arrived on Monday.

Local leaders in Lviv in western Ukraine and in Moldova, Europe’s poorest country, said they were at maximum capacity and appealed to the international community for assistance.

At the Security Council, UN Undersecretary-General Martin Griffiths summarized, “Civilians in places like Mariupol, Kharkiv, Melitopol and elsewhere desperately need aid, especially life-saving medical supplies.”

Despite the ongoing Russian attacks, Moscow said a fourth meeting with Ukraine will be held soon. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said he will host an encounter with his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts, Dmytro Kuleba and Sergey Lavrov, on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum on Thursday.

Çavuşoğlu told reporters last Friday, on the sidelines of a NATO meeting, that he wanted to bring Kuleba and Lavrov together at the Antalya Diplomatic Forum.

Ukraine Infrastructure Minister Oleksander Kubrakov said the country has suffered about $10 billion in damage to infrastructure from the invasion.

Moscow Lashes Out: Oil Price of $300 Per Barrel

Under economic pressure, Russia threatened to close the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to Germany.

Speaking on Russian State TV, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak warned, “A rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market.”

He claimed the global oil price, now close to its all-time high of $149 per barrel, could rise to more than $300.

Germany has indefinitely suspended the Nord Stream 2, completed last autumn but yet to be put in operation, because of the Russian invasion.

Despite the Kremlin’s threat, Russia’s natural gas company Gazprom is still shippling gas via Ukraine at the same volume of 109.5 million cubic metres a day.

The US and European countries, far from giving way to the Russian threats, are considering a restriction of Moscow’s oil exports.

The rouble sank to all-time lows against the US dollar (131.25:1) and the euro (143.3) on Monday. The currency has lost more than 40% of its value since February 24, when Russia launched its assault.

Finnish food group giant Valio and accounting firms PwC and KPMG are among the latest international firms to halt o9perati