March 14, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

An anti-war protester holding a sign interrupted one of Russia’s major state television broadcast news shows around 9:31 p.m. Moscow time.

“NO WAR. Stop the war. Do not believe propaganda they tell you lies here,” the sign reads. 

“Russians against war,” the last line of the sign says in English.

See the moment:

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What we know about the protester: The woman holding the sign is an employee of the channel, according to OVD-Info, an independent human rights protest-monitoring group.

On its Telegram channel, OVD-Info reported that the employee is Maria Ovsyannikova. Friends of Ovsyannikova told OVD-Info that she was currently at the Ostankino Police Department in Moscow.

CNN cannot independently verify that the woman seen interrupting the news broadcast is Ovsyannikova, but photos on social media profiles bearing her name match the woman seen on screen. 

Russian state news agency TASS confirmed OVD-Info’s reporting, citing a source, and added that she could face prosecution.

OVD-Info also obtained a video purportedly made by Ovsyannikova before she interrupted the news broadcast.

“What is happening now in Ukraine is a crime, and Russia is the aggressor country, and the responsibility for this aggression lies on the conscience of only one person. This man is Vladimir Putin,” Ovsyannikova says in the video, noting that her father is Ukrainian, and her mother is Russian. 

“I am ashamed that we kept silent in 2014, when all this was just beginning,” she says. “We didn’t go to rallies when the Kremlin poisoned Navalny, we just silently watched this anti-human regime and now the world has turned its back on us forever, and another ten generations of our descendants will not be able to wash away from the shame of this fraternal war.”

“We are Russian people, thinking and smart, and it is only in our power to stop all this madness,” she says. “Go to the rallies and do not be afraid! They can’t transplant us all!”

Videos of the interruption quickly were posted on social media shortly after it aired. CNN obtained the video from a live feed from Russia Channel One VK’s profile. 

Within minutes, that live feed was removed.

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Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly reported the type of organization OVD-Info is. OVD-Info is an independent human rights protest-monitoring group.

A Russian airstrike that targeted the Yavoriv training facility near Lviv in western Ukraine on Sunday is the third airstrike in western Ukraine, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said during a briefing at the Pentagon on Monday.

With the latest strike, “it certainly appears as if the Russians are broadening their target set,” Kirby added.

The training facility was the location where Florida National Guard members had been doing their training before they left Ukraine before the invasion, Kirby said. No US contractors, civilians or government personnel were at the facility when it was hit, Kirby said.

This site was not one of the routes where US has been getting security assistance to Ukraine, Kirby added.

The Pentagon does not believe that Russia’s strike on a military training facility was a sign that Russia was targeting the delivery of foreign security assistance to Ukraine. 

“We’re not looking at this strike as an effort to go after the delivery of security assistance to Ukraine,” Kirby said.

“I’m not going to talk about all the modalities of how we’re continuing to find ways to help Ukraine defense itself,” Kirby added. “We’re going to continue to get as much security assistance to the Ukrainians as fast as we can and in the most efficient, effective way. And there’s lot of diff ways that we’re pursuing that.”

Kirby also said during the briefing that the airspace over Ukraine remains “contested.”

“We still assess that Russia does not have air superiority over Ukraine and that the Ukrainians are defending their space ably,” Kirby said.

“It’s contested because the Ukrainians are, are finding ways to continue to try to defend their airspace and preserve their own mobility and maneuver space,” he added.

A defense official earlier today echoed Kirby’s comments regarding Ukraine’s airspace, adding that the airspace is “dynamic” and there are “times and places” where Russia or Ukraine “has more dominance.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called for the establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukraine as Russia continues strikes across the country. The US and NATO have opposed creating a no-fly zone in Ukraine, warning that such a move could lead to a “full-fledged war in Europe.”

CNN’s Daniel Maraccini contributed reporting to this post.

The US has conveyed directly to China the potential negative outcomes of assisting Russia in its war with Ukraine, a senior Biden administration official said after the US national security adviser met his Chinese counterpart in Rome on Monday.

In their conversation about Ukraine, Sullivan laid out “where we are, how we got here and what the risks are lying ahead,” the official said. In particular, he described unity among the United States and its allies, including those in Europe and Asia, in punishing Russia for its actions. 

“We are communicating directly and privately to China about our concerns about the kinds of support that other countries might be providing to Russia,” said the official.

Sullivan and Yang also discussed crisis management and North Korea in their meeting, the official said.

More context: The US has information suggesting China has expressed some openness to providing Russia with requested military and financial assistance, a Western official and a US diplomat told CNN. But it is not yet clear whether China intends to provide Russia with military or financial assistance as part of its war on Ukraine, US officials familiar with the intelligence tell CNN.

The consideration was detailed in a diplomatic cable relayed to allies in Europe and Asia, according to the sources.

The cable did not state definitively that assistance had been provided. One official also said the US warned in the cable that China would likely deny it was willing to provide assistance. 

Officials are also monitoring whether China provides some economic and diplomatic relief for Russia in other forms, like abstention votes at the United Nations.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will travel to Brussels, Belgium, to participate in the NATO Defense Ministerial this week. He will then travel to Slovakia and Bulgaria, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said at a briefing on Monday.

Austin’s trip to Brussels and Slovakia had already been announced, but he added a stop to Bulgaria for a day, Kirby said. Austin leaves for Europe on March 15. 

In Bulgaria, Austin will meet with “senior civilian and military leaders,” Kirby said.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivers a statement on Monday, March 14.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged for peace in Ukraine on Monday.

“Ukraine is on fire. The country is being decimated before the eyes of the world. The impact on civilians is reaching terrifying proportions. Countless innocent people — including women and children — have been killed,” he said addressing reporters.

Guterres said he has spoken to several world leaders who have been in contact with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. He said they are working on mediation efforts.

Guterres has not spoken with Putin since the conflict in Ukraine began in late February.

Asked about his opinion of a no-fly zone, Guterres was cautious in responding, telling reporters “consider that possibility as a risk of escalation that could create a global conflict. It is based on that analysis that I think we need to be prudent, even if I understand the dramatic appeal of Ukrainian government.”

CNN’s Senior UN Correspondent Richard Roth contributed to this report.

People walk past Fox signs in New York on February 6.

Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall, who had been deployed in recent weeks to cover the war in Ukraine, has been hospitalized after being injured while reporting near Kyiv, the network said on Monday.

“The safety of our entire our entire team of journalists in Ukraine and the surrounding regions is our top priority and of the utmost importance,” Scott added. “This is a stark reminder for all journalists who are putting their lives on the line every day to deliver the news from a war zone.”

Scott said Fox would provide further updates when the network knows more.

Hall’s injury comes one day after Brent Renaud, an award-winning American journalist, was killed in the Ukrainian city of Irpin.

Andriy Nebitov, the head of the Kyiv region police, said that Russian forces shot Renaud, adding that “the occupants cynically kill even journalists of international media, who’ve been trying to tell the truth about atrocities of Russian military in Ukraine.”

Another journalist, Juan Arredondo, was also wounded in Ukraine on Sunday.

Press freedom groups have denounced the violence journalists are facing while covering the war. The Committee to Protect Journalists, after the death of Renaud, called on Russian forces to “stop all violence against journalists and other civilians at once.”

The US has information suggesting China has expressed some openness to providing Russia with requested military and financial assistance, a Western official and a US diplomat told CNN. But it is not yet clear whether China intends to provide Russia with military or financial assistance as part of its war on Ukraine, US officials familiar with the intelligence tell CNN.

The consideration was detailed in a diplomatic cable relayed to allies in Europe and Asia, according to the sources.

The cable did not state definitively that assistance had been provided. One official also said the US warned in the cable that China would likely deny it was willing to provide assistance.

The Chinese Community Party leadership is not all in agreement regarding how to respond to Russia’s request for assistance, said one of the sources. Two officials said that China’s desire to avoid economic consequences may limit its appetite to help Russia.

“There is real concern by some that their involvement could hurt economic relationships with the West, on which China relies,” said one of the sources. 

Officials are also monitoring whether China provides some economic and diplomatic relief for Russia in other forms, like the abstention vote at the UN. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping is “unsettled” by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in part because “his own intelligence doesn’t appear to have told him what was going to happen,” and because of how Putin “has driven Americans and Europeans more closely together,” CIA Director Bill Burns told the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday. 

Officials separately told CNN that Xi has been unnerved by how the war in Ukraine has reinvigorated the NATO alliance.

Chinese leadership is also concerned because of “the reputational damage that China suffers by association with the ugliness of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine” and “the economic consequences at a time when growth rates in China are lower than they’ve been in 30 years,” according to Burns.

The US is “watching very closely the extent to which” China or any other country “provides any form of support, whether that’s material support, whether that’s economic support, whether that’s financial support to Russia,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said. “Any such support from anywhere in the world would be of great concern to us.”

He declined to comment specifically on reports of a diplomatic cable that the US had sent to NATO allies about China’s willingness to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.

China and Russia have denied allegations that Moscow requested military assistance from Beijing.

A Ukrainian soldier stands among debris from a damaged apartment block in Kyiv on March 14.

There have been heavy explosions in Kyiv on Monday and an apartment block in one of the city’s suburbs was hit with a deadly strike. Russia has now launched more than 900 missiles against Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion, an increase of around 200 missiles since Wednesday, according to a senior US defense official.

Meanwhile, a fourth round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators are on “pause” until Tuesday, according to Ukraine’s negotiator who noted that “negotiations continue.”

Here’s a catch up of other major developments in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:

The large Ukrainian flag in Russian-occupied Melitopol’s Victory Square, the site of many protests in recent days, has been taken down.

CNN has geolocated and verified the authenticity of the photos posted to social media.

Local news outlet RIA-Melitopol posted one of the photos, saying the flag was taken down by public works employees.

Russian troops gained control of Melitopol on Feb. 26. On Friday, armed men detained the elected mayor Ivan Fedorov and later that day the prosecutor’s office for the Russian-backed separatist Luhansk region accused him of terrorism.

Since then, newly installed mayor Galina Danilchenko has ordered the broadcasting of Russian television channels and attempted to dissolve the city council in favor of creating a People’s Committee.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general opened a treason investigation into Danilchenko on Sunday.

Ukrainian refugees wait to be transferred to a train station after crossing into Poland on March 7.

With more than 2.8 million people having fled Ukraine for neighboring countries since the start of the Russian invasion in late February, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), CNN data tracks where refugees are headed with the most recent available numbers. 

More than 1.7 million people had fled Ukraine for neighboring Poland as of Sunday, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The number of Ukrainians or Ukrainian residents seeking temporary refuge in Poland is considerably lower, with many of those fleeing the conflict continuing their journey to other European countries.  

The number of refugees registered as crossing into Poland includes most of the nearly 150,000 people who have arrived in Germany, according to the German Ministry of the Interior. However, due to the absence of border checks between Poland and Germany, the actual number of incoming refugees could be significantly higher, an interior spokesperson told CNN.

Hungary has had 255,291 refugees arrive from Ukraine according to the UNHCR on Sunday, with 2,212 formally seeking asylum, according to the Hungarian National Directorate-General of Immigration.

Neighboring Romania by Monday had registered 80,000 Ukrainians who remain in the country, according to State Secretary at the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs Raed Arafat.

The number of Ukrainian refugees entering Romania has declined significantly, with daily arrivals down by more than 50% compared to last week, according to Romanian Border Police. The number of new arrivals dropped from on average around 30,000 per day last week to 14,000 on Sunday.

Nearly 205,000 refugees have entered Slovakia according to the UNHCR on Sunday. It remains unclear how many remain in the country.

More than 101,000 Ukrainian refugees are currently in Moldova, Foreign Affairs Minister Nicu Popescu said Sunday.

Lithuania’s Ministry of the Interior has said that by Sunday, 12,039 people had entered the country from Ukraine.

More than 6,000 Ukrainians have been registered in Belgium, the Federal Agency For The Reception of Asylum Seekers said Monday.

About 5,500 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Ireland since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country’s Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin said Sunday.

In Denmark, 1,575 Ukrainians had applied for refugee status as of Sunday, according to the Danish Immigration Service.

On Thursday, the French Citizenship Minister Marlene Schiappa said that 7,251 Ukrainian refugees had arrived in France, with authorities preparing accommodations for 10,000 people.

Italy by last Wednesday had seen the arrival of over 24,000 Ukrainians, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Austria’s Ministry of the Interior on Tuesday said that 56,000 people have arrived in the country from Ukraine, with 70% of refugees immediately continuing to another country.

As of last Tuesday, Estonia, according to its Police and Border Guard Board, had registered 10,478 Ukrainian refugees.

By Wednesday, 3,849 Ukrainian refugees had come to Croatia, according to the Ministry of the Interior.

Cyprus has taken in 2,935 Ukrainian refugees, the Ministry of the Interior said Thursday.

By Wednesday, Portugal had seen 4,039 arrivals, according to the Immigration and Border Service.

In Sweden, 3,520 Ukrainian refugees have applied for asylum status, the Swedish Migration Agency said Wednesday.

The Netherlands by Thursday had taken in more than 2,600 refugees, according to the Immigration and Naturalisation Service.

In Spain, 1,000 Ukrainian refugees have requested government assistance, Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration told CNN Friday.

The United Russia Party is proposing to hold companies that abide by the sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries criminally liable, Russian state run news agency Tass reports, citing Andrey Turchak, secretary of the general council of the party.

Turchak said the ruling party will prepare relevant amendments for the Russian Parliament in the near future.

The party proposes “to establish harsh, including criminal liability for such [business] entities and their managers for abiding by and implementing Western sanctions,” according to Turchak.

Turchak went on to say that against the background of “western sanctions hysteria, there are recorded cases when Russian companies, including companies with state participation, refuse to work with sanctioned banks and enterprises under the pretext that they themselves risk being targeted with sanctions. Dishonest competitors also take advantage of the situation, actively spreading calls to end cooperation with companies hit by sanctions.”

A new British government scheme will offer UK residents $467 (£350) per month to host Ukrainian refugees, according to Michael Gove, UK Secretary of State for Leveling Up.

All Ukrainian nationals and residents will be eligible for the “Homes for Ukraine,” Gove said, stressing that “there will be no limit to the number of Ukrainians who can benefit from this scheme.”  

Ukrainians arriving in the UK “will have full and unrestricted access and benefits, health care, employment,” Gove said. 

Under the scheme, sponsors will have to provide accommodation for a minimum of six months and will have to undergo “necessary vetting checks,” according to Gove.

The UK has “a long and proud history of supporting the most vulnerable during their darkest hours,” Gove told lawmakers in the UK parliament on Monday. 

The scheme will initially “facilitate sponsorship between people with known connections” with the government hoping to “rapidly expand” the scheme to encompass charities, churches and community groups.

Police officers stand in front of an apartment block in Kyiv, Ukraine, that was hit by shelling on March 14.

As evening sets in Kyiv, CNN’s Clarissa Ward describes another day complete with violence and destruction.

“It’s been a lot of noise and a lot of fighting today in Kyiv. Honestly, it’s really been going on throughout the day in a way that we haven’t heard on other days … I can still hear some booms in the distance,” she reported from the Ukrainian capital.

Ward went on to detail one incident in particular.

“We did start the day with a large attack. A shell hit a residential building in the suburb of Obolon, which I should say is just five subway stops or five underground metro stops from here in the center,” detailed Ward.

As Russian forces continue an assault on the Ukrainian capital, Ward shared specifics of another violent encounter.

“We did also hear some loud explosions in the late morning. We believe that was Ukrainian air defense systems intercepting some kind of a missile,” she explained.

“There was some damage from that interception. Shrapnel fell onto a Kyiv city bus. Again, at least one person was killed in that attack. But remarkably, not more people dead in that attack,“ Ward continued, adding, “at the moment on the ground here in Kyiv and in many cities across this country, it feels very grim indeed.”

The airspace over Ukraine “remains contested,” a senior US defense official told reporters Monday. 

Because the airspace is “dynamic” there are “times and places” where Russia or Ukraine “has more dominance,” the official added.

“The Russians certainly have, although they have not achieved air superiority, they certainly have more assets available to them and they are flying many more times per day than the Ukrainians are,” the official added.

The Ukrainian air plan changes every day, the official said.

“I can’t speak to the Ukrainians air plan, it changes every day, they’re being, we think appropriately careful with their air assets and how they’re using them and what they’re using them for,” the official said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has “100% of his assembled forces inside Ukraine,” the official said.

“He’s moved everything in,” the official added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called for the establishment of a no-fly zone over Ukraine as Russia continues strikes across the country. The US and NATO have opposed creating a no-fly zone in Ukraine, warning that such a move could lead to a “full-fledged war in Europe.”

As the fighting in Ukraine continues, CNN’s Ed Lavandera spoke live with a woman who had spent two days traveling from Kyiv to Poland in search of safety and health care.

“It is a nightmare. It is unreal for me,” said Alexandra Voitenko, who left her husband behind in Ukraine while she seeks breast cancer treatment for her mother.

“We feel so proud of our people, of our Ukraine. We will be more happy every time, every second after all this. This horror,” Voitenko told Lavandera.

Despite the bombings, and the violence, Voitenko says she still plans to return to Ukraine once her mother’s care is arranged.

With the conflict entering a third week, Voitenko feels stronger than ever that her country will survive, and emerge unified.

“Absolutely, yes. Absolutely, yes. We deserve to win,” she said. “We deserve to be a part of Europe. We are absolutely a perfect people and nation.”

Cardinal Michael Czerny visiting refugees who fled the war from Ukraine in Barabas, Hungary, on March 9.

The Vatican’s cardinal in charge of human development will make a second trip to Ukraine at the request of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis is following this mission with prayer, like those of the past few days, and, through His Eminence, he wishes to be close to those fleeing the fighting and suffering from the violence of other men,” he added. 

The Pope made an appeal for peace in Ukraine during his Angelus prayer in Saint Peter’s Square on Sunday, calling Russia’s attacks an “unacceptable armed aggression” against Ukraine.

Czerny will arrive in Slovakia on Wednesday and will go to the Ukrainian border in the following days.

In their latest update on the conflict, the Ukrainian armed forces said Russian forces have continued “conducting systematic combat operations using bomber aviation in order to destroy the military and civilian infrastructure of Ukraine. ” 

Amid heavy fighting in the south, the armed forces said Russian forces continued their efforts to surround the city of Mykolaiv, which is seen as a critical route to the major south-western city of Odessa. They said Russian forces had been held back. 

Around Kyiv, the Ukrainian armed forces said Russian forces were trying to get beyond the Irpin River to gain a foothold around the settlements of Bucha and Irpin — two suburbs of Kyiv that have seen intense combat since the invasion began. They said Russian forces were regrouping in order to resume offensive actions in the direction of Kyiv. 

The armed forces statement said that in eastern Ukraine, the Russians were focused on recovering from losses inflicted around Kharkiv and Izium. Both cities have seen widespread damage and civilian suffering. 

On Monday, according to Lyudmila Denisova, the Human Rights commissioner of the Ukrainian parliament, enemy forces fired on a private minibus in the Izium area. “The fate of the passengers is unknown,” she said. 

The armed forces acknowledged that in Donetsk Russian forces were having “partial success in some areas due to their numerical advantage.” 

The armed forces statement said that so far, 77 Russian aircraft, 90 helicopters and nearly 400 Russian tanks had been destroyed. CNN cannot verify the Ukrainian claim of Russian losses. 

Rep. Tom Suozzi during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol in December.

Rep. Tom Suozzi, a New York Democrat, on Monday urged the Biden administration to make an exception for Ukrainians who are trying to come to the US on a tourist visa to connect with family. 

To obtain a tourist visa, Ukrainians must apply, get an appointment at a US consulate, and prove that they’re coming to the US for a short period of time — a requirement set in law.

That’s kept some Ukrainians from being able to travel to the US given the uncertain circumstances in their country, including the relatives of a family who joined Suozzi Monday.

Suozzi said his office is working with two families who have run into issues obtaining tourist visas, including a family who joined him on Monday.  

“To go through the motions of having my sister being there on her own, bouncing from country to country in Europe without having a house to stay, without having the support of her family, without having a real stable roof, it’s really devastating,” said Jenya Semekova, who’s sister and brother-in-law fled Ukraine and are in Italy. 

Semekova called her sister who’s been denied a tourist visa during the news conference.

“Now we’re in Italy. But we think we go next country because it’s hard to rent apartment in Italy and it’s too expensive, so we need to move to other country,” Semekova’s sister, Kseniia Isaienko, said. 

Suozzi sent a letter directed to US President Joe Biden on Friday raising the issue of tourist visas. He’s since been in touch with the administration. 

“These are family members trying to help other family members, but because the law is such that you have to show you have a place to go home to, they can’t demonstrate that because they don’t know what’s going to happen to their home,” Suozzi said.

Ukrainian forces have “effectively struck Russian logistics and sustainment capabilities,” in the ongoing war in Ukraine, a senior US defense official told reporters on Monday. 

The US has seen examples of Ukrainians targeting Russian sustainment and logistics capabilities in their strikes on the large Russian military convoy that is outside of Kyiv, the official said.  

“Almost all” of the Russian advances in Ukraine “remain stalled,” a senior US defense official said Monday during a background briefing with reporters.

Russian forces moving on Kyiv, including the infamous convoy to the north, have not appreciably progressed over the weekend, said the official, though the US does see Russia trying to “flow in forces behind the advance elements” moving to the north of Kyiv.

The official said the assaults on the cities of Chernihiv and Kharkiv also remain stalled, but that Russia has split off a force of 50 to 60 vehicles to move towards the town of Izium, presumably to block off the flow of Ukrainian forces from the western part of the country.

Ukraine continues to defend Mariupol, though the city remains isolated, according to the official.

Russian forces have also not moved closer to the town of Mykolaiv, according to the official, from which they could have their forces move on Odessa or north towards Kyiv.

Additional aid to Ukraine: More security assistance shipments from the US went into Ukraine over the weekend, a senior US defense official told reporters on Monday. The security assistance that arrived over the weekend is from the $350 million drawdown package US President Joe Biden approved at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Department of Defense is also working “fast” on “filling out” the security assistance packaged Biden approved over the weekend. That package is for $200 million in security assistance, the official said.

Russia’s missile strikes on a Ukrainian military training center near Lviv in western Ukraine will not affect US efforts to provide weapons shipments to the Ukrainian military, a senior US defense official said Monday. 

The official said that Russia attacked the Yavoriv training facility with cruise missiles launched by bombers from Russian airspace, which the Lviv regional administration said Sunday had killed 35 people. 

The official said that Yavoriv was not being used as a shipment site for US security assistance. It would be a “wrong conclusion” to say the strike was targeting US security shipments into Ukraine, which a Russian official had threatened in a statement over the weekend. 

There were no US military troops or contractors at Yavoriv when it was struck Sunday, the official said. Before Russia’s invasion, Florida National Guard troops who had been stationed at Yavoriv were redeployed out of Ukraine. 

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal pleaded “Ukraine is on fire” as he asked for Russia to be ousted from the Council of Europe on Monday, in a speech to the chamber. 

Shmyhal was standing in for President Volodymyr Zelensky who was scheduled to give the address earlier on Monday. 

“For the past 18 days the world finally opened its eyes,” Shmyhal said, referring to Russian actions in Ukraine.

Following an applause for Shmyhal, Tiny Kox, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, said the meeting will now examine whether “for the first time in modern history” a member state could be excluded.

Kox said the consequences of the Russian army’s invasion would be debated in the coming hours and Tuesday.

More background: The Russian Federation became the 39th member State of the Council of Europe on 28 February 1996, according to the Council of Europe website.

“On 25 February 2022, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe decided to suspend the Russian Federation from its rights of representation in the Committee of Ministers and in the Parliamentary Assembly, in accordance with Article 8 of the Statute of the Council of Europe,” the website adds.

However, Russian senator Alexander Bashkin told state news agency RIA Novosti on Monday the Russian Electoral Commission has suspended its work in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and will not take part in meetings. The head of the Russian delegation to PACE, Pyotr Tolstoy, suggested Russia may withdraw from the organization, according to RIA.

More than 20,000 volunteers and veterans from 52 countries have expressed a desire to join and fight to defend Ukraine in their international legion, an official from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said last week. CNN’s Jim Sciutto and his team met some of these volunteers in Ukraine.

Their resumes range from combat experience to no military training at all.

Brian, a 25-year-old Minnesota resident, served two years with the US Marines in Okinawa, Japan, and has volunteered to fight with and for Ukrainians.

“I’m a US Marine. If I have to die to help these people, I will,” he told CNN.

Oskar, a volunteer from Sweden, has no formal military training.

All volunteers get some training. While many can contribute on the battlefield, others may never see combat.

David, a 33-year-old Canadian, said he can help fix tires to keep Ukrainian military vehicles on the road. 

“If it’s black and round and made out of rubber, I can fix it. One of the most important things of the gears of war is keeping it moving,” he told CNN.

However, arming thousands of people is not without its risks.

“They might be dangerous,” said Roman, a man who vets the background of all foreign volunteers. “We try to check their biography, try to check their past as best we can.”

And Ukraine does not just need on-field fighters. Volunteers with combat medical experience are urgently required too.

That’s what brought Sky Barkley, a US Marine and missionary to Ukraine, along with six other Americans. Barkley said this war does not compare to an insurgency or even the fight against ISIS.

“I mean, we’re talking about the sheer amount of missiles being launched across the country, the ability of the Russians to reach out across hundreds and hundreds of kilometers and kill from that kind of distance,” he told CNN.

Part of Barkley’s team is Missouri native Maddie Hayes, who served as a nurse in Iraq.

“I just have a heart for these people. I just really want to help them. I don’t see my life more valuable than their life,” she said.

Sciutto reports that the training the Ukrainian military is able to offer foreign volunteers is limited — volunteers will get three to 14 days of basic training, and it’s not a short-term commitment. Those who volunteer to fight are asked to sign on for a year of commitment in Ukraine. 

Ukrainian officials have made clear this is “not a calling for adventurers or weekend warriors,” but a “service against a massive and ruthless invading army,” Sciutto reports.

Just last week, the State Department warned Americans who travel to Ukraine and fight with Ukrainian forces in the ongoing war will be treated by Russians as “mercenaries” or foreign fighters, Russians have said, which puts them at a greater risk of mistreatment.

US citizens could also face criminal prosecution, capture or death from Russia for fighting on behalf of Ukraine in the war, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a briefing Friday, adding that the US will also not be able to evacuate American citizens from Ukraine at any point.

Watch Jim Sciutto’s report:

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A Ukrainian passport is shown at a center for the registration of Ukrainian refugees, at the Palace 8 hall of Brussels Expo on March 14.

The Biden administration is considering expediting the resettlement of Ukrainian refugees with US ties, including family already living here, according to a US official, amid growing calls from advocates to do more for the millions of people fleeing war-torn Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden and US Vice President Kamala Harris have repeatedly committed to welcoming Ukrainian refugees to the US, but the reality for those trying to reconnect with family in the US is different given the limited ways Ukrainians can legally come to the country. 

Nearly 3 million people have already fled Ukraine into neighboring countries, according to the United Nations refugee agency. While most Ukrainian refugees are likely to stay in Europe, there are those who want to come to the US where they have family. There are over 1 million people of Ukrainian ancestry in the United States, according to 2019 census estimates.

The options for Ukrainian refugees looking to come to the US are limited. The US refugee resettlement process, for example, can take years to complete, prompting a push from advocates to expedite the process for people who already have relatives in the US and could more easily settle down where those family members are located.  

A State Department spokesperson said the US is working with European allies and partners, along with international organizations, to support people displaced by the war. 

New York Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, meanwhile, is expected to call Monday for the administration to grant tourist visas to Ukrainians seeking to travel to the US. But that too comes with its challenges.  

To obtain a tourist visa, Ukrainians must apply, get an appointment at a US consulate, and prove that they’re coming to the US for a short period of time – a requirement set in law. 

Marina Shepelsky, an immigration attorney who works with Ukrainian clients, told CNN some people had success in getting a tourist visa, but the demand has been a challenge. 

“It’s very difficult. It’s always been difficult to get tourist visa period but now there’s so many people applying, they really have to pick and choose,” Shepelsky said. 

President Joe Biden during a speech at the White House on March 11.

White House officials are having early discussions about having US President Joe Biden travel to Europe soon amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to multiple sources familiar with the planning. 

The trip would come on the heels of visits of several top aides, including US Vice President Kamala Harris and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

No trip has been finalized or announced. 

As of Sunday, at least 636 civilians have died in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, the UN Human Rights office (OHCHR) said Monday in a statement sent to CNN.

This is an increase of 40 deaths compared to the previous daily update.

Among the dead are six girls, 10 boys and 30 more children whose gender is not known, the OHCHR says.

According to the agency, at least 1,125 civilians have been injured so far. 

“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, especially in Government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration,” it added.

Women talk as they take shelter inside an entryway to an apartment building in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 13.

An adviser to the mayor’s office in the city of Mariupol says that civilians are at last able to get out of the city through an evacuation corridor — and head towards the city of Zaporizhzhia, which is under Ukrainian control.

The official, Petro Andriushchenko, said that as of 1 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET) “we have confirmation of the ceasefire regime” on an evacuation corridor for “private transport along the route: Mariupol - Melekine - Portovske - Mangush - Berdiansk - Zaporizhzhia.”

Berdiansk is under Russian control.

“As of now, more than 50 private cars have already passed Berdiansk and are moving towards Zaporizhzhia,” the official added.

Andruishchenko cautioned: “As of now, there are no difficulties in passing checkpoints” but “we cannot officially guarantee security on this corridor. But this is the only corridor that has official approval and that actually works today.”

Mariupol’s city council says that this green corridor is half-official and they don’t guarantee the safety of people who decide to use it. Moreover, only the people who have personal vehicles can use it. This corridor is not for buses.

According to the city council, 160 cars got out of Mariupol and passed Berdyansk. The latest information about it was at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET). 

Mariupol has a population of some 400,000. It’s not known how many people left ahead of the Russian invasion and encirclement of the city.

The city has suffered extensive devastation and Ukrainian authorities say more than 2,500 people have been killed. 

US First Lady Jill Biden addresses the 16th annual International Women of Courage (IWOC) Awards ceremony at the State Department in Washington, DC, on March 14.

US first lady Jill Biden spoke at the State Department Monday to honor the 2022 International Women of Courage Awards.

In remarks on the significance of women around the world, the first lady briefly touched on what is happening in Ukraine. “Like all of us, my heart has ached watching videos of Ukraine,” she said.

Biden went on to discuss the importance of women telling their stories of courage and determination in the face of violence and oppression, as many of the 12 recipients of the IWOC awards have done in their countries.

“There can be no true democracy, no true prosperity, without women’s voices,” said Biden. “Women warriors everywhere need to hear what’s possible.”

More background: A White House official told CNN Friday that Biden has yet to initiate one-on-one contact with Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska due to deep security concerns but would not confirm whether any communication had already occurred from Zelenska to Biden.

The first lady is expected to speak with Polish first lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda in the coming days after the Polish first lady reached out, an aide to the President tells CNN. The call is expected to happen as the first lady is also weighing a trip to Eastern Europe.

A view of destruction after an apartment building was hit by Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 14.

Heavy explosions have been heard Monday in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv as Russia expands its assault. One person has died and six more were injured when an apartment building in the city’s Obolon district was hit earlier today. Not a single window was left intact when the residential building was hit, a staircase in the middle of it completely destroyed and burnt.

People living in the area were visibly in shock. Many were crying, seeking refuge with relatives and friends. A man and a woman who live on the ninth floor of the building told CNN they were woken up by the sudden sound of a massive explosion.

Here’s a catch up of other major developments in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:

Women and children who have fled war-torn Ukraine take shelter in a primary school not far from the Ukrainian border on March 14 in Przemysl, Poland.

As of Monday, more than 2.8 million people have fled Ukraine for neighboring countries, including 127,000 third-country nationals, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a UN agency, said.

“People continue to flee the war in Ukraine every minute,” the IOM tweeted Monday, adding that they need “continued support.” 

According to UNICEF, the war in Ukraine is having a “devastating impact” on more than 7.5 million children.

Ukrainian negotiator, Mykhailo Podoliak, said in an update on Twitter that a “technical pause” has been taken in the Ukraine-Russia talks until Tuesday.

“For additional work in the working subgroups and clarification of individual definitions. Negotiations continue,” Podoliak said.

Earlier today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described them as “difficult talks.”

Podoliak said the fourth session was being held virtually, not in person, with the Ukrainian negotiating team in Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will give a virtual address to the US Congress on Wednesday at 9 a.m. ET, according to a letter sent to House and Senate members by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. 

The statement continued: “The Congress remains unwavering in our commitment to supporting Ukraine as they face Putin’s cruel and diabolical aggression, and to passing legislation to cripple and isolate the Russian economy as well as deliver humanitarian, security and economic assistance to Ukraine.  We look forward to the privilege of welcoming President Zelenskyy’s address to the House and Senate and to convey our support to the people of Ukraine as they bravely defend democracy.”

Multiple explosions took place in and around Kyiv as Russian forces inched closer to Ukraine’s capital.

At least two people died and three more were hospitalized after a residential building in Obolon, a suburb of the capital of Kyiv, was hit by shelling early on Monday morning, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

Several heavy explosions also reverberated across Kyiv at 11 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) Monday.

They appear to have been caused by Ukrainian air-defense batteries aiming at either Russian aircraft or cruise missiles. Trails of smoke heading into the sky could be seen from central Kyiv.

On Saturday, the UK Ministry of Defence said the bulk of Russian ground forces were now only 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from the center of the Ukrainian capital.

Here are some images of the attacks that took place in the city and surrounding areas:

Firefighters work at a damaged apartment building in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 14.

Damage caused this morning when the S-300 engaged a Russian cruise missile over Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 14.

People help a wounded resident of a house destroyed by shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 14.

A woman reacts as she stands outside destroyed apartment blocks following shelling in the northwestern Obolon district of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 14.

An apartment building in Kyiv, Ukraine, after an attack on March 14.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said “difficult talks” are ongoing with Russia on Monday after a fourth round of talks kicked off earlier in the day. 

Zelensky was due to speak to the Council of Europe earlier on Monday but did not.

The lead negotiator on the Ukrainian side in talks with Russia said the fourth session is being held virtually, not in person. The Ukrainian negotiating team is in Kyiv. Earlier talks were held in Belarus. 

The Ukrainian negotiator, Mykhailo Podoliak, posted an image from the talks on Twitter.

“The parties actively express their specified positions. Communication is being held yet it’s hard. The reason for the discord is too different political systems. Ukraine is a free dialogue within the society & an obligatory consensus. Russia is an ultimatum suppression of its own society,” he said along with the image.

A woman reacts as she stands outside destroyed apartment blocks following shelling in the northwestern Obolon district of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 14.

Kyiv’s residents are getting no respite from the terror of strikes against residential buildings, with more deadly shelling on Monday morning.

One person has died and six more were injured when an apartment building in the Obolon district of Kyiv was hit early on Monday.

Not a single window was left intact when the residential building was hit, a staircase in the middle of it completely destroyed and burnt.

People living in the area were visibly in shock. Many were crying, seeking refuge with relatives and friends. A man and a woman who live on the ninth floor of the building told CNN they were woken up by the sudden sound of a massive explosion.

The building was on fire and their apartment quickly filled with smoke. They couldn’t breathe, they told CNN.

They managed to escape using the stairs, but their 82-year-old relative who lives in the most destroyed part of the building had to be evacuated through the roof.

The area apartment buildings were covered in burnt debris, the colorful fencing lining a path smashed into pieces. At one point, a priest came to the site, offering comfort to the residents. According to people on the scene, rescuers were able to save all of the pets living in the building.

The residents of the building were able to come back to their apartments to collect their belongings, but only after showing their documents.

Another strike hit a road in Kurenivka, another residential district in Kyiv, killing one person and injuring six more, according to a statement from Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

“Kyiv was attacked by the enemy today,” Klichko said, adding that an empty trolleybus that was on the road was completely destroyed.

“Windows were blown out and balconies of surrounding houses and businesses [occupying] the ground floors were destroyed,” he added.

One of the defining images from the conflict in Ukraine last week was the photograph of a pregnant woman being stretchered out of a maternity hospital in Mariupol after it was bombed. Today, her surgeon told Ukrainian television from the city that the mother and her baby have both died.

Here are the other major developments in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pressed US President Joe Biden during their latest call for more sanctions to further squeeze Russia, CNN has learned.

According to multiple sources familiar with the call, Zelensky specifically asked Biden for further efforts to cut Russia off from international trade and to continue targeting the Russian elite, as the US has continued to add more oligarchs and their families to its sanctions list.

Zelensky also mentioned closing off Russia’s access to international waterways during the call. 

Zelensky and Biden spoke for 49 minutes on Friday.

During the wide-ranging call, Biden detailed the latest actions he was about to announce, including a move to revoke Russia’s favored trade status with the US.

Zelensky thanked Biden for the measures, but also urged him to continue ratcheting up the economic pressure on the Kremlin. 

Russia and China have denied allegations that Moscow requested military assistance in Ukraine from Beijing.

Two US officials told CNN Sunday that Russia has asked China for military support, including drones, as well as economic assistance for its unprovoked invasion.

Speaking Monday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian told a news conference the US was “peddling disinformation.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also dismissed the allegations on Monday, saying, “Russia has an independent potential to continue the operation.”

At least two people were killed and 10 others were injured during shelling on Monday in Snihurivka, located on the outskirts of Mykolaiv, according to the town’s community group post on Facebook. 

Three civilians and seven military personnel were wounded and being treated in a hospital, the Snihurivka United Territorial Community added.

The strategic maritime city of Mykolaiv has been witnessing a fierce battle against Russian aggression for days as they fight for control of the city.

Both bridges leading into Mykolaiv were raised Monday morning, according to CNN’s team on the ground, closing the main routes in and out of city as Russian presence is currently active in the north and southeast regions, essentially encircling it. 

The bridge leading west to Odessa has now come down.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has reissued Ukrainian calls for international companies to leave Russia and for governments and companies to stop buying Russian coal and gas, which he described as “soaked in Ukrainian blood.”

In a briefing regarding sanctions on the Russian economy on Monday, Kuleba described Russia as “on the brink of default and economic collapse” as he urged for new sanctions and decisions to increase pressure.

“At the moment we are on the brink of introducing a fourth round of sanctions from the European Union,” Kuleba said.

Kuleba said Ukraine is also discussing with Germany the issue of switching off Russian banks from SWIFT, a messaging service that connects financial institutions around the world.

“International business must leave Russia — both for moral and pragmatic considerations,” Kuleba demanded, in the online briefing.  

In this photo released by Ukrainian State Emergency Service press service, firefighters evacuate an elderly woman from an apartment building hit by shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 14.

Ukrainian emergency services revised the number of people killed and injured as a result of shelling of a residential building in a Kyiv suburb on Monday, saying one person – not two – was killed, and six were injured, of whom five needed to be hospitalized.

“Rescuers who arrived on the scene found that as a result of enemy shelling between residential five- and 10-storey buildings, a fire broke out in two apartments on the third and fourth floors of a 5-storey residential building,” rescue services said. 

Emergency services rescued 15 people and 63 were evacuated after a shell hit the ninth floor of a residential building in the Obolon district, a northern suburb of the Ukrainian capital.

The fire was extinguished around 7:58 am local time Monday morning. Search operations continue. 

Meanwhile, Russian airstrikes hit a large military base near the western city of Lviv, killing 35 people and leaving more than 130 in hospital, and fierce fighting continues across Ukraine.

The UK is launching the “Homes for Ukraine” scheme where anyone considering opening their homes to Ukrainian refugees can register their interest online, UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Monday.

Speaking in an interview on BBC Breakfast, Javid explained that the hosting scheme — due to go live Monday — is a collaboration with “a number of charities on the ground” that will hope to support as many refugees as possible, giving them the right to remain for a period of three years.

“Michael Gove (The UK Secretary of State for Levelling UP) will be making a statement in Parliament later today setting out the details and there’s no cap on the number of people that we can support,” Javid said.

Javid said more details would be disclosed later but added that the refugees would be granted the right to work and English lessons would be provided.

It is not yet clear how those willing to host would connect with the refugees.

CNN reached out to the Department for Levelling Up to get further details but were told more information would be revealed later on Monday.

Ukrainian emergency employees and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from the maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 9. It has now been confirmed that both mother and baby have died.

The surgeon who tried to save the life of the woman rescued from last week’s hospital bombing in Mariupol, as well as her newborn baby, has confirmed that both died.

The surgeon, Timur Marin, told Ukrainian television from the city:

Some background: The Associated Press reported earlier that the pregnant woman had died, along with her baby.

An AP image of emergency workers carrying the injured pregnant woman on a stretcher outside the bombed hospital last Wednesday had been widely reported, including by CNN.

As CNN earlier reported, at least three people died in the attack Wednesday, which came despite Russia agreeing to a 12-hour pause in hostilities to allow refugees to evacuate.

At the time, the Mariupol city council accused Russian forces of dropping several bombs on it from the air, calling the destruction “enormous.”

Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid pledged on Monday that Israel will not be used as a way for Russians to bypass Western sanctions.

Speaking in Slovakia, Lapid reiterated Israel’s condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, adding Israel will “do everything it can to assist mediation efforts.”

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is coordinating the issue together with partners including the Bank of Israel, the Finance Ministry, the Economy Ministry, the Airports Authority, the Energy Ministry, and others.”

Lapid’s comments come two days after the US State Department’s undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, called on Israel to implement sanctions.

Speaking to Israeli news Channel 12 on Friday, Nuland said they are asking “for every democracy to join us in the financial and export control sanctions that we have put on Putin.”

“We asking that of Israel as well. Among other things, you don’t want to become the last haven for dirty money that’s fueling Putin’s wars,” she added.

A Russian strike has hit a residential facility housing people with with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health conditions near Kyiv, according to a statement from the Kyiv Region Council.

The council said two strikes hit the Pushcha-Vodicʹkomu care home on Sunday, one destroying the boiler room and hitting the mortuary.

The residential building was also damaged in the attack, the council said, adding that at the time of the strikes, staff and the resident of the facilities had been evacuated to a safe place.

Images and video uploaded from the city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine Monday morning show multiple casualties from what appears to have been a missile strike on the city.

Donetsk is held by Russian-backed separatist forces and is the capital of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). 

The videos, geolocated by CNN, show that there were at least several fatalities on a main street in the city center as well as a large number of injured.

Remnants of the missile can be seen at the scene. Where it came from and who fired it are still unclear. 

“At the moment, we can talk about the largest number of civilian casualties as a result of a single strike,” the leader of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, told Russian television.

“Around 20 people [died], but the number is being updated” he told Russia 24, calling it a “war crime.”

A local news agency quoted the Headquarters of the Territorial Defense of the DPR as giving the same figure.

The People’s Militia of the DPR accused the Ukrainian side of launching the missile, saying, “The Ukrainian armed formations once again used the tactical missile system ‘Tochka-U’ in the residential areas of Donetsk, in order to [cause] genocide [to] civilians and destroy important civilian infrastructure in the capital of the Republic.”

The Ukrainian armed forces have the Tochka missile but it has also been used by Russian and separatist forces in the past. CNN has reached out to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry for comment.

Pushilin separately told the Russian state television network Russia-1, “We managed to shoot down the tactical missile system Tochka-U , but even the wreckage did so much damage.”

“The worst is the loss of civilian lives. People were standing in line for the ATM, at the bus stop,” he added.

Separately, the health ministry of the DPR spoke of 23 injured being admitted to hospital.

Refugees from Ukraine arrive at the Siret border post in Romania on March 9.

The number of people entering Romania from Ukraine has declined significantly, with daily arrivals down by more than 50% compared to last week, according to Romanian Border Police.

The number of new arrivals dropped from on average around 30,000 per day last week to 14,000 on Sunday.

Over 412,000 Ukrainian citizens have arrived in Romania since the beginning of the Russian invasion over two weeks ago, Border Police data shows.

Raed Arafat, state secretary at the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs, said that about 80,000 Ukrainians remained in the country.

Meanwhile, German authorities have registered more than 146,000 refugees from Ukraine so far, a spokesperson for the interior ministry said Monday.

According to data from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, nearly 2.7 million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion in late February.

Ukrainian emergency employees and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from the maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 9.

A pregnant woman who was at maternity hospital in Mariupol last Wednesday when it was bombed has died, along with her baby, the Associated Press reported on Monday.

An AP image of emergency workers carrying the injured pregnant woman on a stretcher outside the bombed hospital last Wednesday had been widely reported, including by CNN.

According to the AP, medics did not have time to get the woman’s name before her husband and father came to retrieve her body, so she did not end up in one of Mariupol’s mass graves.

As CNN earlier reported, at least three people died in the attack Wednesday, which came despite Russia agreeing to a 12-hour pause in hostilities to allow refugees to evacuate.

At the time, the Mariupol city council accused Russian forces of dropping several bombs on it from the air, calling the destruction “enormous.”

Last week, Mariupol’s mayor Vadym Boychenko also accused Russians of genocide for its targeting of civilian buildings.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had called the attack an “atrocity.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday alleged without evidence the bombed hospital in Mariupol was the radical Azov battalion’s base and that all patients and nurses had left. Later on Thursday, a Russian Ministry of Defense spokesperson denied in a briefing that Russia had shelled the maternity hospital at all, calling it a “provocation.”

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada) speaks during a hearing on September 21 at the US Capitol in Washington, DC.

A bipartisan group of Senators are voicing concern about the potential of widespread Russian cyber-attacks in the United States as retribution for the crippling sanctions America is imposing on Russia.

In a letter sent to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Sunday evening, 22 Senators raise questions about America’s readiness for Russian cyber and disinformation threats.

Some background: Russian government-linked hackers have a long track record of infiltrating US government agencies and probing US critical infrastructure. 

A 2020 cyber-espionage campaign the Biden administration blamed on Russia’s SVR intelligence agencies exploited SolarWinds software to breach several government agencies. Russian-speaking ransomware groups have also disrupted US critical infrastructure, most notably last year in the days-long shutdown of Colonial Pipeline, a major fuel transporter for the East Coast.

They are requesting a briefing from Mayorkas on what the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is doing to proactively defend against Russian state-sponsored threats and what particular sectors might be targeted. The senators also want to know what the strategy is if critical infrastructure is in fact breached.

For months, CISA, the White House and agencies like the Treasury Department have held briefings with key sectors like banking and energy on Russian cyber capabilities and the possibility for retaliation in cyberspace. 

CISA’s website says there are no specific or credible cyber threats to the US at this time.

In February, President Biden designated DHS as the lead federal agency to coordinate domestic preparedness and response efforts related to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Andrey Yarmolenko (C) of West Ham reacts after scoring during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Aston Villa at the London Stadium, Stratford, England, on March 13.

West Ham and Ukraine star Andriy Yarmolenko was overcome with emotion after scoring the opening goal in his side’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa in the English Premier League on Sunday.

The forward hadn’t featured for West Ham for more than a month and told Sky Sports after the game that it was “impossible” to even train with the team in the days after Russia began its invasion of his home country.

“I was just thinking about my family and my people,” Yarmolenko told Sky Sports after Sunday’s match. “I just tried to give everything on the pitch.”

The 32-year-old was greeted with applause from both sets of supporters when he came on as a substitute in the second half.

A number of Ukraine flags were visible in the stands during the game, while West Ham memorabilia in Ukrainian colors was being sold outside the stadium before the match.

An explosion at an apartment building in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 11.

Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, says that the Russian bombardment of the southern city of Mariupol has now caused more than 2,500 deaths.

“Our military is succeeding there – yesterday they defeated another attempt at an armored breakthrough in Mariupol, took prisoners of war,” he said Monday.

“But for this the Russians are wiping the city out.

CNN cannot independently verify these casualty figures.

Dire situation: Mariupol’s city administration confirmed Sunday that a large convoy of humanitarian aid destined for the besieged city had not arrived, and was still stuck in Berdyansk, some 50 miles to the west. Berdyansk is held by Russia forces. A resident of Mariupol also painted a grim picture of the situation in the city.

The fourth round of talks between Ukraine and Russia is about to get underway, according to Ukraine’s lead negotiator.

The session will be held virtually, not in person. The Ukrainian negotiating team is in Kyiv.

The Ukrainian negotiator, Mykhailo Podoliak, posted a short video on Twitter saying:

Podoliak added: “Although Russia realizes the nonsense of its aggressive actions, it still has a delusion that 19 days of violence against 🇺🇦 peaceful cities is the right strategy.”

The Russian embassy in the US dismissed as “pure fiction” a report that Western companies operating in Russia who are critical of the government received threats from prosecutors.

The statement went on to say that “the decision whether to continue entrepreneurial activity in our country is entirely up to the Americans. As well as the right to ignore the Russophobic hysteria that encourages foreign businesses to suffer huge losses in order to hit Russia.”

Some background: The Wall Street Journal had reported that the Russian prosecutor’s office issued warnings to seize the assets and arrest heads of Western companies that decided to stop operating in Russia. The Journal labeled its report “exclusive” and did not name sources, citing “people familiar with the matter.”

Major international businesses including Coca-Cola and McDonald’s have announced plans to suspend business in Russia in light of the invasion of Ukraine and international sanctions.

A Ukrainian firefighter works at an apartment building after it was hit by artillery shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 14.

Several heavy explosions reverberated across Kyiv at 11 a.m. local time Monday.

They appear to have been caused by Ukrainian air-defense batteries aiming at either Russian aircraft or cruise missiles.

Several trails of smoke heading into the sky could be seen from central Kyiv.

Residential buildings hit: At least two people died and three were hospitalized after a residential building in a suburb of the capital was hit by shelling Monday morning, Ukraine’s emergency services said earlier today.

Fifteen people were rescued and 63 evacuated after a shell hit the ninth floor of a residential building in the Obolon district, a northern suburb of Kyiv.

Ukrainian rescue servicemen inspect part of the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 20, 2014, in Rassipnoye, Ukraine

Australia and the Netherlands have begun legal action against Russia at the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation over the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014, according to an Australian government statement Monday.

The Malaysia Airlines Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur flight was shot down in July 2014 by a missile fired by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine. All 298 people aboard were killed.

The two countries will argue that Russia supplied the separatists with the missile system used in the attack then took it back afterward. They say “the missile could only have been fired by the trained Russian crew of the Buk-TELAR, or at least by someone acting under their instruction, direction or control.”

A firefighter carries a hose in front of a residential building that was hit by a shell in the Obolon district in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 14.

At least two people have died and three were hospitalized after a residential building in a northern suburb of Kyiv was hit by shelling Monday morning, Ukraine’s emergency services said. 

Fifteen people were rescued and 63 evacuated after a shell hit the ninth floor of a residential building in the Obolon district.

The fire was extinguished around 7:58 a.m. local time.

Search operations continue. 

A map showing Crimea and Mariupol in the Donetsk Oblast region of Ukraine.

A land corridor has been established between Crimea and Donbas, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

In its report, the news agency cited the Vice-Premier of Crimea Georgiy Muradov, who is the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Crimea under the President of Russia. 

CNN has not been able to independently verify the Russian state media report. 

According to RIA, the corridor provides a strategic route connecting Crimea to Mariupol, which is currently surrounded by Russian and Russian-backed separatist troops. 

The land corridor would allow troops in Crimea to join forces with Russian-backed rebels in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), as well as giving Russian-backed forces access to key port cities along the Sea of Azov. 

The RIA report also called it an “important route” for connecting Crimea to the steel-making capital Mariupol and the industrial Donbas region. 

Refugees from Ukraine at the main railway station in Krakow, Poland, on March 13.

In little over two weeks, millions of Ukrainian refugees have been forced to flee as the brutal Russian invasion of their homeland continues.

The amount of people on the move constitutes “the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II,” UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Commissioner Filippo Grandi said Sunday.

While many residents in the central and eastern portions of the country have relocated to western Ukraine and away from the front lines, more than 2.5 million Ukrainians have left entirely following Russia’s invasion on February 24, according to the latest United Nations refugee estimates.

Most of those fleeing Ukraine are women and children. Ukrainian males aged 18 to 60 were banned from leaving after its national government enforced martial law.

Across Europe, nations including Germany, Austria, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden have each reported thousands of Ukrainians arriving.

Read the full story:

Refugees fleeing war in neighboring Ukraine queue at the Medyka border crossing, Poland, Thursday, March 10, 2022.

Related article More than 2.5 million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russia's invasion. Here's where they are now

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak tweeted Sunday diplomatic talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials will take place Monday through video.

Here’s what we know:

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Sunday it is concerned the war in Ukraine could worsen the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is trying to do more to limit the spread of infectious diseases.

Cases in the region are down from the previous week, but there’s significant risk there will be more severe disease and death due to low vaccination rates in Ukraine, as well as among the more than 2 million who’ve fled the country to surrounding areas — regions also with low vaccination rates.

Ukraine’s Covid-19 vaccination rate is around 34%, while neighboring Moldova’s is around 29%, according to Our World In Data.

There have been a total of 791,021 new cases of Covid-19 and 8,012 new deaths in Ukraine and in surrounding countries between March 3 and 9, a WHO situation report published Sunday said.

Read the full story:

KORCZOWA, POLAND - MARCH 10: Women, children and elderly people fleeing war-torn Ukraine walk into Poland at the Korczowa border crossing on March 10, 2022 at Korczowa, Poland. Over one million people have arrived in Poland from Ukraine since the Russian invasion of February 24, and while many are now living with relatives who live and work in Poland, others are journeying onward to other countries in Europe. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Related article War in Ukraine could make the Covid 19 pandemic worse, WHO says

One man started the brutal war in Ukraine and only one man can end it: Vladimir Putin.

The Russian President’s escalation of his vicious onslaught over the weekend — taking the conflict close to NATO territory in Poland and pouring missiles and artillery into civilian areas blighted by a worsening humanitarian crisis — suggest he’s nowhere near ready for a ceasefire.

In fact, the war is only becoming more dangerous and closer to spilling out of control after Moscow told the US it would target Western arms shipments to the Ukrainian armed forces that have helped slow the Russian advance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Sunday night that it was only a matter of time before Russian missiles fell on NATO territory — as he renewed his call for the alliance to close the skies over his country.

There is every sign that the Russian leader, despite presiding over an invasion that has turned Russia into an economic and diplomatic pariah, plans to callously press on and destroy Ukraine to further his personal ambition of preventing it ever joining the West.

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TOPSHOT - Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Russian government via teleconference in Moscow on March 10, 2022. - Russia announced an export ban on more than 200 types of foreign-made products and equipment until the end of the year, part of Moscow's response to sanctions imposed over the Ukraine conflict on March 10. (Photo by Mikhail KLIMENTYEV / SPUTNIK / AFP) (Photo by MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article Analysis: Only Putin can end the war -- but he's escalating its brutal toll and spillover potential

Women and children sit on the floor of a corridor in a hospital in Mariupol on March 11.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is calling for an urgent solution to prevent a “worst-case scenario” for civilians trapped in the southern city of Mariupol, according to a statement released Sunday.

The ICRC called on all parties fighting in Mariupol to agree on a ceasefire that ensures a safe passage for civilians. 

Hundreds of thousands of Mariupol residents are facing “extreme or total shortages of basic necessities like food, water, and medicine” and many are sheltering in “unheated basements,” ICRC said.

Bodies are also trapped under the rubble or lying where they fell in the city. 

Earlier Sunday, Mariupol’s city administration said in a Telegram post a large convoy of humanitarian aid destined for the besieged city had not arrived, and was still stuck in Berdyansk, some 50 miles to the west, leaving 400,000 people waiting for help.

Mariupol was subjected to “shelling and aerial bombardment all day long,” Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Sunday. 

Russian airstrikes hit close to a NATO member’s border and Moscow asked China for military assistance in Ukraine, a senior US official said.

Here are the latest developments:

Russia expands west: Russian airstrikes hit a large military base near the western city of Lviv, which is close to the Polish border, killing 35 people and leaving more than 130 in hospital Sunday. More than 30 missiles fired from warplanes over the Black and Azov seas had hit the military base, according to a Ukrainian government statement. As Russia expands its offensive to western Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky says “it is only a matter of time before Russian missiles fall” on NATO territory.

Seeking China’s help: Russia has asked China for economic support and military assistance in Ukraine, including drones, two US officials said Sunday. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the development is a “concern” and the US has made it clear to Beijing there will “absolutely be consequences” for “large-scale” efforts to give the Kremlin a workaround to US sanctions. Sullivan will meet Chinese counterparts in Rome on Monday for talks.

Ukraine and Russia talks to continue Monday: Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak tweeted Sunday talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials will take place Monday through video.

Treason investigation: Ukraine’s prosecutor general has opened a treason investigation into Galina Danilchenko, the newly installed mayor of Russian-occupied Melitopol. Danilchenko was installed as Melitopol’s mayor after the elected mayor, Ivan Fedorov, was detained by armed men on Friday and accused of terrorism offenses. On Sunday, Danilchenko said in a televised video that “Russian TV channels” would begin broadcasting in the region.

Ukraine cut off: Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Russian forces have blockaded Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, cutting the nation off from international maritime trade.

Chernobyl staff: Staff at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant are so tired they have stopped carrying out the repair and maintenance of safety-related equipment, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said. The 211 technical personnel and guards have still not been able to rotate from the facility since Russian forces entered the site. Ukraine managed to resume the power supply at Chernobyl on Sunday.

Dire situation in Mariupol: The city’s administration confirmed Sunday night a large convoy of humanitarian aid destined for the besieged city had not arrived, and was still stuck in Berdyansk, some 50 miles to the west. Berdyansk is being held by Russia. A resident of Mariupol painted a grim picture of the situation in the city in a video diary posted on Twitter, saying “the world doesn’t know what’s happening here … This is horror.”

Japan has backed its condemnation of war in Ukraine with sanctions on Russian officials and oligarchs, but experts say they’re not the only audience for Tokyo’s outrage — China is meant to get the message, too.

Since Moscow attacked Ukraine, commentators have drawn comparisons between Russia’s actions and China’s stated ambition to seek the “reunification” of Taiwan with the mainland.

For Japan, support for Ukraine serves a dual purpose, according to Yoko Iwama, an international relations and security expert at the National Graduate Institute of Policy Studies.

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Related article Analysis: Japan's tough talk on Russia is really about China

Newly installed mayor of Russian-occupied Melitopol, Galina Danilchenko

Ukraine’s prosecutor general has opened a treason investigation into Galina Danilchenko, the newly installed mayor of Russian-occupied Melitopol.

The investigation comes after a group of Melitopol City Council members issued a written address Sunday, requesting the prosecutor general initiate criminal proceedings against Danilchenko, “for the high crime of treason, for attempting to set up an occupying government in Melitopol.”  

In its address, the Council accused Danilchenko, “a city council member from the Opposition Bloc,” of dissolving the city government and transferring its powers to a People’s Deputies Committee.

The prosecutor general’s office announced it had opened an investigation in a statement posted on its website, accusing Danilchenko of, “fulfilling the task set to her by her Russian Federation representatives” when she declared herself Melitopol’s acting mayor.

According to the statement, the investigation and criminal proceedings will be conducted by the Security Service of Ukraine in the Zaporizhzhia region.

On Facebook, Ukraine’s prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova lauded the Melitopol City Council address saying, “I heard you and I’m proud of you.”  

Some context: Danilchenko was installed as Melitopol’s mayor after the elected mayor, Ivan Fedorov, was detained by armed men on Friday. Shortly after he was detained, the prosecutor’s office for the Russian-backed separatist region of Luhansk accused Fedorov of terrorism offenses.

On Sunday, Danilchenko said in a televised video that “Russian TV channels” would begin broadcasting in the region. She claimed, “a great deficit of trustworthy information being circulated,” as reasoning for the broadcasting decision.

The first clear satellite image has emerged of Snake Island, where Ukrainian defenders famously responded to the threat of Russian invasion with the words: “Russian warship, go f*** yourself.”

The image, taken on Sunday by Maxar Technologies, shows damage to some buildings from Russian military strikes, as well as a Russian naval vessel anchored in the Black Sea. It backs reports from the beginning of the Russian invasion that the island came under assault after its Ukrainian garrison rejected Russian surrender demands.

The Ukrainian troops were all killed – and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said they would be “awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine posthumously” – but later the Ukrainian military said they were “alive and well” and taken prisoner.

According to the Ukrainian Navy, the garrison on the island repelled two attacks by Russian forces but in the end was forced to surrender “due to the lack of ammunition.”

A Ukrainian statement said that Russian attackers destroyed the island’s infrastructure, including lighthouses, towers and antennas – some of the damage that can now be seen in the new satellite photo.

In the image, some of the red-roofed buildings in the island’s center are shown to have been significantly damaged by Russian shelling. Although parts of the island are snow-covered, impact craters can be seen dotting the island.

The ship seen offshore was identified by Maxar as a Ropucha-class landing ship.

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Related article First on CNN: Satellite image shows damage to Snake Island

Russia has asked China for military assistance in Ukraine, including drones, a senior US official said Sunday.

CNN has reached out to the Russian embassy in the US for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s Dana Bash Sunday that China providing Russia with support is a “concern.”

Sullivan said the US has made it clear to Beijing there will “absolutely be consequences” for “large-scale” efforts to give the Kremlin a workaround to US sanctions.

“We will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to Russia from these economic sanctions from any country anywhere in the world,” he said.

Sullivan is set to meet with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Rome Monday.

Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told CNN Sunday he had not heard of Russia’s request.

“I’ve never heard of that. China is deeply concerned and grieved on the Ukraine situation. We sincerely hope that the situation will ease and peace will return at an early date,” Pengyu said. “The current situation in Ukraine is indeed disconcerting. Utmost efforts should be made to support Russia and Ukraine in carrying forward negotiations despite the difficult situation to produce a peaceful outcome. We support and encourage all efforts that are conducive to a peaceful settlement of the crisis. The high priority now is to prevent the tense situation from escalating or even getting out of control. There is consensus about this among the international community, including the parties concerned.”

The White House said last week China was “abiding by the requirements that have been put in place” over sanctions.

“Our assessment right now is that (China is) abiding by the requirements that have been put in place, but we would continue to encourage any country to think a lot about what role they want to play in history as we all look back,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a Wednesday press conference.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak said on Sunday that he thinks they will “achieve concrete results” from talks with Russia in the next few days.

In a video posted on Twitter, Podoliak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said that Russia “becomes much more sensitive to the Ukrainian position” and has “started to talk constructively.”

“Our proposals are on the table. They are very tough. Among them, the withdrawal of troops, the ceasefire,” Podoliak added. “We shall not give up on any points, out of principle.”

Podoliak confirmed talks will take place with Russia Monday via video link.

Russian troops continue to slowly move closer to Kyiv, while cities in the southern and western parts of the country sustain ongoing attacks as well.

Here’s a look at where Russian forces have advanced so far. Note: This map was generated using data from The Institute for the Study of War with AEI’s Critical Threats Project and shows where Russian forces have operated in or launched attacks in Ukraine, but do not have control over areas.