Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
The latest developments in the Russian invasion of Ukraine: The country’s second-largest city comes under attack as talks began between the two sides.
While negotiators sat down Monday for an initial round of talks to end the fighting, Russian troops put Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, under heavy shelling, killing and wounding civilians, according to local authorities.
Analysts examining social-media posts from Kharkiv said the images show Russian use of cluster munitions, a type of weapon which is particularly harmful to civilians because it scatters smaller bomblets over a wide area.
Kharkiv is located on the eastern side of the Russian army’s multipronged invasion.
Ukrainian servicemen stand by a deactivated Russian military multiple rocket launcher on the outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022.VADIM GHIRDA/The Associated Press
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Belarus, a Ukrainian delegation, which included its Defence Minister, met Russian representatives. Those talks ended with the two sides having “found some points of contact from which common positions could be built on,” Russia’s Sputnik News said, citing Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led his country’s delegation. A second round is planned after the negotiators return to their capitals.
“Negotiations are difficult,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. He accused the Russian negotiators of being “extremely biased regarding the destructive processes it launched.”
Canada is sending anti-tank weapons to Ukraine to help Kyiv fight Russia’s invasion, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday. Canada has already sent nearly $8-milion in weapons to Ukraine as well as non-lethal aid. Trudeau announced plans to ban imports of Russian crude oil, “an industry from which President Putin and his oligarchs have greatly benefited.”
The Prime Minister also said Putin’s war is creating a refugee crisis and that Canada will be ready to take refugees.
Read our live file to follow the most recent updates, The Globe’s compendiums of chronological maps and important photographs, and a continuing explainer about why and how the invasion began.
To learn what you can do for Ukrainians, consult our how-to-help guide. For more updates, visit our list of Globe foreign correspondents and other journalists to follow on Twitter.
More Ukraine-related news, essay and analysis:
- First person: On my son’s 16th birthday in Kharkiv, I learned war doesn’t stop for a party
- In video: Destruction in Kharkiv, Ukraine after a night of heavy combat.
- In photos: Fighting across Ukraine as refugees flee to borders.
- Update: Ukrainian Snake Island defenders who were thought dead are alive – but in Russian captivity.
- Analysis: War in Ukraine could put Russia deeper in China’s pocket than ever. What will Beijing do with that economic leverage?
- In sports: FIFA and UEFA suspend Russia’s national, club teams from all competitions until further notice.
Local residents prepare Molotov cocktails, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, to defend their city, in Zhytomyr, Ukraine February 28, 2022.VIACHESLAV RATYNSKYI/Reuters
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Nova Scotia RCMP waited 12 hours before alerting public that a gunman was driving a lookalike police car: Transcripts of 911 calls released for the first time as part of the Nova Scotia inquiry into the Portapique mass shooting detail the horror of the night the killing began. They show that the RCMP knew for 12 hours that the gunman was roaming around at the wheel of a fake police car before warning the public.
Humanity unprepared for effects of climate change, UN report says: In the latest and most comprehensive review yet of the effects of climate change, the United Nations warns that countries lack preparedness to cope with the threats posed by a failure to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Those threats include direct effects on health because of extreme heat, malnutrition, infectious disease and displacement; risks posed by damage to cities and infrastructure; and longer-term problems caused by stress to ecosystems on land and oceans.
TD buying U.S.-based bank First Horizon for US$13.4-billion: Toronto-Dominion Bank is acquiring U.S.-based bank First Horizon Corp. in an all-cash deal, fulfilling a long-stated desire to bulk up in the southeastern United States and setting its sights on expansion into adjacent markets.
Court extends freeze on Ottawa protest donations tied to class-action lawsuit: Parties in the case have agreed to move some donated funds and cryptocurrency into escrow, which could be redistributed to affected Ottawa residents and business owners should the class action succeed.
MARKET WATCH
The S&P 500 ended lower in volatile trading on Monday, with investors wrestling with uncertainty and bank stocks dropping following powerful Western sanctions against Russia as it continued its invasion of Ukraine. Canada’s TSX rallied into the close and ended slightly positive for the session. The Nasdaq also ended higher.
Helping the Nasdaq close in positive territory after opening at a loss, electric car makers Tesla and Rivian Automotive jumped 7.5% and 6.5%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to end at 33,892.6 points, while the S&P 500 dropped to 4,373.94.
Global stocks slumped, the Russian ruble tanked to record lows and safe-haven assets got a boost after Western allies imposed new sanctions that limited Moscow’s ability to deploy its $630 billion foreign reserves and cut off some of its banks from the SWIFT global payments system.
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TALKING POINTS
Watching the Ukraine invasion, the Taiwanese fear they could be next.
”The international community and Taiwan’s key allies, such as the United States and Japan, will also learn lessons from Ukraine and refine their own strategies, in collaboration with Taiwan, to deter and counter Chinese aggression against Taiwan, against a war whose impact on the international community would be much more severe.” – J. Michael Cole.
Long COVID deserves a long, hard look.
“In our haste to put the pandemic behind us, let’s not forget that COVID-19 will be forever for many.
The virus and our political and societal response to it have both left scars – mental, physical and economic – that will take a long time to heal.
The future is especially uncertain for those with ‘long COVID.’
Studies estimate that anywhere from 5 per cent to 30 per cent of people infected with SARS-CoV-2 will end up with lingering symptoms, sometimes severe, that last six months or more.” – André Picard.
LIVING BETTER
Are collagen supplements actually effective at removing wrinkles, easing joint pains or building muscles? Dietician Leslie Beck checks what science says about these much promoted proteins.
TODAY’S LONG READ
By the middle of this century, and probably sooner, Canada will look and feel like a different place because of climate change. Four Globe and Mail reporters look at areas that need to change to minimize the impact of extreme weather events, from farms and hospitals to forestry and flood-protection plans.
Illustration by Camille Pomerlo
Evening Update is written by Tu Thanh Ha. If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday evening, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.