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Ukraine’s President is freeing prisoners with military experience to join the battle against invading forces and demanding immediate accession to the European Union, amid signs that international sanctions against Russia were causing economic turmoil.
As fierce fighting continued across Ukraine — whose forces continue to hold Kyiv and Kharkiv — a Ukrainian delegation crossed into Belarus Monday morning for talks with Russia, although Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has cautioned that a breakthrough is not expected. Ukraine’s delegation, which includes its Defence Minister but not Mr. Zelensky, is seeking an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian troops, according to a statement from the country’s parliament.
Russia’s Interfax news agency said the country’s forces have now seized two southeastern centres in Ukraine, Berdyansk and Enerhodar. Berdyansk is a port city on the Sea of Azov where the U.S. has funded construction of military facilities.
More than 400,000 Ukrainians have fled the country since Wednesday, when Russia launched a three-pronged attack from the north, east and south. The European Union said on Sunday that it was expecting as many as four million refugees from Ukraine.
As part of a now-daily push to increase pressure on Putin, the European Union and Canada will ban Russian planes from their respective airspaces. The EU announced the decision to close its skies to Russian aircraft amid a host of other moves, including financing the purchase and delivery of weapons for Ukraine.
But even as Canada and its allies this week slapped sanctions on dozens of oligarchs and government officials alleged to be close to Putin, many of his associates remain untouched.
Canada reiterated on Sunday its warning against travelling to Ukraine, but Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said it’s up to individual Canadians to decide whether they want to join the fight against Russia.
Follow live updates on the war in Ukraine
More coverage:
- Russia doubles interest rates in bid to prevent ruble collapse as sanctions bite into markets
- Africans fleeing Ukraine forced to wait at border while Ukrainians crossed first
- Russia’s RT to be removed from Canadian lineup by Bell, Rogers
- How SWIFT, the global payments messaging system, became a weapon in the financial war against Russia
- Western powers hit Russian central bank with sanctions
- Turkey to block Russian warships from entering Black Sea
- Moldova vows to seek closer ties with Europe despite fears of provoking Russia
- Explainer: Why is Russia invading Ukraine? What Putin’s troops have done so far in Kyiv, Donbas and beyond
- Analysis: The trouble with sanctions against Russia: Economic war is a slow grind, not the quick hit Ukraine wants
- Doug Saunders: In 30 minutes, Germany ended decades of policy on military, energy, debt and Moscow
- Opinion: Putin’s war on Ukraine has brought the past to the present, and made the future very uncertain
A Ukrainian Territorial Defence fighter examines a destroyed Russian infantry mobility vehicle GAZ Tigr after the fight in Kharkiv on Feb. 27, 2022.SERGEY BOBOK/AFP/Getty Images
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Lawsuit thrown out after anti-vaccine doctors sue over challenges to conspiracy theories: A judge has dismissed a $12-million defamation lawsuit against more than 20 journalists, medical doctors and media outlets, saying it was intended to silence debate about the pandemic. Two Ontario doctors sued over comments published mostly on social media that accused them of spreading COVID-19 misinformation.
Quebec MP calls on Jean Charest to run for Conservative leadership: Gérard Deltell, a prominent Conservative MP from Quebec, is urging Jean Charest to seek the leadership of the federal party, saying the former premier has the best political skills to defeat the governing Liberals.
Ontario to legislate minimum wage for gig workers: The Ontario government is set to announce plans on Monday to force companies in the gig economy to provide workers with a minimum wage of $15 and to disclose more about how the apps they use operate.
Listen to The Decibel: Behind the food fight over rising grocery prices: The Globe’s Susan Krashinsky Roberston, who covers the retail industry, joins the podcast to break down the dispute between Frito-Lay and Loblaw and why a lot more of these tough negotiations might be going on behind closed doors.
MORNING MARKETS
Global markets fall, crude jumps: World stocks slid, oil prices jumped and the ruble tanked to record lows on Monday, as the West ramped up sanctions against Russia for its attack on Ukraine that included blocking banks from the SWIFT global payments system. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 1.42 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 fell 2.73 per cent and 3.26 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.19 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.24 per cent. New York futures were down. The Canadian dollar was trading at 78.35 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Doug Ford has to be a key witness for the Emergencies Act inquiries
“When there is a big emergency, Ontario is supposed to have a ladder of possible responses. An overwhelmed police chief can turn to the Ontario Provincial Police commissioner, and an OPP commissioner who is at a loss should notify the solicitor-general, a provincial cabinet minister. Did anyone on that ladder affirm there was nothing they could do without more powers?” - Campbell Clark
Russians in the sports world are doing PR for Putin’s war machine
“We’re beginning to see why Russia prioritizes sports. The combination of a supine press, a highly invested customer base and the collective historical intelligence of a box of hammers make it the perfect place to do agitprop.” - Cathal Kelly
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
David Parkins/The Globe and Mail
MOMENT IN TIME: The attack on Nancy Kerrigan, 1994
Frame taken off ABC TV of skater Nancy Kerrigan as she grabs her right knee after she was attacked by a man after a practice in the U.S. National Figure Skating championships Jan. 6, 1994.ABC-TV via REUTER
For more than 100 years, photographers and photo editors working for The Globe and Mail have preserved an extraordinary collection of news photography. Every Monday, The Globe will feature one of these images. This month, we’re looking at memorable Winter Games stories.
At the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships in Detroit in January, 1994, Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed in the leg by a hired goon. A TV cameraman captured the anguished skater as she grabbed her right knee (pictured above). With a bruised, traumatized Kerrigan unable to compete, her rough-cut rival Tonya Harding won the championship. Eventually, facts emerged that the attack was arranged by associates of Harding. Nevertheless, she went on to participate in the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, the following month. On Feb. 25, with the soap opera-like scandal driving up television viewership, Harding cried over a snapped skate lace and finished eighth. Kerrigan won the silver medal. Harding later pled guilty to the charge of “conspiracy to hinder prosecution.” Brad Wheeler
Subscribers and registered users of globeandmail.com can dig deeper into our News Photo Archive at tgam.ca/newsphotoarchive
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