The governor of Ukraine's Kharkiv region said on Wednesday that evacuation of civilians was not immediately possible due to Russian shelling as the Kremlin slams oil sanctions imposed on it by the United States and some of its allies.
In Kherson, Ukraine's military high command said that members of Russia's National Guard have detained more than 400 people who protested against the occupation of their town by Russian forces.
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A man walks away from a destroyed apartment block in Kharkiv on Wednesday
(Photo: AFP)
"Due to the furious resistance of the residents of Kherson, the occupiers are attempting to introduce an administrative-police regime," it said in a statement.
In the meantime, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he had limited expectations of planned talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday.
Kuleba confirmed he would attend the talks in Turkey and urged Lavrov to approach them "in good faith, not from a propagandistic perspective."
"But I will say frankly that my expectations of the talks are low," Kuleba said in a video statement. "We are interested in a ceasefire, liberating our territories and the third point is to resolve all humanitarian issues."
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A woman is being carried over the rubble caused by Russian bombings in Irpin on Wednesday
(Photo: Reuters)
The Kremlin, meanwhile, accused the U.S. of declaring an economic war on Moscow, that was sowing mayhem through energy markets.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov put the U.S. on notice that it was thinking carefully how to respond to a ban on Russian oil and energy.
Russia's economy is facing the gravest crisis since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union after the West imposed crippling sanctions on almost entire Russian financial and corporate system following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Peskov cast the West's sanctions as "hostile bacchanalia" which had roiled global markets and pointedly warned that it was unclear how far turbulence on global energy markets would go.
"You see the bacchanalia, the hostile bacchanalia, which the West has sown - and that of course makes the situation very difficult and forces us to think seriously," Peskov said.
Asked about a ban on Russian oil and energy imports announced by U.S. President Joe Biden, Peskov said Russia had been, was and would be a reliable energy supplier.
"The situation demands a rather deep analysis - those decisions announced by President Biden," Peskov said. "If you are asking me what Russia is going to do - Russia is going to do what is necessary to defend its interests."
Meanwhile, European Union governments are preparing a new round of travel bans and asset freezes on some 100 Russians over the invasion of Ukraine and a decision could come later on Wednesday, the EU's top diplomat said.
"Member states are working on a package of sanctions, around 100 people responsible at different levels of government," Borrell told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
He said he hoped for agreement "by the end of this session today", without giving more details.