March 1, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain declined to say Tuesday if US President Joe Biden will announce any “concrete military steps” against Russia at tonight’s State of the Union addressing, telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in an interview Biden will highlight, “what he has assembled, which is an unprecedented coalition — NATO plus our EU partners, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan — to do two things: to provide all kinds of aid…and also coming together with unprecedented sanctions against the country as large as Russia.” 

Klain also declined to weigh in on Putin’s mental state, only telling CNN Putin “has done something now that he has not done to this extent before, which is launch a completely unprovoked unjustified invasion of a country as large and as significant as Ukraine.” 

Earlier Tuesday, CNN reported the US intelligence community has made evaluating Russian President Vladimir Putin's state of mind a top priority in recent days as it seeks to establish how that is affecting his handling of the rapidly escalating Ukraine crisis, according to two sources familiar with the effort.

Klain pointed to the sanctions in effect already following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, indicating that the actions have already garnered Biden praise from allies and political opponents alike,

“It’s hard to impose sanctions like that on a country as big as Russia, it's hard to pull everyone together to do that, and I think that's why you're seeing both Democrats and Republicans, including people who have not been big fans of Joe Biden previously, saying that this effort, this global effort to punish Putin and punish his regime is tighter and stronger than they ever expected,” he said.

Follow our live coverage of Biden's State of the Union address here.

The United States has begun the process of expelling a 13th Russian “intelligence operative” for allegedly abusing “their privileges of residence” in the US, according to a US official.

The individual is a United Nations staff member, the official said. On Monday, Deputy US Ambassador Richard Mills confirmed that they had asked 12 Russian UN diplomats to leave the country due to their alleged engagement in “activities that were not in accordance with their responsibilities and obligations as diplomats.”

UN Secretary-General spokesperson Stephane Dujarric also announced the additional expulsion during a news briefing Tuesday.

More context: Section 13(b) of the UN-US Headquarters Agreement states that if a diplomat or UN staffer abuses their residence privileges outside of their official capacity, they will not be exempt from United States laws and regulations regarding their continued residence.

CNN has also reached out to the US State Department for more information.

CNN’s Kylie Atwood contributed reporting to this post.

A missile hit a private maternity clinic near Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday, according to the Adonis maternity clinic chief Vitaliy Gyrin's Facebook post. 

Gyrin also specifically asked people not to come to the clinic, "Most important is do not come now to get anyone from here. Everyone is in a secure place and in safety. This is for sure."

Gyrin also posted photos on his Facebook page that show the damaged building of the Adonis clinic.

Russian media outlet Russia Today (RT) will no longer be available on Sky in the UK, British Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced Tuesday.

"The French satellite which broadcasts Russia Today (RT) in both the EU and UK will be switched off. This means RT will no longer be available via Sky," Dorries tweeted.

"Putin’s polluting propaganda machine will now have severely restricted access into British homes via our TV screens," she added.

You can see Dorries' tweet here:

Turkey says Russia's "maximalist" and "unreasonable" demands of Ukraine will not help ceasefire talks at this point.

The comments come from Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin, who spoke with CNN’s Becky Anderson on Tuesday.

Turkey, which has a line of communication open with Russia, said Putin increasing his military assault on Ukraine will not “realistically” help upcoming negotiations, Kalin said.

“For today, to reach an agreement for a ceasefire, [Russia’s demands] are rather larger political issues that will no help the ceasefire talks at this point,” Kalin added.

Kalin noted that Turkey remains optimistic for the next round of talks which he said will be over the course of “the next couple of days,” but expressed concern over the continuation of the conflict, which could have ramifications for years to come.

“The first meeting took place yesterday.. and there were some good signs and hopefully, the next meeting will take place within the next couple of days,” Kalin said.

Turkey said the issue will be resolved at some point, but the impact and consequences from the Russian invasion will be “with us in the years to come.”

“We don’t want to exclude anybody and that is why we are keeping lines of communication open with Russia,” he added.

Highlighting the country’s close economic ties with Moscow, Kalin said Turkey has no plans of applying sanctions on Russia.

“We are not planning to apply any sanctions to Russia at this point, because we don't want our economy to be affected negatively by this,” he said.

US President Biden in his first State of the Union address tonight will blast Russian President Vladimir Putin for a “premeditated and unprovoked” war, according to excerpts released by the White House. 

More background: The initial excerpts provided by the White House showed how the speech has evolved in recent days as a result of invasion of Ukraine.

The annual speech also marks an opportunity for him to speak directly to the American people about his vision to build a better country, demonstrating how he'll lead America out of the Covid-19 pandemic, into an economic recovery and through the ramifications of a war between Ukraine and Russia.

Follow our live coverage of Biden's State of the Union address here.

CNN's Maegan Vazquez contributed reporting to this post.

Moshe Reuven Azman, the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, has condemned the missile attack close to the Babyn Yar memorial in Kyiv, saying three missiles hit the area. 

"War crimes are taking place here," he said in a video statement on his Facebook page.

"The Russian army, which fought the fascists in 1941, is bombing the civilians of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa. Just now the Babyn Yar was shelled. Three missiles hit the place."

"Babyn Yar - this is symbolic. Babyn Yar is a place where 200,000 innocent elderly, women and kids lie," he added. 

Between 1941 and 1943, the Nazis shot tens of thousands of people at Babyn Yar, including almost the entire Jewish population of Kyiv, according to the memorial's official website.

"I’m constantly receiving calls from Jews, not just Jews, Ukrainians and Russians from all over Kyiv asking for help," the Rabbi said. 

"They need humanitarian aid. Every day I’m trying to help. The elderly [are] calling saying they don’t have the necessary medicines, mothers [are] calling saying they don’t have food for kids, they are suffering from the shelling." 

Azman's Facebook video continued with the Rabbi pledging to no longer keep quiet amid the violence.

"I’ve kept silent for a long time, I will not anymore. I address you, dear Russians, dear Jews, everybody who’s not indifferent: those, who silently agree with what’s happening or those who stay indifferent - are complicit in this military crime. crime against humanity. I’m only saying what I see. I’m not afraid to die. I could never imagine in my worst nightmare that I could die under Russian shelling."

Ford is suspending their operations in Russia, effective immediately, the company announced Tuesday. The motor company has a 50% stake in Ford Sollers, a joint venture between the American automaker and Russian company Sollers.

The announcement comes after Ford said earlier today they were “deeply concerned about the situation in Ukraine” but did not go so far as to stop operations in the three Russian cities where the company has plants: St. Petersburg, Elabuga and Naberezhnye Chelny.

“As part of the global community, Ford is deeply concerned about the invasion of Ukraine and the resultant threats to peace and stability. The situation has compelled us to reassess our operations in Russia,” the statement said.

The company notes they have “significantly wound down” their Russian operations in recent years — but the joint venture employs at least 4,000 people. And the three plants together produce the Ford Focus, Ford EcoSport, and Ford Transit, Kuga, Explorer, S-MAX and Galaxy, according to Ford's website.

Ford says they are making a $100,000 donation to the Global Giving Ukraine Relief Fund, for Ukrainians and their families who have been displaced during the invasion.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague will hold public hearings starting Monday next week over claims of genocide in Ukraine.

In a statement Tuesday, the ICJ said public hearings will be held next Monday and Tuesday regarding “the case concerning Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russian Federation).”  

In its application to institute proceedings against Russia, Ukraine said Russia has “falsely claimed that acts of genocide have occurred” in the separatist regions of Luhansk and Donetsk, adding Russia then subsequently declared and implemented a “special military operation” against Ukraine, according to an earlier ICJ news release.

Ukraine denied these claims in its application and accused Russia of “planning acts of genocide" in the country, according to the news release.

The hearings will be held at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court, and will be devoted to Ukraine’s request for the indication of provisional measures, the statement said. 

In a separate statement Tuesday, the ICJ said the President of the International Court of Justice, Judge Joan E. Donoghue, has sent “an urgent communication” to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

The communication said, “I have the honour to refer to the Request for the indication of provisional measures filed in the proceedings instituted by Ukraine against the Russian Federation on 26 February 2022. Acting in conformity with Article 74, paragraph 4, of the Rules of Court, I hereby call the attention of the Russian Federation to the need to act in such a way as will enable any order the Court may make on the request for provisional measures to have its appropriate effects.”

The ICJ said Tuesday that in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the hearings next week will be held in a hybrid format. It said some Members of the Court will attend the oral proceedings in person in the Great Hall of Justice while others will participate remotely by video link.