March 1, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

At least six people were injured, including a child, in an explosion in Ukraine's second biggest city, Kharkiv, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said in a Telegram post Tuesday. 

The blast destroyed a government building, according to videos of the incident posted by the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and Ukrainian government officials. The clips were posted on social media early Tuesday local time and have been verified by CNN. 

A separate video posted by Kostiantyn Nemichev, the Head of Defense Staff of Kharkiv, showed the aftermath of the purported strike, including the inside of the building which had been reduced to rubble. 

The Regional State Administration building houses local government offices. It is located in "Freedom Square" — the main square of Kharkiv and an architectural landmark.

Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, also shared a video on his official Telegram account taken from street level at Freedom Square. The video shows the site of the explosion, and the debris on the ground where the Kharkiv Regional State Administration building once stood. 

The Indian Embassy in Kyiv has asked its citizens to "urgently" leave the Ukrainian capital, as Russia's military convoy closes in on the city. 

Less than 24 hours earlier, the embassy had advised Indian citizens to “remain calm, peaceful and united,” asking them to remain patient as large crowds were expected at railway stations.

Tuesday's announcement comes after reports of Indian students allegedly being harassed while trying to cross Ukraine's border into neighboring countries.

In response to a question about the alleged harassment, Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs, said during a news conference Monday they continue to speak to the ambassadors of both Russia and Ukraine to ensure the safety of Indians.

India's announcement comes as a Russian military convoy made up of armored vehicles, tanks, towed artillery and other logistical vehicles reached the capital's outskirts Tuesday, according to satellite images from Maxar Technologies. 

Russia has banned aircraft registered in Switzerland from entering its airspace, the country's federal aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya, said in a statement on Tuesday.

The move was in retaliation for a similar move by Switzerland, the statement said.

Swiss sanctions: Switzerland would forego its commitment to "Swiss neutrality" in favor of adopting sanctions against Russia, Swiss President Ignazio Cassis said Monday, adding that Bern's measures would be in line with those already adopted by the European Union.

The sanctions include closing Swiss airspace to all flights from Russia, including private jets, with the exception of humanitarian flights, search flights and emergency situations.

China has started evacuating its citizens from Ukraine, state media said.

Some 400 students based in the Black Sea Port city of Odessa, and another 200 from the capital, Kyiv, left the country on Monday, according to state-run tabloid Global Times, which cited the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine. Another 1,000 citizens are expected to be evacuated into neighboring countries on Tuesday, it added.

Plans for charter flights to get Chinese citizens out were put hold over the weekend as fighting intensified, with the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine citing security risks.

Unlike nationals from many other countries, Chinese nationals in Ukraine did not receive instructions to leave the country before Russia's invasion began. Prior to Russia's attack, Chinese officials pushed back on warnings from the United States and its allies that an aggressive move from Moscow was imminent.

China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Monday defended Beijing's approach, saying the ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine “issued relevant safety warnings in a timely manner.”

There are about 6,000 Chinese nationals in Ukraine, according to state media.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin rattles the West with nuclear threats, President Joe Biden faces an even tougher-than-expected task in Tuesday's State of the Union address.

He must recognize the fatigue, suffering and pessimism in a nation exhausted by the Covid-19 pandemic, rocked by rising inflation and high gas prices and now suddenly thrown by Russia's invasion of Ukraine into the worst geopolitical crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Then he must somehow conjure optimism about better times to come ahead of this year's midterms as he faces ebbing confidence among Americans that he has the plans, skills and endurance to end the crises.

At the same time, the President needs to send a message of US resolve amid fears the Ukraine crisis could spin out of control and trigger a direct clash with Russia, which has the world's most nuclear warheads. But any further escalation with Putin, who on Sunday ordered his nuclear deterrent to higher alert, carries significant risks.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine shattered 30 years of relative peace in Europe after the end of the Cold War. The battle for Ukraine is the first real fight in the new war for dominance between autocracy and democracy, which the President has long predicted.

Biden faces a rhetorical balancing act. He needs to avoid the impression that his role as the leader of the free world is distracting him from economic pain, rising crime, and the cascade of domestic crises that he inherited and promised to fix but has not yet done so.

The unpromising political environment for Democrats — partly bequeathed by a President whose approval rating has dipped to 40% in CNN's average of the most recent national polls — is already playing out in nascent 2022 election campaigns around the country, where Democrats are finding out that strong job growth and an economic bounce-back despite the Omicron wave are being disguised by rising prices of basic goods. The Ukraine crisis is only driving gas prices higher.

Read the full analysis:

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Analysis: Biden addresses an anxious world as Putin makes nuclear threats

Taiwan will join moves to block some Russian banks from the SWIFT international payments system “in lockstep” with Western countries, Premier Su Tseng-chang told reporters Tuesday.

In addition, Taiwan will “scrutinize” products exported to Russia in accordance with the Wassenaar Arrangement — which regulates export controls for weapons and dual-use goods and technologies, economic affairs minister Wang Mei-hua told lawmakers.

Such exports won't be permitted “unless there are legitimate reasons," he said.

Wang acknowledged that Taiwan’s trade with Russia is minimal, but said major Taiwanese chipmakers have all pledged to comply with government policies and relevant regulations. “We will announce specific measures in due course,” she said.  

Taiwan accounts for more than half of the world's output of semiconductor chips.

Separately, Taiwan sent 27 tons of medical supplies to Ukraine on Monday.  

Read more about the SWIFT sanctions here.

Just hours after their wedding on the first day of Russia's invasion, Yaryna Arieva and Sviatoslav Fursin joined the fight to protect their country.

The couple were due to get married in May but rushed to tie the knot in Kyiv last week when Russia invaded, before joining the Ukrainian resistance.

Wearing camouflage jackets and holding a rifle, the couple told CNN's Don Lemon about spending their honeymoon living in a city under siege and taking up arms to fight against Russian troops invading their homeland.

She said it's the first day of spring and usually people would be sowing sunflowers — Ukraine’s national flower — instead, they will be resisting Russia's attack. 

Her husband, Fursin, was born in the western city of Lviv and said his "people always want to be free. These people are ready to fight for their freedom."

Going on combat missions, he is worried for the safety of his family — his wife, parents and sister — but said he "will do everything to protect them."

Arieva said she is working every day and though it's "hard waiting for my husband to come back from combat missions," everyone is helping each other.

The couple called on the international community to help Ukraine with money, food, weapons, and medical assistance and to place more sanctions on Russia.

Fursin said he hopes the time will come soon when he can gather his family and friends "all in one place and drink a good glass of wine. And say to everybody, 'Hurray, war is ended, we won.'"

Before that time, though, he said he wants "everybody in this world, including Russia and the Russian people, to remember" that they are fighting "for the freedom of the world."

The US Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has called for a "complete ban on international sport participation" for Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

USOPC said the ban should be effective immediately and be inclusive of the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, which begin on March 4.

South Korea will provide $10 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine as the Russian invasion continues, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said.

The ministry said the support will be made through consultations with the governments of Ukraine, neighboring countries and international organizations.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday ordered the government to rapidly come up with humanitarian support for Ukraine.