Russia-Ukraine live updates: Biden will go to Europe next week for NATO summit; European leaders travel to Kyiv

Videos shared Tuesday and verified by The Washington Post show Russian trucks driving through the southern city of Kherson, one of the first regions targeted by Russian troops when they invaded Ukraine. Three of the vehicles in the convoy appear to be equipped with multiple rocket launcher systems and are traveling with support vehicles and resupply trucks carrying additional rockets.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said Tuesday that Russian troops gained control of the region. Russia may seek to stage a “referendum” in Kherson to legitimize the area as a “breakaway republic,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said.

Ukrainians in Kherson have been protesting Russian military control for at least the past week. Videos show people marching through streets and chanting “Kherson is Ukraine” on Sunday.

In the videos posted Tuesday, the streets appear quiet — a stark contrast to the scenes of protests from just a few days ago. A few people walk past the commercial shops with shopping bags, taking notice of the Russian trucks but continuing on their way.

A real-time information war is playing out among Ukrainian and Russian freelancers on internal communication channels operated by Toptal, a San Francisco-based global hiring firm.

The heated debates about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and misinformation are forcing Toptal to moderate sensitive geopolitical conversations. It is also facing criticism from pro-Ukraine freelancers who want the company to take a stronger stance on the war. Toptal’s situation is a microcosm of the war playing out in workplaces and highlights the difficulties global companies must navigate when dealing with employees in a war zone.

“It’s not just a war with guns; it’s an informational war,” said Alexander, a software architect who uses Toptal and is living in a basement in the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv. Alexander spoke on the condition that his surname not be used, for the safety of family members who joined the military.

President Biden signed a $1.5 trillion government spending bill Tuesday that will provide $13.6 billion in additional military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine as it continues to fend off attacks from Russia.

“With this bill, we’re going to send a message to the American people, a strong message that Democrats and Republicans actually come together and get something done right now and to fulfill our most basic responsibilities to keep the government open and running for the American people,” the president said.

The bill, which will fund the government for the current fiscal year, was months behind schedule. But Republicans and Democrats were able to come together to move forward with it amid mutual desires to take more-aggressive steps to help Ukraine fight off Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the Eastern European country.

About half of the aid designated for Ukraine would arm those fighting the Russians as well as fund the Pentagon’s costs for sending U.S. troops to countries bordering Ukraine. The rest of the funding will provide humanitarian and economic assistance while also protecting their energy supplies and cybersecurity needs.

“We’ve already committed more than $1.2 billion in security assistance to the people of Ukraine just over the past year,” Biden said, noting that the U.S. government has been providing equipment directly to Ukrainian forces. “And we’re also facilitating significant shipments of security assistance from our allied partners to Ukraine with this new security funding.”

ISTANBUL — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Turkey’s foreign minister would travel to Russia for talks Wednesday and to Ukraine on Thursday, as Ankara intensifies its efforts to broker a cease-fire between Moscow and Kyiv.

The conflict between the two countries has left Turkey in a precarious spot. It considers Ukraine an ally, has supplied armed drones to Kyiv and condemned the Russia invasion as illegal. Turkey also has important commercial and energy ties to Russia. And more than 100 Turkish citizens remain trapped in besieged Mariupol, sheltering in a mosque.

Turkey has already carried out evacuations of nearly 15,000 of its citizens from Ukraine, but a few hundred remain, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday during a news conference in Ankara. He said he had spoken to both Russia and Ukraine about getting the Turkish nationals out of Mariupol. “Conditions for the evacuations from Mariupol are slowly forming; we are waiting for the good news today or tomorrow,” he said.

Last week, Turkey hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart for talks that ended with no breakthrough. Erdogan, speaking during a visit to Turkey on Monday by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said the two leaders had “agreed that diplomatic efforts for a solution should be accelerated.”

TORONTO — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other Canadian lawmakers to support a no-fly zone over his country, asking them to imagine what it would be like if bombs were raining down on cities such as Vancouver and landmarks such as the CN Tower.

“Justin, can you imagine?” Zelensky queried the Canadian prime minister during a historic address to the Canadian Parliament, asking him to imagine what it would be like to have to explain the din of air raid sirens to his children. “Of course, I don’t wish this on anyone. But this is our reality.”

Zelensky appeared virtually for the address, which was greeted with thunderous applause and chants of “Glory to Ukraine” from a packed House of Commons. Many Canadian lawmakers wore yellow-and-blue flags on their lapels.

The Ukrainian president thanked Canada for the humanitarian assistance and lethal military aid it has provided, as well as for the sanctions it has imposed on Russian people and businesses. But, he added, “unfortunately, this did not bring an end to the war.”

“Can you imagine when you call your friends … and you ask: ‘Please close the sky. Close the airspace. Please stop the bombings. How many more cruise missiles have to fall on our cities until you make this happen?’ and they in turn express their deep concerns about this situation,” Zelensky said.

Trudeau has previously rejected pleas for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, citing fears of an escalation in the conflict.

Before Zelensky’s address, Trudeau noted the ties between Ukraine and Canada, which is home to the largest Ukrainian diaspora population outside of Russia. He praised Zelensky as a “champion” of democracy and said Canada likes to “root for the underdog.”

“We believe that when a cause is just and right, it will always prevail,” Trudeau said, “no matter the size of the opponent.”

He also said that Canada on Tuesday had imposed sanctions on 15 more Russian officials, including “government and military elites, who are complicit in this illegal war.”

Russia on Tuesday banned Trudeau and several of his top cabinet officials, including Canada’s foreign affairs and defense ministers, from travel to Russia. Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s deputy prime minister, who has Ukrainian roots, has been banned since 2014 in retaliation for sanctions imposed by Canada after Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

A day after she burst onto a live news broadcast on Russian state television holding a sign denouncing the war in Ukraine, producer Marina Ovsyannikova has been found guilty of organizing an illegal protest and fined 30,000 rubles (about $280), although it’s not clear whether further charges against her will be pursued.

The charges, brought about by a Moscow court, were related to her video address prompting others to protest, as well, not for interrupting the TV broadcast.

Ovsyannikova appeared on the set of Russian state TV’s flagship Channel One evening news program Monday, chanting “Stop the war!” and denouncing government “propaganda” — a striking moment of public protest as the Kremlin cracks down on any criticism of its invasion of Ukraine.

Before storming the set of Channel One, Ovsyannikova recorded a video message in which she said her father is Ukrainian and her mother is Russian. She described the war in Ukraine as a “crime” and urged Russian people to publicly demonstrate.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that he’s grateful for the help his nation has received but called on European leaders to do more to help his country fend off Russia’s invasion, asking for more weapons and heftier sanctions against Moscow. He also said it was apparent to him that Ukraine’s long-standing hope of entering NATO faces a closed door.

“It is clear that Ukraine is not a member of NATO — we understand this,” Zelensky said during a speech before the leaders of the Joint Expeditionary Force, a coalition of 10 nations focused on security in Northern Europe. “For years we heard about the apparently open door but have already also heard that we will not enter there, and these are truths and must be acknowledged.”

Ukraine’s potential membership in NATO has been a point of contention and one of the reasons wielded by Russia to justify its invasion. Since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, Ukraine has made joining NATO a priority. But the alliance, while having promised to add Ukraine as a member as far back as 2008, has not done so, though in 2021, NATO did reaffirm its intentions.

President Biden will travel to Belgium next week to participate in person at a March 24 summit at NATO headquarters in Brussels on “Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday.

The trip is also intended to “reaffirm our ironclad commitment to our NATO allies,” Psaki told reporters.

She said Biden’s trip will also include attendance at a scheduled European Council summit “to discuss our shared concerns about Ukraine, including transatlantic efforts to impose economic costs on Russia.”

In response to questions, Psaki would not say whether the trip might include a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or a stop in Poland, which is receiving a large share of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine.

“We’re still finalizing the trip at this point,” Psaki said.

The trip will follow visits to Europe by several top administration officials, including Vice President Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

During the White House briefing, Psaki also continued to argue against the value of the United States and allied countries creating a no-fly zone over Ukraine, an idea Zelensky has repeatedly advocated and is expected to raise again when he addresses the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.

“A no-fly zone is escalatory and could prompt a war with Russia, a major nuclear power,” she said.