Russia-Ukraine live updates: Evacuation attempts resume; Zelensky calls Russian troops ‘war criminals’

The International Judo Federation removed Vladimir Putin and Arkady Rotenberg, an oligarch with a longtime connection to the Russian president, from “all positions” in the organization.

The federation announced the move Sunday night, and although the federation did not cite the invasion of Ukraine in its brief statement, the move comes a week after Putin had been suspended by the organization as its honorary president and ambassador because of the “ongoing war conflict in Ukraine.”

The judo organization, which has more than 200 national federation members, last month canceled the Grand Slam event in Kazan, Russia, that was set to be held in May. IJF President Marius Vizer said he was “saddened by the current international situation,” although the statement on the cancellation did not directly refer to Russia or Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine — Makeshift roadblocks have been installed throughout this capital to impede the movements of Russian troops snaking toward the city in a convoy about 15 miles away.

On some strategic thruways, Ukrainians have parked trams and buses to restrict driving access. Checkpoints to inspect IDs have also been established to root out would-be saboteurs. “We have a lot of presents” for the Russians, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an interview. “It’s not sweet. It’s very painful.”

The extended 40-mile parade of Russian armored vehicles, tanks and towed artillery headed from the north on a path toward Kyiv has both alarmed and befuddled watchers of this expanding war. It’s not just its sheer size. It’s also because for days, it has not appreciably been moving.

In Kyiv, the approaching convoy has mustered much more inspiration than fear, motivating residents to exact revenge on the Russian invasion in any way they can.

LONDON — British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Tuesday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not going as it had planned and said there had been “large scales” of Russian troops killed in the conflict.

“It’s not going particularly well for the Russians,” Wallace told Britain’s Sky News. “It’s day 13, way off their timetable.”

“Probably the biggest single casualty so far are Russian military soldiers,” he added, “who have been let down by appalling leadership and appalling plans.”

Wallace also said the 40-mile convoy of Russian military vehicles headed from the north toward Kyiv was “still stuck” outside Ukraine’s capital. American officials attribute the apparent stall in part to logistical failures on the Russian side. They have also credited Ukrainian attacks on parts of the convoy with contributing to its slowdown. But they warn that the Russians could regroup at any moment and press forward.

“We can see that the Russians are having real logistic problems, so that affects morale; they’re not getting through, they’re getting more desperate,” Wallace added. “Russia has built itself a trap.”

Wallace also said that Britain was “increasing our support of both lethal and nonlethal aid to Ukraine,” and that it would offer military support to Ukraine’s neighbor and the U.K.’s fellow NATO member Poland if it decided to provide Ukraine with fighter jets.

“I would support the Poles and whatever choice they make,” Wallace said, but he noted that Britain could not offer aircraft that the Ukrainians would be able to use. “Poland will understand that the choices they make will not only directly help Ukraine, which is a good thing, but also may bring them into direct line of fire from countries such as Russia or Belarus.”

Later on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will make a rare address to British lawmakers in Parliament. He addressed the U.S. Congress on Saturday. Wallace said he expected Zelensky’s speech to be “incredibly powerful” and called Ukraine’s president an “amazing guy.”

LONDON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will address the British Parliament on Tuesday via video, the first time that a speech from a foreign leader will be broadcast directly into the House of Commons chamber.

In previous speeches to Western leaders, Zelensky has struck an emotional and defiant tone. When he spoke to members of the U.S. Congress last week over Zoom, he told the politicians that it may be the last time they see him alive.

He has called on the West to do more to halt Russia’s invasion of his country by imposing tougher sanctions, including against its energy sector. He has also urged nations to send more defense assistance, including jets his pilots can operate, and called for NATO enforcement of a no-fly zone over Ukraine, something Western leaders have resisted.

Russia is threatening to cut the flow of gas to Europe through a major pipeline if pushed, a senior Kremlin minister warned, leaving countries facing oil prices of more than $300 per barrel.

“It is absolutely clear that a rejection of Russian oil would lead to catastrophic consequences for the global market,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in a statement Monday on state television.

“The surge in prices would be unpredictable. It would be $300 per barrel, if not more,” he said.

After Germany decided to pause the opening of its Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea and directly links Russian gas to Europe via Germany, Novak said Russia had “every right to take a matching decision and impose an embargo on gas pumping through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.”

“So far we are not taking such a decision,” he added. “But European politicians with their statements and accusations against Russia push us toward that.”

Russia, the world’s third-largest energy producer, supplies about 40 percent of Europe’s gas, according to Reuters, and global oil markets have shot up to hit record highs in response to the crisis in Ukraine.

The Biden administration has pushed its allies to support a ban on Russian oil imports. European Union leaders will meet in Versailles, France, on Thursday to discuss the possibility of phasing out the bloc’s dependency on Russian energy and how to boost their joint defense capabilities.

Western oil companies ditching Russia is a new twist on a familiar pattern

Ukraine’s State Customs Service said Monday that citizens seeking safe haven in other European countries should prioritize transiting through Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Moldova, where checkpoints are empty or free of large crowds. The land crossings into Poland are among the most congested, the agency warned.

According to a map created by the customs authorities, which is updated regularly with information on the capacity of the checkpoints, several locations along the borders with Moldova and Romania had no pedestrians and at most 130 vehicles as of Monday. At the same time, one land crossing near Poland saw about 1,300 cars and 1,600 people trying to exit Ukraine on foot.

Since the start of the Russian invasion nearly two weeks ago, Poland has taken in more than 1 million of the 1.7 million refugees fleeing Ukraine, according to the most recent data from the United Nations high commissioner for refugees.

Like many other European countries, Poland has opened its doors to a historic wave of displaced people, many of whom are women and children. Able-bodied men between 18 and 60 are prohibited from leaving Ukraine under martial law so they can fight the Russian troops. Polish volunteers and community leaders have stepped up to help the refugees, restoring old railroads, opening more pathways and finding housing and food.

ODESSA — Talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials ended without a breakthrough Monday, and safe passage from cities under attack remained elusive, as the 12-day-old war continued to create a humanitarian catastrophe.

Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv and Mariupol were under bombardment, and some civilians were being hit as they attempted to flee, according to a senior U.S. defense official who spoke on the condition of anonymity under terms set by the Pentagon. The official cautioned that the United States could not say with authority whether those civilians were being targeted intentionally.

Efforts to establish evacuation corridors for noncombatants have faltered in recent days, even as the onslaught has left hundreds of thousands of residents without water, heat or natural gas. Ukraine accused Russia of disrupting two attempts to allow civilians to leave over the weekend and allow much-needed supplies to be brought in. On Monday, the government rejected a proposal by Moscow to move residents of besieged cities toward Russia.

Among executives, board members, analysts and others in the business world, a “who’s who” list has been floating around in recent days showing which companies have pulled out of Russia amid its attack on Ukraine and which companies have stayed the course.

The list, compiled by Yale University professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his research team, has become a naughty-or-nice list of sorts, with CEOs trying their best to avoid being placed on the roster of “companies that remain in Russia with significant exposure.”

Sonnenfeld, who founded the Chief Executive Leadership Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on CEO leadership, said he has fielded calls from chief executives asking “why we didn’t have them on the right list, and what they needed to do to either clarify or actually take a more strong stance.”