Russia-Ukraine live updates: Putin puts nuclear forces on high alert; E.U. vows to shut down airspace to Russian planes

As tens of thousands scrambled to flee Ukraine, social media posts spread about African and Indian nationals being denied entry to Poland, prompting authorities in some countries to launch investigations.

Some travelers had reported being redirected to the back of the line, behind Ukrainians.

Ukrainian officials said border guards had been advised to allow all foreign nationals to leave the country as the conflict intensified, while Polish officials announced their own message: Anyone can enter from Ukraine.

“All nationals are given equal treatment and none are discriminated against,” the Polish Embassy in Nigeria said in a statement, adding that the situation at border crossings is “increasingly challenging and the time for a successful entry is longer with each passing day.”

Nigeria’s minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said he had heard from Nigerians who have waited three days to cross. One man told him that Ukrainians who had arrived later were allowed to flee faster.

“It is distressing,” Onyeama said. “It is difficult to know what to believe. There is a lot of chaos at the border areas.”

Other Nigerians have passed safely into Poland, Romania and Hungary without discrimination, he added.

Thousands of expatriates — many of them students — were in Ukraine when the fighting broke out. Nigeria, which counts 5,600 nationals in the country, has sent representatives to the main border crossings, Onyeama said, to help people find safety.

The tally of countries banning Russian aircraft from flying into and over their airspace grew on Sunday to include the entire European Union bloc amid a coordinated pushback against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Ahead of an announcement from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Germany said it would ban Russian aircraft and flight operators starting at 3 p.m. Sunday. It joined Italy, Norway, France, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and North Macedonia, which indicated on Sunday that they would move to close their airspace to Russian flights.

“Our European skies are open skies,” said Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on Twitter. “They’re open for those who connect people, not for those who seek to brutally aggress.”

From Sunday afternoon, under a notice issued by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure that is set to last at least three months, most Russian aircraft and aircraft operators will be barred from German airspace, with some exceptions, including flights carrying humanitarian aid.

Also on Sunday, Canada’s minister of transport, Omar Alghabra, said: “Effective immediately, Canada’s airspace is closed to all Russian aircraft operators. We will hold Russia accountable for its unprovoked attacks against Ukraine.”

Russia has so far retaliated by banning flights from at least nine countries. In various statements, the country’s Federal Agency for Air Transport called the moves by countries such as the United Kingdom and Romania to ban Russian flights “unfriendly.”

BERLIN — A few hours after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday announced a vast increase in the country’s defense spending, at least 100,000 people turned out in Berlin to protest the invasion and rally behind Ukraine.

They stretched from the Victory Column to the Brandenburg Gate — where the Berlin Wall once divided East and West. Ukrainian flags and colors were dominant, with some marchers holding signs denouncing Russian President Vladimir Putin and calling on NATO to enforce a no-fly zone. Many Germans welcomed the change in their government’s tone, but were disappointed it took so long.

“Olaf Scholz is two weeks too late with all these things,” said Henning Ramke, 31, of Berlin. “The government was always the last in Europe to stand behind Ukraine.”

During previous crises, including after the 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia, Germany had hesitated to swing more directly into confrontation with a country that helped defeat the Nazis. Germany’s deep economic relationship with Russia is decades old and, many critics say, has led to a foreign policy orthodoxy that long held back Europe from sharper criticism of the Kremlin.

One reason for Germany’s disappointing response, in the eyes of allies, has been the lack of public support until now. Polls have shown opposition to weapons deliveries or taking a harder line with Russia.

Thorsten Weiss shared that view. Then Russia invaded, which he called “inconceivable.”

“It’s a difficult situation for Germany. I was opposed at first, but have since found it good and the only way to do something against what’s happening,” the 60-year-old Berliner said.

Video verified by The Washington Post shows a snapshot of the battle between Ukrainian and Russian forces on Sunday in the city of Kharkiv, about 300 miles east of Kyiv. The battle for control of the country’s second-largest city was marked by intense street fighting.

The video shows Ukrainian soldiers, identified by the yellow on their uniforms, taking cover as a rapid gunfire rings out for several seconds. One fighter walks toward the camera, away from the shots, with a cigarette in his mouth and two AR-style rifles in either hand.

Then, about 15 seconds into the video, a Ukrainian fighter fires a high-explosive, antitank PG-7 warhead from a shoulder-fired rocket-propelled grenade launcher, according to a review of the footage by Mark Hiznay, associate director of the arms division of Human Rights Watch. The soldier fires two additional rockets from the launcher, identified as an RPG-7, over the next 30 seconds.

Other videos verified by The Post show a line of damaged, abandoned Russian military vehicles, identified by the letter Z painted on the back door, in the same area. Smoke engulfs one of the vehicles. Debris and glass from nearby buildings are scattered on the ground. The same group of Ukrainian soldiers are seen inspecting the vehicles and examining the ammunition and supplies that were left behind.

World Health Organization officials warned Sunday that the supply of lifesaving medical oxygen is “nearing a very dangerous point in Ukraine,” with trucks unable to transport supplies from plants to hospitals across the country and manufacturers facing shortages.

“The majority of hospitals could exhaust their oxygen reserves within the next 24 hours,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Henri P. Kluge said in a statement. “Some have already run out. This puts thousands of lives at risk.”

Oxygen is critical for patients, from newborns to older adults with myriad conditions, including complications of pregnancy, childbirth, sepsis, injuries and trauma. Ukraine also has 1,700 people hospitalized with covid-19, which sometimes requires oxygen support.

In addition to the looming oxygen shortages, hospital services are being threatened by power shortages. Ambulances carrying patients face the risk of being caught in crossfire.

With the WHO’s support, Ukraine had made major strides in strengthening its health system through a reform program in recent years, the statement said. Hospitals were supported with supplies, technical know-how and infrastructure investments. The nation’s progress is now at risk because of the current crisis, according to the WHO.

The WHO said it is working to ensure a supply of oxygen, with potential solutions including importing oxygen through Poland.

“It is imperative to ensure that lifesaving medical supplies — including oxygen — reach those who need them,” the statement said.

British oil giant BP said it will “exit” its 20 percent stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, in one of the biggest signs yet of the Western business world cutting ties over the Kremlin’s actions.

BP’s two representatives on Rosneft’s board are also resigning, the company said.

“Russia’s attack on Ukraine is an act of aggression which is having tragic consequences across the region. BP has operated in Russia for over 30 years, working with brilliant Russian colleagues. However, this military action represents a fundamental change. It has led the BP board to conclude, after a thorough process, that our involvement with Rosneft, a state-owned enterprise, simply cannot continue,” BP chairman Helge Lund said in a statement Sunday.

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European leaders on Sunday announced strong new measures in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including closing E.U. skies to Russian aircraft, blocking some Russian media and financing weapons for Kyiv.

The EU said that for the first time, it would “finance the purchase and delivery of weapons to a country under attack,” in this case, Ukraine.

The European Union also announced that it plans to sanction Belarus for aiding Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The E.U. will block Belarus exports to the E.U. of mineral fuels, tobacco, wood, timber, cement, iron and steel, among other restrictions.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said at a news conference in Brussels that E.U. airspace will now be closed to all Russian owned, registered or controlled aircraft, including “the private jets of oligarchs.”

The bloc of 27 nations plans to ban media outlets Sputnik, Russia Today and their subsidiaries so that they can “no longer spread lies to justify Putin’s war,” she said. “For the first time ever, we will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment for a country that is under attack,” she added.

“As the war in Ukraine rages on, and Ukrainians fight bravely for their country, the European Union steps up once more its support for Ukraine and the sanctions against the aggressor — Putin’s Russia,” Von der Leyen said.

After facing criticism for not moving swiftly enough, the E.U. has taken a series of steps to target Russia’s economy, unveiling two rounds of sanctions and plans for a third.

The E.U.’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Sunday in the news conference with Von der Leyen, that Europe was responding to requests from Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, who last week urged officials to do more.