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KYIV — Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened the existence of Ukrainian statehood as his army's invasion of the neighbour faces stiff resistance Sunday and his economy is increasingly asphyxiated by sanctions.

In the latest efforts to freeze Moscow out of the world economy, US-based card payment giants Visa and Mastercard announced they will suspend operations in Russia, while world leaders vowed to act over the intensifying onslaught.

"The current [Ukrainian] authorities must understand that if they continue to do what they are doing, they are putting in question the future of Ukrainian statehood," Putin said on Saturday.

"And if this happens, they will be fully responsible."

Since Russia's invasion 10 days ago, the economic and humanitarian toll of the war has spiralled, sending more than one million people fleeing Ukraine. Officials have reported hundreds of civilians killed and thousands wounded.

In a Facebook post on Sunday the Ukrainian military said it was engaged in "fierce battles" with Russian forces for the control of borders at the southern city of Mykolaiv and the Chernihiv in the north.

"The main efforts are focused on defending the city of Mariupol," it said, adding an operation by Ukrainian forces was also under way in the eastern part of the Donetsk region.

Mariupol officials said it would begin efforts from noon on Sunday to evacuate its civilian population, after earlier efforts were scuppered by ceasefire violations.

"From 1200 (1000 GMT) the evacuation of the civilian population begins," city officials said in a statement, which said a ceasefire was agreed with Russian-led forces surrounding the city.

The strategic city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea has for days been under siege and without electricity, food and water, with stop-start ceasefires.

Its mayor Vadim Boitchenko said in an interview published on YouTube “Mariupol no longer exists” and that thousands of people have been wounded.

“The situation is very difficult,” he said. “I ask our American and European partners: Help us, save Mariupol.”

The United Nations said that the number of people fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has topped 1.5 million, making it Europe’s “fastest growing refugee crisis” since World War II.

“More than 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine have crossed into neighbouring countries in 10 days, the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II,” it said in a statement on Twitter.

Planes appeal 

Kyiv has urged the West to boost military assistance to the besieged country, including warplanes, with President Volodymyr Zelensky pleading for Eastern European neighbours to provide Russian-made planes that his pilots are trained to fly.

Several US media reported Washington is working on a deal with Warsaw in which Poland would send Soviet-era aircraft to Ukraine in return for American F-16 fighter jets.

Putin meanwhile escalated warnings against NATO, threatening a wider war if a no-fly zone is set up.

While Zelensky criticized NATO for ruling out the no-fly zone, Putin spoke of “colossal and catastrophic consequences not only for Europe but also the whole world” if such a step was taken.

“Any movement in this direction will be considered by us as participation in an armed conflict by that country,” Putin said.

Hitting out at stiffening Western sanctions, the Russian leader said: “A lot of what we’re coming up against right now is a way of waging war against Russia.”

“The sanctions against Russia are akin to a declaration of war. But thank God we’re not at that point yet.”

Putin also dismissed rumours that the Kremlin was planning to declare martial law in Russia.

Cards cut 

Visa and Mastercard both announced they will suspend operations in Russia, the latest major American firms to join the business freeze-out of Moscow.

Mastercard said it made the decision over the “unprecedented nature of the current conflict and the uncertain economic environment”.

Visa meanwhile said that “effective immediately” it would “work with its clients and partners within Russia to cease all Visa transactions over the coming days”.

Visa and Mastercard had already announced that they were complying with US and international sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of its attack.

But Russia’s major banks, including its largest lender Sberbank and the Russia Central Bank, downplayed the effect the cards’ suspensions would have on their clients.

The war has already had serious global economic impacts, with the IMF warning that its effects would be “all the more devastating” should the conflict escalate.

Russia’s business and other contacts with the West have been steadily cut. Moscow has suspended all flights by flagship carrier Aeroflot, effective Tuesday.

Frenzied diplomacy 

As frantic, top-level diplomatic talks continued, Zelensky announced on Sunday that he spoke by phone with his US counterpart Joe Biden to discuss financial support and sanctions against Russia.

“The agenda included the issues of security, financial support for Ukraine and the continuation of sanctions against Russia,” Zelensky tweeted.

Hours earlier, the Ukrainian leader had addressed US lawmakers by video call, pleading for further funding and an embargo on Russian oil imports.

The American legislators promised an additional $10 billion aid package, but the White House has so far ruled out an oil ban, fearing it would ratchet up prices and hurt US consumers already stung by record inflation.

Weapons, ammunition and funds have poured into Ukraine from Western allies as they seek to bolster Kyiv against Moscow’s invasion.

Washington last week authorised $350 million of military equipment, the largest such package in US history.

While visiting Ukrainian refugees on the Polish border over the weekend, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was seeking $2.75 billion for the unfurling humanitarian crisis as nearly 1.4 million civilians have fled.

Closer to Kyiv 

Russian forces have been inching closer to the capital Kyiv in an assault that has become ever-more indiscriminate — and deadly.

Working-class towns such as Bucha and Irpin are in the line of fire, and air raids on Friday broke many people’s resolve to stay.

“They are bombing residential areas — schools, churches, big buildings, everything,” said accountant Natalia Dydenko, glancing back at the destruction she was leaving behind.

Dozens of civilians have been killed in Chernihiv. Those remaining live in craters or among ruins.

“There were corpses all over the ground,” a man who gave his name only as Sergei told AFP, as air raid sirens wailed. “They were queueing here for the pharmacy that’s just there, and they’re all dead.”

A defiant Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukrainian forces were counterattacking around Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, inflicting “such losses on the invaders that they have not seen even in their worst dream”.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was equally defiant, saying, “Ukraine is bleeding, but Ukraine has not fallen, and stands both feet on the ground... The myth of the unbeatable and almighty Russian army is already ruined.”

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — The death toll from a suicide attack at a Shiite mosque in northwest Pakistan rose to 62 overnight as police said on Saturday they would try to identify the bomber from two severed feet found at the scene.

Police also released CCTV footage of Friday’s attack showing a man dressed in a traditional shalwar kameez tunic shoot two policemen as he entered the mosque in the Kocha Risaldar area of Peshawar, around 190 kilometres from the capital Islamabad.

He then detonated a suicide vest packed with ball bearings that ripped through the building, crowded with people just moments before Friday prayers were due to start.

The Daesh group have claimed responsibility for the attack.

“There are seven bodies beyond recognition including two amputated feet which we believe are of the bomber,” Peshawar police chief Muhammad Ijaz Khan told AFP.

“We are trying to ascertain identity of the bomber through DNA testing.”

He said the death toll had risen to 62 — including seven children aged below 10.

It was the deadliest attack since July 2018, when a blast at an election rally killed 149 people — and was also claimed by the local chapter of the Daesh group.

Ijaz said officials were checking the biometric data of people who had recently crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan, where Daesh have previously planned attacks.

Peshawar — just 50 kilometres from the porous border with Afghanistan — was a frequent target of militants in the early 2010s but security has greatly improved in recent years.

Sunni majority Pakistan has recently been battling a resurgence of its domestic chapter of the Taliban, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

A one-month truce last year failed to hold and there are fears the TTP, which has targeted Shiite Muslims in the past, has been emboldened by the success of the Afghan Taliban.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad said in a video statement that police will “track them down in the next couple of days”.

Members of the local Shiite community, meanwhile, were sending bodies of victims to their home districts for burial.

The blast came on the first day of a cricket Test match in Rawalpindi between Pakistan and Australia, who have not toured the country in nearly a quarter of a century because of security concerns.

WASHINGTON — US lawmakers pledged in a video call on Saturday with Ukraine's president to provide a further $10 billion in assistance as the besieged country faces a Russian onslaught.

In the call with American legislators of both parties, President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated a plea for Russian-made planes.

The US Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, cited by a source briefed on the call, said Democrats and Republicans were "working very hard" towards passing the relief package.

"We will get that assistance of over $10 billion in economic, humanitarian and security assistance to the Ukrainian people quickly," he said.

The bipartisan effort was underlined by Republican Senator Steve Daines, who told Fox News after the call that lawmakers were "unified in our support for Ukraine".

"We need to pass this $10 billion relief package," he said, adding that half would go toward humanitarian aid and half would be in military assistance.

"They need more force on the ground," he said, as Russian units pressed their offensive in Ukraine for a tenth day.

Zelensky, wearing a military-green T-shirt and seated beside a Ukrainian flag, also urged Congress to bolster already broad sanctions on Russia, including on its oil and gas sector — a move some US lawmakers have also called for as the war in Ukraine intensifies.

But the White House has ruled this out so far, fearing it might cause rising oil prices to go up even more and hurt US consumers stung by record inflation.

Zelensky also “made a desperate plea for Eastern European countries to provide Russian-made planes” that Ukrainians are trained to fly, Schumer said in a statement after the call, adding he would work to “help the administration to facilitate their transfer”.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham underscored that NATO countries had such warplanes.

“They are waiting to be delivered and apparently the United States is part of the problem not the solution,” Graham said in a video posted on Twitter.

“With planes and drones, President Zelensky indicated that Ukraine would be a more effective fighting force. So let’s get them the planes and drones they need.”

Last week, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said EU countries were willing to send fighter jets to Ukraine.

But no planes have yet been delivered, with the countries concerned — Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia — expressing hesitancy over the move.

KYIV — Russian President Valdimir Putin on Saturday warned the West of a wider war if a no-fly zone is set up, as his forces resumed an offensive against a key Ukrainian city where a planned evacuation of residents failed to take place over security fears.

With his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky criticising NATO for ruling out a no-fly zone for fear of sparking nuclear conflict, Putin spoke of "colossal and catastrophic consequences not only for Europe but also the whole world", if such a zone was set up.

"Any movement in this direction will be considered by us as participation in an armed conflict by that country," Putin said.

For Zelensky, on day 10 of the invasion, under an escalating bombardment that has flattened more and more infrastructure and sent nearly 1.4 million civilians fleeing for their lives, the Western military alliance's "no" to a no-fly zone had essentially given "the green light for further bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages".

The strategic city of Mariupol proudly resisted Moscow-backed rebels during a 2014 conflict, but the Azov Sea port has for days been without electricity, food and water in the dead of winter and people began gathering for the evacuation.

After Russia’s defence ministry declared the ceasefire — to open a humanitarian corridor out of the war’s fiercest battles — officials said the city’s 450,000-strong population could begin to leave by bus and private cars.

However, city officials then called a delay in the evacuation, saying: “The Russian side does not adhere to the ceasefire and has continued shelling both Mariupol itself and its environs, and for security reasons, the evacuation of the civilian population has been postponed.”

Russia later announced the assault was back on.

“Due to the unwillingness of the Ukrainian side to influence nationalists or extend the ceasefire, offensive actions have been resumed,” at 15:00 GMT a Russian defence ministry spokesman said.

The siege came as more Russian forces inched closer to the capital.

The western edge of Kyiv bears witness to a human tragedy whose scale grows ever greater as Russia’s assault becomes more determined and indiscriminate.

Working class towns such as Bucha and Irpin are in the line of fire and air raids on Friday broke many people’s resolve to stay.

“Warplanes. They are bombing residential areas — schools, churches, big buildings, everything,” said accountant Natalia Dydenko said after a quick glance back at the destruction she left behind.

Dozens of civilians have been killed in assaults on the northern town Chernihiv. Those remaining live among the town’s ruins and in craters.

Scenes of devastation 

“There were corpses all over the ground,” Sergei told AFP, as air raid sirens wailed once more. “They were queueing here for the pharmacy that’s just there and they’re all dead.”

AFP reporters saw scenes of devastation — despite Moscow’s insistence it is not targeting civilian areas.

Zelensky remains defiant, announcing on Saturday that Ukrainian forces were counterattacking around Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city, which has seen Russian incursions and fierce bombardments.

“We inflict such losses on the invaders that they have not seen even in their worst dream,” he said.

Since Putin’s army invaded on February 24, Russia has pummelled Ukrainian cities, with officials reporting hundreds of civilians killed. Europe’s largest atomic power plant has even come under attack sparking fears of a catastrophic nuclear accident.

But Moscow has so far only seized two key cities in its 10-day-long invasion — Berdiansk and Kherson on Ukraine’s southern Black Sea coast.

Capturing Mariupol represents a bigger prize for Russian forces as it would deal a severe blow to Ukraine’s maritime access and connect with troops coming from annexed Crimea and the Donbas.

The Kremlin said it was waiting for a third round of talks with Ukraine in Belarus, and one of Kyiv’s negotiators said it hoped to hold them this weekend.

A third round of talks would take place on Monday, the Ukrainian side said on Saturday.

Zelensky was to appeal to Washington for more assistance Saturday with an address to the US Senate after some lawmakers urged President Joe Biden to take tougher measures, including banning Russia’s oil imports.

With fears growing of direct conflict between NATO and Russia — both nuclear armed — the US and Moscow have set up a new direct phone line to reduce the risks of “miscalculation”, the Pentagon said on Friday.

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Willey became the latest Western figure to rule out a no-fly zone, saying it would mean taking on Russian air forces.

“That is not something that NATO Secretary General [Jens] Stoltenberg or any member states senior political leadership has indicated that they want to do,” Milley told reporters in Riga.

Media exodus 

Russian authorities have imposed a news blackout and multiple media outlets have halted operations. Twitter was restricted and Facebook blocked in Russia.

A host of news outlets including the BBC, and Bloomberg said they were suspending work in Russia after lawmakers in Moscow passed legislation to impose fines and jail terms of up to 15 years for publishing “fake news” about the army.

CNN said it would halt broadcasting in Russia, while independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta said it would remove Ukraine content.

The Kremlin on Saturday defended the new law, saying it was “necessary as the country was facing “an unprecedented information war”.

Global hunger 

Putin has been unmoved as Russia has become isolated in economic, sporting and cultural fields.

But that did not stop tens of thousands of people from taking to the streets of cities across Europe, from Berlin, to London, Geneva to Paris, Prague Madrid and Vilnius to protest against the invasion.

And the list of major companies suspending operations in Russia grew again with Spanish clothing giant and Zara fast-fashion chain owner Inditex calling a halt.

Flagship airline Aeroflot said it was suspending all its international flights from March 8, citing “circumstances that impede the operation of flights”.

HAVANA — Cuba on Friday hailed the US decision to partially reopen its consulate in Havana, which has been closed since 2017 following alleged “sonic attacks”.

On Thursday, the United States said it would resume some immigrant visa services “as part of a gradual expansion of the embassy’s functions”.

Washington reduced the US mission to its bare minimum five years ago when then-president Donald Trump accused Havana of carrying out “sonic attacks” against embassy staff.

US personnel and their families suffered from mystery illnesses subsequently known as “Havana Syndrome”.

Similar incidents were later reported at other embassies around the world, and even on the White House grounds.

The United States has not revealed when the reopening will take place, but Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Twitter that it was “a step in the right direction”.

On Thursday, Timothy Zuniga-Brown, the charge d’affaires at the US diplomatic mission in Havana, said the consulate “will begin the limited resumption of some immigrant visa services”.

However, Zuniga-Brown stipulated that most Cubans will still need to travel to Guyana to submit visa requests during a transition period.

Since 2017, Cubans have been required to make the costly trip to either Colombia or Guyana to apply for US visas.

Many have instead opted to make the perilous journey through Central America and enter the United States as undocumented migrants.

According to existing immigration agreements, the US should authorise 20,000 immigrant visas a year to Cubans, something it has not been fulfilling.

Rodriguez hit out at the US over its original reasons for suspending consular services.

He said it was taken after “unfounded accusations that Cuba had attacked American diplomats”.

“The consequences for Cuban families and for relations between Cuba and the United States in multiple spheres were very damaging,” he added.

Cuba is suffering its worst economic crisis in almost 30 years, in large part due to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent decrease in tourism.



PARIS — France will this month end most Covid-19 restrictions and scrap its vaccine pass for eating out or attending cultural events, the prime minister said on Friday.

After the surge in cases caused by the Omicron variant, the health situation has improved over the last weeks with less pressure on hospitals, Prime Minister Jean Castex said in a statement.

He said that from March 14 the vaccine pass -- proving that someone has been triple vaccinated against Covid-19 -- will no longer be needed.

The pass, whose introduction last summer initially caused angry protests, had been obligatory to go to a cafe or restaurant, travel by inter-city train or visit venues like cinemas and theatres.

A similar pass will however be needed to go to a hospital or a retirement home in order to protect the most vulnerable, Castex added.

Masks will from March 14 only be required on public transport, meaning that their use will no longer be required in the workplace or at school, he said.

France has recorded 138,762 deaths from Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic two years ago but in recent months has largely avoided the more stringent restrictions adopted by some neighbours.

President Emmanuel Macron is likely to point to his handling of the pandemic as he campaigns for reelection in polls next month, although the campaign is being eclipsed by Russia's war on Ukraine.

PARIS — An army of volunteer hackers is rising up in cyberspace to defend Ukraine, though internet specialists are calling on geeks and other "hacktivists" to stay out of a potentially very dangerous computer war.

According to Livia Tibirna, an analyst at cyber security firm Sekoia, nearly 260,000 people have joined the "IT Army" of volunteer hackers, which was set up at the initiative of Ukraine's Digital Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

The group, which can be accessed via the encrypted messaging service Telegram, has a list of potential targets in Russia, companies and institutions, for the hackers to target.

It's difficult to judge the effect the cyber-army is having.

The actions reported so far seem to be limited to "denial of service" (DOS) attacks, where multiple requests are sent to a website in a coordinated manner to saturate it and bring it down. Defacement actions, in which the targeted site displays a hacked page, have also been briefly observed on Russian sites.

The "cyber army" could also ask hackers to try to identify vulnerabilities of certain Russian sites, and send that info to more seasoned specialists capable of carrying out more sophisticated intrusive actions, such as data theft or destruction, explains Clement Domingo, co-founder of the "Hackers Without Borders" group.

But he and other specialists consulted by AFP warned the hackers against participating in the activities of the "IT Army", or other cyber mavericks like Anonymous.

'Too much risk' 

"I strongly advise against joining these actions," says Damien Bancal, who is well-versed in the opaque world of cyber crime. "There are plenty of other ways to help Ukrainians who are suffering,” if only by relaying the testimonies that are flourishing on social networks, he adds.

For SwitHak, a cybersecurity researcher, the maverick hackers are taking "too much risk".

"There are legal risks, for example," he said, Attempting to attack a website or penetrate a server or network is "computer crime".

For Domingo there is also a real risk of "hack back", a destructive counterattack by Russian operatives,

He is particularly appalled to see that a number of candidate hackers have obviously not taken the trouble to create a special Telegram account to participate in the IT Army, at the risk of being identified by the Russian side.

In cyber space, and in particular on forums and other discussion groups on Telegram or Discord, "you don't know who's who", insists Felix Aime, another researcher at Sekoia.

Inexperienced hackers can find themselves caught up with infiltrators from the opposite camp and end up working for the very opponent they wanted to fight, he warns.

Between the experienced hackers, who carry out ransomware attacks, the fight is on.

The Conti ransomware group, which declared its support for Russia, saw one of its pro-Ukrainian members publish more than a year's worth of its internal communications in retaliation, offering a treasure trove of information to the world's cyber security researchers, police and spy specialists.

The forums where cybercriminals meet "try to stay away from any debate" on the Russian-Ukrainian war to avoid attracting the attention of state services, says Sekoia analyst Tibirna.