UN Estimates Almost 4 Million Ukrainians Have Fled

About 170,000 civilians remain trapped in Mariupol without adequate food, water or medicine, according to Ukraine’s foreign ministry, as the UN said some 3.9 million people had fled their homes.

The Kremlin said Russian and Ukrainian negotiators could resume face-to-face peace talks in Turkey as early as Tuesday.

Russia said on Monday it was preparing to restrict entry into Russia for nationals of “unfriendly” countries, which include Britain, all EU states and the United States.

After the West piled unprecedented sanctions on Moscow following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops into Ukraine, Russia expanded the list of what it calls “unfriendly” countries.

They now include the United States, Australia, Canada, Britain, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, all EU member states and several others.

Russia’s top independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, whose chief editor was last year awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, said Monday it was suspending publication until the end of Moscow’s military action in Ukraine.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has so far cost Ukraine $564.9 billion in terms of damage to infrastructure, lost economic growth and other factors, Kyiv’s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on Monday.

In an online post, she said the fighting had damaged or destroyed 8,000 kilometres of roads and 10 million square metres of housing.

The Kremlin said on Monday that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine could get underway in Turkey on Tuesday, and said it was important that the talks be held face-to-face despite scant progress in negotiations so far.

Turkey had earlier said the talks could begin as early as Monday, but Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that was unlikely as the negotiators would only be arriving in Turkey on Monday.