Russia warns Kiev residents to leave vicinity of certain targets

Russia's Defense Ministry has reportedly warned people in the Ukrainian capital to leave their homes near certain targets as Moscow plans to strike certain targets in Kiev.

Russia’s state news agency Tass quoted the ministry as saying on Tuesday that Russian forces were preparing to launch “high-precision strikes” against the “Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the 72nd Center for Information and Psychological Operations (PSO)” in Kiev.

"In order to thwart informational attacks against Russia, Russian forces will strike technological objects of the SBU and the 72nd Main PSO Center in Kiev. We urge Ukrainian citizens involved by Ukrainian nationalists in provocations against Russia, as well as Kiev residents living near relay stations, to leave their homes," the ministry said.

The warning comes on the 6^th day of a large-scale military operation announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Ukrainian territory. The military campaign has drawn widespread criticism from the international community, with Western governments having imposed sweeping sanctions against Russia.

The US and its European allies have also agreed to cut certain Russian banks from SWIFT, the high-security network that connects financial institutions around the world.

Day 6: US expels 12 Russian diplomats at UN as Ukraine conflict rages

The United States has expelled 12 Russian diplomats at the United Nations over accusations of "espionage activities" amid escalating tensions with Moscow following Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

Ukraine accuses Russia of airstrikes on housing block, TV tower

Local media reports said on Tuesday that Russian airstrikes hit a residential block in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city, and the main TV tower in Kiev. Eight people were reported killed in the strike in Kharkiv and 10 more were found alive under the rubble as a result of the shelling.

Ukrainian officials said the strike on the TV tower in Kiev claimed the lives of five people, and knocked out some state broadcasting but left the structure intact.

Russia has denied targeting civilian infrastructure since the start of its military offensive in Ukraine.

The International Criminal Court has already opened a war crimes investigation against Russia, which began its offensive on February 24. Ukraine has said more than 350 civilians, including 14 children, have been killed in the conflict so far.

Nearly 680,000 refugees flee Ukraine: UNHCR

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday that some 680,000 people had fled Ukraine since the Russian military campaign began last week, with the number rising rapidly.

"The number of people who have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries has reached 677,000," Filippo Grandi, who heads the UNHCR, said on Twitter.

The UNHCR projected that more than four million Ukrainian refugees might eventually need protection and assistance in neighboring countries. "We are looking at what could become Europe's largest refugee crisis this century," Grandi said.

The European Union's crisis management commissioner has said the figure could reach seven million.

Russia claims having cut off Ukraine military from Sea of Azov

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on Tuesday that its troops had linked up with the forces of pro-Moscow separatists from eastern Ukraine in a region along the Azov Sea coast.

Igor Konashenkov, a ministry spokesman, asserted that the Ukrainian army’s access to the Sea of Azov had been blocked after the advancing units of the so-called Donetsk people’s forces had reached the administrative border of the Donetsk region to link up with the Russian forces near the strategic sea.

"Starting from today, the Ukrainian army’s access to the Sea of Azov is totally blocked," Konashenkov claimed.

Ukrainian forces, however, rejected the report and said the access had not been blocked.

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