Ukraine: As It's Happening - Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, forcing millions to flee for their lives and leaving hundreds dead.

Ukraine: As It's Happening

Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, forcing millions to flee for their lives and leaving hundreds dead.

Moscow:-

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday Western sanctions on Moscow for its actions in Ukraine could send global food prices soaring, as Russia was one of the world's main producers of fertiliser, which is essential to global supply chains. 

"Russia and Belarus are some of the biggest suppliers of mineral fertilisers. If they continue to create problems for the financing and logistics of the delivery of our goods, then prices will rise and this will affect the final product, food products," Putin said at a televised government meeting. 

The Bank for International Settlements, considered the central bank of central banks, said on Thursday it was suspending the Bank of Russia, deepening Moscow's financial isolation over its war in Ukraine.

The Swiss-based international financial institution, which links central banks, said it was applying international sanctions on the Russian Central Bank.

Financial transfer service Western Union is suspending its operations in Russia and Belarus, the company announced.

"Ultimately, in light of the ongoing tragic impact of Russia’s prolonged assault on Ukraine, we have arrived at the decision to suspend our operations in Russia and Belarus," it said in a statement.

Separately, Goldman Sachs said it plans to close its operations in Russia, becoming the first major Wall Street bank to leave in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Moscow was continuing to export oil and gas, including through Ukraine, where the Kremlin sent troops three weeks ago spurring a wave of costly Western sanctions.

"We are respecting all of our obligations in terms of energy supplies," Putin said during a televised government meeting on the sanctions fallout. He added that "even the gas transportation system in Ukraine is 100 percent filled as per contracts."

Georgia's ex-president and opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili on Thursday called off his second announced hunger strike since being jailed last year, citing the conflict in Ukraine.

"I am ending my hunger strike on its 20th day," he wrote on Facebook. "We now need full possession of our faculties, health, focus, and strength."

The 54-year-old pro-Western reformer said his decision followed an appeal from Georgians fighting Russian troops in Ukraine and from "representatives of Ukraine's high military command with whom I am in constant contact."

Saakashvili, who became a Ukraine national in 2017, was active in Ukrainian politics after moving there when his second and last term as president ended in 2013.

At least 71 children have been killed in Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a war on Feb. 24, a Ukrainian parliament official said on Thursday.

"From the start of the Russian invasion and up to 11:00 a.m. (09:00 GMT) on March 10, 71 children have been killed and more than 100 wounded," Lyudmyla Denisova, parliament's point person on human rights, wrote in a Telegram message.

More than 2.3 million refugees have now fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, according to United Nations figures issued Thursday.

UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency, recorded 2,316,002 refugees on its dedicated website — 160,731 more than the previous count on Wednesday.

One out of every two Kyiv residents have left the city since the start of the invasion, Mayor Vitaly Klitschko announced, meaning that fewer than 2 million people remain in the Ukrainian capital as Russian forces advance.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed a law allowing the state to seize any property in Ukraine owned by the Russian Federation and its residents for reasons of public necessity, including military necessity. 

Russia has banned the export of more than 200 types of technological, communication, medical, transport, agricultural, and electric equipment until the end of 2022, according to an order signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to continue with diplomacy over the war in Ukraine in a phone call on Thursday, German government sources said.

"Germany and France demanded an immediate ceasefire from Russia" and "insisted that any solution to this crisis must come through negotiations between Ukraine and Russia," the sources said.

UK authorities are to simplify the much-criticized visa process for refugees fleeing Russia's war in Ukraine from next week, the government said on Thursday. 

"From Tuesday, I can announce that Ukrainians with passports will no longer need to go to a visa application center to give their biometrics before they come to the UK," Home Secretary Priti Patel told parliament.

Ukraine and Russia made no progress towards agreeing on a ceasefire after the Russian invasion at tense talks in Turkey, the Ukrainian foreign minister said on Thursday.

"We also talked on the ceasefire but no progress was accomplished on that," Dmytro Kuleba told reporters after his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Antalya, describing the meeting as "difficult" and accusing his counterpart of bringing "traditional narratives" to the table.

Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo has suspended its operations in Russia. The move comes days after its owner defended his decision to keep the brand’s 49 Russian stores open following the invasion of Ukraine, calling clothing a “necessity of life.”

The Kremlin said Thursday it would approach the Russian military for details of a strike on a hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky called a "war crime."

"We will certainly ask our military about this, since we don't have clear information about what happened there. Without fail, the military will provide some kind of information," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, as Moscow's advance into Ukraine entered its third week.