March 8, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said it is "imperative" for European countries to stop relying on Russian energy, especially as the Ukrainian war continues, in order to ensure supply is "widely available."

Speaking at a joint press conference in Tallinn with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Blinken said there is a “significant, not only opportunity but imperative in this moment to finally move off of, for many countries in Europe, the dependence on Russian energy. Because Russia uses it as a weapon.”

Kallas called to fully exclude Russia and Belarus from the high security payment network SWIFT and restrict its access to cryptocurrencies. 

Countries must focus on Russia's "full isolation" from the free world, she said. The deteriorating security situation "demands rapid changes to European security," she stressed, adding that the world must be prepared for the worst, which is still to come.

"Hence, Putin's violence must be in correlation with the further sanctions and also isolation decisions," Kallas said. 

Kallas also called on NATO to work on an "updated strategy for defense in our region." 

She thanked Blinken for the United States' "heavy work" in building unity within NATO allies, adding that she had asked for a "permanent and meaningful NATO forward defense in the Baltic region."

Despite the bleak situation on the ground, NATO is unwilling to get directly involved in the conflict -- including setting up a no-fly zone -- beyond supporting Ukraine's resistance to an invasion that is killing civilians.

CNN's Luke McGee contributed reporting to this post.

The price for a gallon of regular gas now stands at $4.17, according to AAA. That breaks the previous record of $4.11 a gallon that has stood since July 2008. 

As Russia continues its invasion in Ukraine, gas prices are rising faster than they have since Hurricane Katrina slammed into oil platforms and refineries along the US Gulf Coast in 2005.

Gas prices rose 10 cents since early Monday, gaining three of those cents overnight, according to the Oil Price Information Service, the firm that collects and calculates prices for AAA.

The price data is calculated on a dynamic basis with pricing information from 140,000 US gas stations. OPIS confirmed Monday evening that a new record of $4.14 a gallon had been reached. But enough stations raised their prices further later Monday and early Tuesday to lift the average to $4.17.

The $4.17 average means that the price is up 55 cents a gallon in just the last week, and 63 cents, or 18%, since Feb. 24, the day Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

Former heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko, the brother of Kyiv mayor and fellow Hall of Fame boxer Vitali Klitschko, said the shooting is “constant” around the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Klitschko, who retired from professional boxing in 2017, joined the Ukrainian Defense Forces after enlisting in Ukraine's reserve army last month.

“This pressure is enormous and gigantic on us, Ukrainians, but we stand together against this Russian aggression,” he said.

Klitschko also warned about the potential of Russian missiles hitting a nuclear power plant.

Last week, Russian troops occupied Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine's largest nuclear plant, after a fire caused by the attack was extinguished.

Countries around the world swiftly condemned it, with the United States embassy in Ukraine warning that an attack on a nuclear plant was a "war crime" and the United Nations Security Council convening an emergency meeting.

“Ukraine is under huge threat and the world is under huge threat,” Klitschko said.

“Not to forget that those missiles flying onto the Ukrainian side — the Russian missiles — could destroy one of the multiple nuclear power plants that we have. One was on fire two days ago," he said.

“There is no clear leakage yet, but we still have multiple reactors and just to know this war needs to be stopped as soon as possible,” he said.

A senior Russian official threatened to cut off Europe’s natural gas supply on Monday in response to possible oil import bans Moscow could soon face over its invasion in Ukraine. 

“In connection with the unfounded accusations against Russia … and the imposition of a ban on Nord Stream 2, we have every right to take a mirror decision and impose an embargo on gas pumping through the gas pipeline Nord Stream 1, which today is loaded at the maximum level of 100%,” Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in a televised address, noting the decision by German regulators last month to halt the certification of Gazprom’s second pipeline, Nord Stream 2. 

Russia supplies about 40% of Europe’s gas. Germany, the bloc's biggest economy, relies on Russia for almost 50% of its natural gas.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the US and allies were actively exploring ways to ban Russian oil imports, which would damage Russia’s economy even further as it tries to cope with crippling economic sanctions.  

The West has been reluctant so far to impose significant sanctions on Russia’s energy sector because of how it might impact the global economy but are now getting closer to doing so as Europe works to diversify its energy sources.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand contributed reporting to this post.

The outflow of refugees from Ukraine has reached two million, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

Speaking to French radio station France Inter on Tuesday, Grandi called the milestone a "terrifying" number.

Nearly all the refugees are women, children, and elderly people, according to Grandi, who said he hadn't seen such a preponderance in his entire career.

"It's a very specified population. It's significant that on International Women's Day, men make war and women pay the consequences," Grandi continued.

He said most of the refugees have traveled to Poland, Moldova, and other neighboring countries, adding most move towards "where they have connections, family."

"What we fear is a second wave of persons who have a good deal less resources and connections and who will be much more vulnerable," Grandi warned.

Romania has taken in 281,000 refugees since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the Romanian Border Police told CNN on Tuesday, although 208,000 of those have already departed the country.

The border police did not specify where the refugees were going after leaving Romania.

Watch more:

RELATED

See how 1 million new refugees have fled Ukraine - CNN Video

CNN's Miguel Marquez in Bucharest contributed reporting to this post.

The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church said gay pride parades were part of the reason for the war in Ukraine.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, a long-time ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Sunday that the conflict in Donbas is about “a fundamental rejection of the so-called values that are offered today by those who claim world power.”

The “test” of which side you are on, said Kirill, is whether your country is willing to hold gay pride parades.

“In order to enter the club of those countries, it is necessary to hold a gay pride parade. Not to make a political statement, ‘we are with you,’ not to sign any agreements, but to hold a gay parade. And we know how people resist these demands and how this resistance is suppressed by force,” Kirill said during a sermon in Moscow.

Kirill categorized the war as a struggle of “metaphysical significance,” for humanity to follow God’s laws.

“What is happening today in the sphere of international relations has not only political significance. We are talking about something different and much more important than politics. We are talking about human salvation,” he said. 

“If we see violations of [God’s] law, we will never put up with those who destroy this law, blurring the line between holiness and sin, and even more so with those who promote sin as an example or as one of the models of human behavior,” Kirill said.

“Around this topic today there is a real war,” he said.

Patriarch Kirill is a major religious figure in Russia, where the Russian Orthodox religion is considered an integral part of Russian identity. He has come under pressure from within his own church since the beginning of the war to denounce Putin’s aggression, but his public statements so far have failed to do that. On the contrary, Kirill’s language has lent support to Putin’s vision of a spiritual and temporal Russian empire.

Shell said on Tuesday it intends to stop purchasing Russian crude oil and plans to completely withdraw from the Russian energy industry.

The energy giant says it plans “to withdraw from its involvement in all Russian hydrocarbons, including crude oil, petroleum products, gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in a phased manner, aligned with new government guidance.”

It added in a press release that as an immediate first step it will stop all spot purchases of Russian crude oil and will shut “its service stations, aviation fuels and lubricants operations in Russia.”

"As we have already said, we will commit profits from the limited, remaining amounts of Russian oil we will process to a dedicated fund. We will work with aid partners and humanitarian agencies over the coming days and weeks to determine where the monies from this fund are best placed to alleviate the terrible consequences that this war is having on the people of Ukraine."

Van Beurden added that “threats today to stop pipeline flows to Europe further illustrate the difficult choices and potential consequences we face as we try to do this.”

Shell last week said it will exit its equity partnerships with Russian state energy giant Gazprom in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The news comes a day after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said coordinated energy sanctions against Moscow, including a ban on Russian oil, are still "very much on the table."

Speaking during a Monday news conference alongside his Dutch and Canadian counterparts in London, Johnson said it was the "right thing" to move away from Russian hydrocarbons.  

On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN's Jake Tapper that the United States is “now talking to our European allies and partners to look at a coordinated way” to ban Russian oil. 

Responding to a question as to whether Blinken was wrong in his remarks, Johnson replied, "No, I don't think Tony Blinken was wrong."  

Countries need to consider how to move away from Russian hydrocarbons "as fast as possible," Johnson added.  

Johnson continued, "We're going to work together on making sure that we all have the substitutes and the supplies that we need."

The death toll from an overnight strike in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy has now risen to 21 civilians, according to the Regional Prosecutor's Office.

The office confirmed "the death of 19 adults and 2 children as a result of an air strike in the city."

"As a result of the bombing, one house was completely destroyed, 16 were partially destroyed. As of 7:00, the bodies of 21 people, including 2 children, were found during an inspection," it added.

Ukraine and Russia agreed Tuesday to one evacuation corridor in Sumy, which has seen sustained Russian attacks and airstrikes in recent days.

Around 700 Indian students stuck in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy are en route to the town of Poltava, around 108 miles away, according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

The news comes as Ukraine and Russia agreed Tuesday to one evacuation corridor in Sumy, which has seen sustained Russian attacks and airstrikes in recent days.

“Happy to inform that we have been able to move out all Indian students from Sumy. They are currently en route to Poltava, from where they will board trains to western Ukraine,” ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted Tuesday evening local time, adding that flights were being prepared to repatriate them.

The news comes as Ukraine and Russia agreed Tuesday to one evacuation corridor in Sumy, which has seen sustained Russian attacks and airstrikes in recent days.

“694 Indian students were remaining in Sumy last night, all have now left for Poltava (Ukraine) in buses,” Press Trust of India, a news agency owned by multiple Indian newspapers, tweeted Tuesday citing Hardeep Singh Puri, an Indian cabinet minister.

Earlier Monday, the Indian embassy had attempted to evacuate students in buses, however the efforts were suspended after Russian airstrikes continued to hit evacuation corridors. 

The embassy also said Tuesday that 75 Indian sailors stranded in Mykolaiv Port had been evacuated.