Latest on Russia-Ukraine: Russian missile strike hits central square in Kharkiv; 660K people have fled Ukraine; Canada calls for ICC investigation of Russia

The latest on Russia and Ukraine from Canada and around the world Tuesday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.

10:25 a.m. The Canadian Paralympic Committee wants Russian and Belarusian athletes excluded from the upcoming Paralympic Winter Games.

The CPC joined a chorus of voices on Tuesday, including the International Paralympic Committee, in condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

“With the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games starting in only a few days, this is of great concern to us,” the CPC’s statement said. “All elements of the Games setting should allow athletes to compete in an equitable environment, and the safety and well-being of our athletes is our utmost priority.”

10:15 a.m. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canada wants the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into Russia for possible crimes against humanity because of its invasion of Ukraine.

Joly announced Canada’s intent in Geneva Tuessday after she and other Western diplomats walked out in the middle of the address by their Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

On Monday, ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan issued a statement saying he had decided to open an investigation because he found there was a reasonable basis to believe war crimes and alleged crimes against humanity have been committed in Ukraine.

10 a.m. Major Hollywood entertainment companies including Walt Disney Co. and WarnerMedia are pausing the releases of new films in Russia in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Disney has put on hold the debut of the new Pixar movie “Turning Red,” about a girl who turns into a giant panda, citing the “unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the tragic humanitarian crisis”. The film will make its debut in the U.S. on the Disney+ streaming service March 11.

“We will make future business decisions based on the evolving situation,” the company said in a statement. Disney also said it would also work with international relief organizations to provide aid to refugees.

9:53 a.m. Airbnb and an affiliate nonprofit offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine.

Airbnb.org, an independent nonprofit focused on organizing temporary stays for people during crises, plans to partner with resettlement agencies and nonprofits to facilitate the stays.

The stays will be funded by Airbnb, donors to Airbnb.org Refugee Fund and Airbnb.org hosts. Those interested in offering their homes through Airbnb.org do not need to be hosts on Airbnb.

9:34 a.m. (updated) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an emotional appeal to the European Parliament today, telling members his country is fighting to be equal members of Europe.

Zelenskyy says 16 children were killed Monday, and he mocked Russia’s claim that it is going after only military targets.

In a worrying development, Human Rights Watch said it documented a cluster bomb attack outside a hospital in eastern Ukraine.

If confirmed, that would represent a worrying new level of brutality in the war and could lead to even further isolation for Russia.

Russian strikes pounded the central square in Ukraine’s second-largest city and at the same time, a 65-kilometre long convoy of hundreds of Russian tanks and other vehicles advanced on Kyiv9:20 a.m. Adidas AG said Tuesday that it’s immediately suspending its partnership with the Russian Football Union following that country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The German sports company, which been partnered with the Russian football program for years, is joining FIFA and UEFA in censuring Russia.

Those organizations on Monday decided together that all Russian teams, whether national representative teams or club teams, shall be suspended from participation in both FIFA and UEFA competitions until further notice. The International Olympic Committee has also urged sports federations around the world to exclude athletes from Russia and Belarus.

Adidas signed a longterm partnership with the Russian Football Union in 2008 and featured prominently when the country hosted the World Cup in 2018. The company had a seat on FIFA’s independent advisory board on human rights, which was created in 2017.

9:10 a.m. An international boycott of Russian vodka is building from the U.S. to Australia as politicians and corporations signal their opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine by targeting one of his country’s most iconic products.

At least three U.S. governors ordered the removal of Russian-made or branded spirits from stores, while one of the largest alcohol retail chains in New Zealand pulled thousands of bottles of vodka including the Ivanov and Russian Standard brands — and filled the empty shelves with Ukrainian flags. Boycotts are spreading to other goods in Russia’s European neighbors.

Two of Australia’s biggest liquor chains, Dan Murphy’s and BWS, have stopped selling products of Russian origin, according to Sydney-based owner Endeavour Group Ltd.,

8:50 a.m. Desperate for a coffee and a bite to eat early on Monday morning, I pulled over at the roadside fuel station with the bright blue neon lights.

I feel slightly guilty admitting now that the name in lights was Gazprom Neft, one in a chain of gas station convenience stores partially owned by the Russian government. It’s not under sanctions for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but still …

I ordered a cappuccino and a chocolate croissant and looked around. Mars bars — my favourite — Coke bottles and Pringles chips. A seemingly endless variety of products. The best the world has to sell to Russia and to Russians, something multinational companies have been doing with gusto for 30 years.

How long will it be before those bulging shelves fall bare?

Read the full story from Allan Woods, special to the Star

8:40 a.m. As President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine accused Russia of war crimes for deliberately targeting civilians in its unrelenting bombardment of his country, a huge convoy of Russian tanks and mechanized vehicles — stretching some 40 miles in length — massed menacingly just north of Kyiv on Tuesday morning.

With Russian soldiers facing stiff resistance from the Ukrainian army and confronting millions of furious Ukrainian citizens across the nation, Western officials warned that President Vladimir Putin might turn to even more powerful weapons to force his will on Ukraine.

Russian forces have already begun to employ siege tactics in their bid to take control of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv. Monday’s bombardment, the most destructive of the war, signaled a potential turn in the biggest military mobilization in Europe since World War II.

8:30 a.m. He has a bag packed with clothing and travel documents.

The car is parked in the driveway with a full tank of gas and a few days’ worth of food, in case they need to get out fast.

In a quaint suburb on the outskirts of Kyiv — the storied city at the heart of a catastrophic war that has enveloped Ukraine in the past week — Sviatoslav Kavetskyi is hunkered down in a small cottage with his family, ready to leave at a moments’ notice.

Read the full story from the Star’s Jacob Lorinc

8:15 a.m. Canada’s preferred tool to express outrage with Russia didn’t change with the invasion of Ukraine.

Since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea from its neighbouring country, the federal government has wielded economic sanctions to cut off choice Russian figures and businesses from Canada.

That sanctions campaign has escalated dramatically since Russian troops entered Ukraine on Feb. 24. On Monday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly vowed “there will be more sanctions coming” this week, as Canada and its allies try to “put maximum pressure on Russia, and to isolate it.”

Read the full story from the Star’s Alex Ballingall

7:51 a.m. Many Russians living in Canada are turning against their homeland’s government over its invasion of Ukraine.

In Ottawa, Tatiana Lebedeva said she first felt sadness and dismay for the aggression, and then fury at the Russian government.

She admits she has never been more ashamed to be Russian.

Lebedeva organized a rally outside Russia’s embassy last week and has created a Facebook group called “Ottawa Stands With Ukraine.”

Ottawa has prioritized nearly 4,000 immigration applications from Ukrainians who want to come to Canada.

6:49 a.m.: The U.N. refugee agency says that about 660,000 people have fled Ukraine for neighbouring countries since the Russian invasion began.

The number, given on Tuesday, was up from a count of more than 500,000 a day earlier.

Shabia Mantoo, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said in Geneva that “at this rate, the situation looks set to become Europe’s largest refugee crisis this century.”

She said the agency is urging governments to continue allowing access to all those who are fleeing, including third-country nationals living in Ukraine who are forced to escape the violence. She added: “We stress that there must be no discrimination against any person or group.”

6:19 a.m.: Google is blocking the YouTube channels of Russian broadcasters RT and Sputnik in Europe due to the war in Ukraine.

Google said in a statement Tuesday on Twitter that the decision will be “effective immediately.” But the company added that “it’ll take time for our systems to fully ramp up.”

“Our teams continue to monitor the situation around the clock to take swift action,” Google said.

6:19 a.m.: The city of Munich said Tuesday it has fired Valery Gergiev as the chief conductor of the city’s philharmonic orchestra because of his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Mayor Dieter Reiter said in a statement that Gergiev had failed to respond to a Monday deadline to distance himself from Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“I had expected him to rethink and revise his very positive assessment of the Russian leader,” said Reiter.

“After this didn’t occur the only option is the immediate severance of ties,” he added.

Gergiev has already been dropped as conductor of the Verbier Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Vienna Philharmonic’s five-concert U.S. tour and other engagements in recent days.

6:18 a.m.: Italian Premier Mario Draghi is asking the country’s Parliament to step up military aid to Ukraine, a day after his Cabinet approved supplying arms like anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

Draghi told lawmakers on Tuesday that Russia’s attack on Ukraine “obligates us to make choices that were unthinkable” until recently. Some lawmakers in parties in his wide-ranging pandemic unity government have voiced opposition to sending lethal military aid. But both chambers of Parliament are expected to approve the aid in votes this week.

Just last week, the government said it would be sending only “non-lethal” aid to Italy’s military forces, such as equipment to disable landmines. But “it’s necessary that a democratically elected government is able to resist invasion and defend the independence of the nation,″ Draghi said, arguing for supplying lethal weaponry.

6:17 a.m.: China is urging restraint from “all parties” in Russia’s war on Ukraine, continuing its efforts to express support for its northern ally without outright endorsing the invasion.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Tuesday reiterated China’s call for the “reasonable security concerns” of all countries to be respected, and assertion that the Ukraine issue has “a complex reality.”

Russia’s “legitimate security demands should be taken seriously and properly addressed” in the face of NATO’s expansion eastward, Wang told reporters at a daily briefing.

“We express regret over the casualties. The current situation is not something we want to see,” Wang said.

“It is imperative that all parties maintain the necessary restraint to prevent the situation on the ground from further deteriorating or even going out of control, and make efforts to effectively safeguard civilians’ lives and property, especially to prevent a large-scale humanitarian crisis.”

6:16 a.m.: The U.N. human rights office says it has recorded the deaths of 136 civilians, including 13 children, in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, but warned the toll may be far higher.

The Geneva-based office said Tuesday that it has also recorded 400 civilians injured in the conflict, among them 26 children.

“Most of these casualties were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, and airstrikes,” it said. “These are only the casualties we were able to cross-check, and the real toll is likely to be much higher.”

It urged parties to the conflict not to use explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas because of the “very high risks of indiscriminate and disproportionate impact on civilians.”

6:14 a.m.: The Kremlin has denied that the Russian military has used cluster munitions in Ukraine and insisted that the Russian forces only have struck military targets.

Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted Tuesday that “the Russian troops don’t conduct any strikes against civilian infrastructure and residential areas.” Peskov’s claim contradicts abundant evidence documented by the AP of indiscriminate shelling of homes, schools, and hospitals across Ukraine.

Peskov also rejected the accusations that the Russian military has used cluster munitions and devastating vacuum weapons, dismissing them as fabrications.

Speaking in a conference call with reporters, he wouldn’t respond to questions about whether the Kremlin is happy with the pace of the offensive and wouldn’t comment on Russian military casualties.

The Russian Defense Ministry said for the first time Monday that it has suffered losses but didn’t name any numbers.

6:12 a.m.: The Red Cross appealed Tuesday for 250 million Swiss francs ($272 million) to help people affected by the war in Ukraine.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red Cross federation said they fear “millions of people face extreme hardship and suffering without improved access and a rapid increase in humanitarian assistance.”

6:10 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says a Russian missile strike hit a central square in the city of Kharkiv, calling it an act of “undisguised terror.”

He said: “Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget.”

Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine’s second-largest city again Tuesday.

Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine’s second-largest city again Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine’s embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe’s largest ground war in generations.

With the Kremlin increasingly isolated by tough economic sanctions that have tanked the ruble currency, Russian troops attempted to advance on Ukraine’s two biggest cities. In strategic Kharkiv, an eastern city with a population of about 1.5 million, videos posted online showed explosions hitting the region’s Soviet-era administrative building and residential areas.

Throughout the country, many Ukrainian civilians spent another night huddled in shelters, basements or corridors.

6:02 a.m.: In 1903, an architect by the name of Vladislav Gorodetsky put the finishing touches on a luxurious apartment building in the centre of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. To say that the building is unusual would be a vast understatement.

Gorodetsky — alternately known in English as Wladyslaw Horodecki — was a Polish-born architect dubbed “the Gaudi of Ukraine.” His namesake building fuses Beaux-Arts and Art Nouveau styles with a roofline and facade bearing a truly bizarre menagerie of grotesqueries: Rows of frogs patrol the roofline, an elephant bulges from the building’s skin, heads of deer and rhinoceros emerge from atop Corinthian columns. And, on the roof, mermaids ride writhing fish.

As arts writer and editor John Pancake once described Gorodetsky House in a 2010 Wall Street Journal dispatch: This was a structure created by “a man who hated the dull, the safe, the easy.”

It therefore could not be more apropos that the building has emerged as an architectural backdrop to one of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s urgent social media dispatches. On Saturday, as Russian troops unleashed their attack on Ukraine, and rumours swirled that Zelenskyy might be evacuated from the country, the Ukrainian leader stood firmly before Gorodetsky House and declared: “I am here. We are not laying down our arms. We will defend our state.”

He could be nowhere else. Gorodetsky House exists only in Kyiv.

6 a.m.: As anti-war protests continued across Russia, the police detained at least 411 people in 13 cities Monday, an activist group said. The group, OVD-Info, said there had been at least 6,435 detentions in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The protests are a remarkable display of defiance in a country where prosecutors sometimes seek prison sentences for demonstrators. Early last year, there were nationwide demonstrations in the days after the Russian authorities arrested the opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Those rallies were the most widespread in Russia since at least 2017, when thousands of citizens gathered in more than 100 cities to protest corruption.

Monday’s unrest unfolded amid growing public alarm in Russia over how sanctions imposed by the West in retaliation for the invasion would affect the country’s financial stability. As the currency cratered, some people rushed to withdraw cash from ATMs.

Tuesday 5:44 a.m.: Ukraine’s vice prime minister said Monday that internet terminals sent by Elon Musk, which were designed to work with satellites orbiting in space to provide online access, had arrived in the country.

One of Musk’s companies, SpaceX, has deployed thousands of satellites into low-Earth orbit over the past three years as part of its business to beam high-speed internet service from more than 100 miles above the planet.

Satellite internet services like Musk’s, which is known as Starlink, can be useful in parts of the world where people cannot easily access conventional internet providers, whether because of technical limitations or government restrictions.

There have been a number of internet disruptions in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began last week. On Saturday, Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov of Ukraine, who is also the minister of digital transformation, wrote to Musk on Twitter to ask for Starlink stations.

“While you try to colonize Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine!” Fedorov wrote. “While your rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people!”

Read Monday’s Russia-Ukraine news.