Live: ‘Putin was wrong’ that West wouldn’t respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Biden says

Issued on: 02/03/2022 – 00:12

• US President Joe Biden will tout Western unity against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in his State of the Union speech Tuesday. According to excerpts released ahead of time by the White House, Biden will say that President Vladimir Putin launched an “unprovoked” war, thinking “the West and NATO wouldn’t respond.”
• Deadly Russian air strikes hit a residential block in Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv and the main TV tower in the nation’s capital, Kyiv said Tuesday. At least ten civilians were reported killed.
• “This is state terrorism on the part of Russia,” charged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing Moscow of committing a “war crime”.
• On the sixth day of the war, Russian troops are pushing deeper into Ukrainian territory, advancing on the capital and setting up checkpoints outside some towns and cities. 
• A senior US defence official said a Russian military convoy stretching more than 60 kilometres that is headed toward Kyiv is stalled, in part due to ‘logistics and sustainment’ challenges.  
• Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree banning cash exports of foreign currency exceeding $10,000 that took effect Tuesday, the Kremlin said in a statement.  
• The strategic southern port city of Mariupol was without power after heavy shelling. 
• The Russian army on Tuesday reached the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson near Crimea and is setting up checkpoints on the city’s outskirts, said its mayor. 
• The International Court of Justice will begin public hearings concerning a suit Kyiv filed against Russia over Moscow’s claim it invaded Ukraine to prevent a genocide against Ukraine’s Russian-speaking population on March 7. 
• The International Criminal Court plans to open an investigation into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and alleged war crimes committed there. 
• The UN refugee agency says more than 660,000 refugees have now fled Ukraine for neighbouring countries.

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(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AFP and AP)