E.U. proposes Russian oil ban
Coverage on this live blog has ended. Please click here for the latest updates.
The European Union is proposing a complete ban on Russian oil by the end of the year, a dramatic step for a continent that has had to weigh its growing support for Ukraine's defense with its own reliance on energy imported from Moscow.
The plan to deprive the Kremlin of a key source of revenue will have to be approved by the bloc's 27 member states. It forms part of a broader set of sanctions as Europe takes new action to punish and pressure Russia over its war in Ukraine.
Russian forces bombarded infrastructure across the country late Tuesday, seemingly targeting power hubs and railways, while its offensive in the east struggled to make progress.
In Mariupol, the last Ukrainian defenders and some civilians faced a new Russian assault that brought heavy fighting to the Azovstal steel plant — but there was relief as one wave of more than a hundred people made it to safer territory after weeks trapped in the key port city's final stronghold.
Evacuations continued Wednesday, when more than 300 civilians from Mariupol, Manhush, Berdiansk, Tokmak and Vasylivka were evacuated to Zaporizhzhia.
