Ukraine Invasion Coverage Advisory
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President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian nuclear forces on high alert amid tensions with the West over his invasion of Ukraine. Amid the mounting tensions, Ukraine announced that a delegation would meet with Russian officials for talks. But the Kremlin’s ultimate intentions toward Ukraine — and what steps might be enough to satisfy Moscow — remained unclear.
Here’s a look at the coverage from our journalists in Moscow, Kyiv, eastern Ukraine and beyond. All times are EST. You can find all our text, photos and video in the Ukraine Invasion hub on APNewsroom.
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UPCOMING
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UKRAINE-INVASION-GERMANY-U-TURN — Germany announced a historic break with some of the tenets of its post-World War II foreign and security policy Sunday. It abandoned its traditional refusal to export weapons to conflict zones and its reluctance to forcefully challenge Russia. In an uncharacteristically rousing speech to a special session of parliament, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had ushered in a new era that required a dramatically different response. By Emily Schultheis. UPCOMING: 800 words by 2 p.m., photos.
UKRAINE INVASION-NUCLEAR EXPLAINER — A look at how U.S. and Russian nuclear readiness might change as Moscow puts its forces on nuclear alert, an extraordinary gambit in Vladimir Putin’s prosecution of the Ukraine war. By Robert Burns. UPCOMING: 800 words by 6 p.m., photos.
UKRAINE-IOC LETTER — With Russian troops encircling the capital of Kyiv, some four dozen athletes from Ukraine and elsewhere sent an open letter to Olympic and Paralympic leaders Sunday, urging them to immediately suspend the Russian and Belarussian Olympic and Paralympic Committees. By Eddie Pells. UPCOMING: 500 words by 1:30 p.m. , photos.
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SENT/DEVELOPING
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UKRAINE-INVASION — President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian nuclear forces on high alert amid tensions with the West over his invasion of Ukraine. The order means Putin wants Russia’s nuclear weapons prepared for increased readiness to launch and raises the threat that Moscow’s invasion and the West’s response to it could boil over into nuclear warfare. In giving the directive, the Russian leader cited what he called “aggressive statements” by top NATO powers along with the West’s hard-hitting financial sanctions. By Yuras Karmanau, Jim Heintz, Vladimir Isachenkov and Dasha Litvinova. SENT; developing: 1,480 words, photos, videos. With UKRAINE-INVASION-THE-LATEST (sent; developing); UKRAINE-INVASION-THINGS-TO-KNOW (sent; developing); UKRAINE-INVASION-EYES ON THE GROUND (sent; developing).
UKRAINE-INVASION-DELICATE DEMOCRACY — Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine advances a global anti-democratic trend — one that has seen strongmen, some elected, nudge their nations toward dictatorship and ignore once-solid democratic norms. So why does Putin bother to invoke democratic principles even as he circumvents them? Experts say this is designed to give him cover as a democratic leader at home while allowing him to do pretty much what he wants elsewhere. It’s a trend playing out all over the world. By Ted Anthony. SENT: 1,250 words, photos.
UKRAINE-INVASION-GLOBAL-REACTION — IThe European Union’s chief executive says the 27-nation bloc will close its airspace to Russian airlines, fund supplies of weapons to Ukraine and ban some pro-Kremlin media outlets in response to Russia’s invasion. SENT; developing: 980 words, photos.
UKRAINE INVASION-BIDEN-OIL — There’s a glaring carve-out in President Joe Biden’s sanctions against Russia, and that’s oil and natural gas, which will continue to flow freely to the rest of the world. That means that money will also keep flowing into Russia. Biden is defending the decision by saying he needs stable oil supplies so Americans feel less pain at the gasoline pump. By Josh Boak. SENT: 1,050 words, photos. With GAS PRICES (sent); UKRAINE INVASION-BP (sent).
UKRAINE INVASION-REFUGEES — Since Russia launched attacks on Ukraine, 368,000 people have fled the country — many into bordering nations like Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Moldova — the U.N. refugee agency said Sunday, just days after it warned the conflict would lead to “devastating humanitarian consequences.” By Stephen McGrath. SENT: 750 words, photos.
UKRAINE INVASION-GOING BACK — While hundreds of thousands of refugees are leaving Ukraine amid Russia’s attack on the country, some Ukrainian men and women are returning home from across Europe to help defend their homeland. SENT: 570 words, photos.
UKRAINE INVASION-RUSSIA-REACTION — Demonstrators held posters and marched in city centers, chanting “No to war!” as President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear deterrent to be put on high alert. Protests in Russia against the invasion started on Thursday and have continued every day since then, even as Russian police have moved swiftly to detain hundreds of people each day. SENT; developing: 710 words, photos.
SWITZERLAND-RUSSIA-SANCTIONS — The Swiss executive branch stopped short of announcing unilateral sanctions against Russian interests after Moscow’s blistering military action in Ukraine. Instead, the Federal Council pledged that Russian individuals and companies hit with EU sanctions won’t be able to evade them in Switzerland, which is not one of the EU’s 27 member states. SENT: 910 words, photos.
UKRAINE INVASION-RELIGION — While there have been appeals to religious nationalism on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, religious loyalty doesn’t mirror political fealty amid Ukraine’s fight for survival. Leaders of two Orthodox factions in Ukraine issued strong denunciations of the Russian invasion, as has Ukraine’s significant Catholic minority. But longstanding conflicts among the Orthodox still lurk in the background. By Peter Smith. SENT: 1,400 words, photos.
OLY-UKRAINE INVASION-RUSSIAN SPORTS — The invasion of Ukraine could further undermine Russia’s status as an elite sports dynasty, which already has been weakened by deception and doping scandals but often punished only by a tepid pushback from international sports bodies. By Eddie Pells. SENT: 1,080 words, photos.
CHELSEA-ABRAMOVICH-ANALYSIS — A day after Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich handed over the “stewardship and care” of the Premier League club to its charitable foundation trustees, declaring he always had “the club’s best interest at heart,” several issues remain. What has been heard from Abramovich is a vague suggestion of ceding control of Chelsea without legally doing so. What hasn’t been heard is condemnation by Chelsea and its Russian oligarch owner of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. By Rob Harris. SENT: 790 words, photos.
UKRAINE-KIEV-MAYOR — As Russian troops draw closer to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv’s mayor is filled with both pride over his citizens’ spirit and anxious about how long they can hold out. SENT: 430 words, photos.
UKRAINE INVASION-SPORTS — The Czech Republic has joined Poland and Sweden in refusing to play Russia in 2022 World Cup qualifying matches next month in response to that nation’s invasion of Ukraine. SENT: 575 words, photos.
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PHOTOS
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UKRAINE-CITIZEN TROOPS-PHOTO GALLERY — Gallery of Ukrainian citizens training to fight back against Russian troops. UPCOMING: 200 words, photos, by 3 p.m.
Here are links to some of the day’s related top PHOTOS:
XAZ146 — An armored personnel carrier burns and damaged light utility vehicles stand abandoned after fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
XAZ145 — A couple embrace prior to the woman boarding a train carriage leaving for western Ukraine, at the railway station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine.
XAZ143 — A child watches from a train carriage, waiting to leave to western Ukraine at the railway station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine.
MSC131 — People walk down the boulevard ‘Strasse des 17. Juni’ ahead of a rally against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Berlin.
XDB146 — Refugees from Ukraine rest after arriving to the railway station in Przemysl, Poland.
XAZ113 — An armed civil defense woman holds a Kalashnikov assault rifle while patrolling an empty street due to a curfew in Kyiv.
XDB101 — People fleeing the conflict in neighboring Ukraine cross the border in Przemysl, Poland.
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VIDEOS
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Here’s are links to some of the top consumer-ready VIDEOS:
Kyiv residents spend night in makeshift bomb shelter
Ukrainians flee into Moldova from Russian invasion
Family of 15 forced out of damaged Mariupol house
Ukrainian rocket falls near Russian border
— The AP