Russia-Ukraine live updates: Chernobyl in ‘extremely dangerous’ situation; maternity hospital reported bombed

Moments after Fox News host Greg Gutfeld accused media outlets of seeking an “emotional response” in their coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the network turned to foreign affairs correspondent Benjamin Hall for a report from the battered capital, Kyiv. When he began his report, Hall took a moment Tuesday to rebuke his colleague’s dismissive punditry thousands of miles away from the war, becoming the latest Fox reporter to speak out against the network’s coverage of Ukraine.

“Speaking as someone on the ground, I want to say that this is not the media trying to drum up some emotional response,” Hall said on “The Five.” “This is absolutely what’s happening.”

Hall noted that cities such as Kharkiv and Mariupol “are being absolutely flattened,” adding: “It is an absolute catastrophe and the people caught in the middle are the ones who are really suffering.”

But when his report concluded and the show returned to the studio panel, Gutfeld turned to co-host Dana Perino and asked if he should respond to what he described as a “cheap attack.” “What do you think, Dana?” he asked. “Should I address Benjamin Hall’s cheap attack on me, or be a good co-worker and let it slide?”

TEL AVIV — Russian Israeli oligarch Leonid Nevzlin announced Tuesday that he plans to give up his Russian passport in protest of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Everything that Putin touches dies,” Nevzlin wrote in a Facebook post. “I am against the war. I am against the occupation. I am against the genocide of the Ukrainian people.”

Nevzlin was among the first prominent Russian oligarchs to go into self-imposed exile in Israel, fleeing what he has described as a campaign of politically motivated persecution by Putin.

BAMAKO, Mali — They wear army fatigues with no flag and carry Kalashnikov assault rifles. They guard the presidential palace and track extremists in the scrubland. Hundreds of Russian mercenaries have landed here over the past three months, according to regional and Western officials, providing a shadowy source of protection as this nation’s alliances with the West unravel.

The missions are unfolding as support for Russia surges in the capital, Bamako. Protesters wave Russian flags and photos of Vladimir Putin. Signs declare “I LOVE WAGNER” and “THANK YOU WAGNER,” referencing the Wagner Group, a Russian security organization that has been widely accused of war crimes and targeted by U.S. sanctions.

“We think they’re here to clean up the mess,” said Diamano Dolo, a 41-year-old souvenir merchant whose gear with Russian letters (“Мали” for Mali) sells quickly.

Wagner, seen by the United States as a covert extension of the Kremlin, arrived in Mali after a 2020 coup isolated the West African country from its democratic partners. As Russia invades Ukraine, the Kremlin is pushing to amplify its influence worldwide, and ostensibly private military groups like Wagner offer a deniable way to advance its goals, researchers say. Since 2016, the Russian mercenary footprint has grown from four nations to 28, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Eighteen are in Africa.

Wall Street rallied in Wednesday, with the three major U.S. indexes getting big bumps at the opening bell.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 550 points, or 1.7 percent, to kick off the regular session. The broader S&P 500 index advanced 1.9 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 2.2 percent.

The rally comes as oil prices appeared to be leveling off, with Brent crude, the international benchmark, falling 4.6 percent to about $122 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, fell 4.7 percent to under $118 a barrel. U.S. and European governments have moved to limit purchases of Russian oil in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Overseas, Germany’s DAX index was up 5.2 percent, while France’s CAC 40 was up 4.5 percent. The Pan-European Stoxx rose 3 percent. Asian indexes were mostly negative, with the Hang Seng off 0.7 percent and the Nikkei down 0.3 percent.

An economic and cultural iron curtain is descending on Russia as President Vladimir Putin proceeds with his invasion of Ukraine, reversing decades of integration with Western economies and threatening to isolate Russians to an extent unseen since the Soviet era.

The dramatic severing is the result of punishing restrictions put in place by the United States and Europe — including bans on Russian aircraft flying in Western airspace, sanctions on the central bank and a voluntary exodus of international companies from the Russian market.

But the isolation is also a function of the repressive measures Putin has taken at home. Those moves have curbed the free flow of information online, contained public protest and sent thousands of Russians fleeing abroad, fearing the possibility of martial law, conscription or closed borders in a country careening toward a more severe form of authoritarianism.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday that he would send an additional $50 million of equipment to help Ukraine.

Trudeau earlier tweeted that he had just spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and pledged to send “another shipment of highly specialized military equipment.”

Speaking alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, Trudeau said, “Canada and Germany stand together against Putin’s invasion” of Ukraine, adding that Putin “represents a threat to democracy, to security and to peace in Europe and around the world.”

Trudeau also said he would continue to send equipment and weapons “as needed” but said he wanted to be careful about escalation.

“We want to de-escalate the conflict. We want to see an end to this conflict,” Trudeau said. “We will be there to support Ukrainians in every way that we can. But we need to be mindful of the best way to support them.”

The prime minister also said he had invited Zelensky to address the Canadian Parliament.

The other battlefield: It isn’t only Russia’s military might that has some U.S. lawmakers and experts concerned about what’s next in the conflict with Ukraine. They’re also worried about a stealthy but possibly just as damaging enemy: cyberwarfare.

They believe that as Russian President Vladimir Putin is pressed on the battlefield and continues to be squeezed by the sharp bite of U.S. and European sanctions, NATO’s newly evolved cyber policy might not be prepared to respond.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Wednesday that the Russian military has not accomplished most of what it set out to do since invading Ukraine — but warned that the campaign to conquer the country will become more “brutal” and “indiscriminate” over time.

Wallace, in a statement before Britain’s lower house of Parliament, pledged additional humanitarian aid and military supplies to Ukrainian forces, including antitank missiles, but also rations and medical equipment. He said Britain is exploring the possibility of donating short range man-portable air-defense systems, or Starstreak, to Ukraine. “It is vital that Ukraine maintain its ability to fly,” he said.

Wallace said the British intelligence community has assessed that Russia failed to neutralize Ukrainian air defense and achieve “total air dominance” over Ukraine. Russian forces are in control of Kershon, Melitopol and Berdyansk in southern Ukraine, Wallace said, and are encircling Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mariupol, but “are not in control of them.”

Russian forces have “overwhelming fire power and armor,” and more manpower than Ukrainians, but Russian forces are facing unexpected resistance on the ground, and a backlash from civilians, Wallace said.