Russia-Ukraine live updates: Chernobyl in ‘extremely dangerous’ situation; Ukraine evacuation attempts resume

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.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was looking at “all options” after the United States “declared an economic war on Russia.”

“The United States has certainly declared an economic war against Russia and it is waging this war,” he said after President Biden’s announcement of a ban on Russian oil and gas imports. He said Russia would do whatever is necessary to protect its interests.

Peskov said the government had not yet decided whether to nationalize foreign companies that announced they were leaving Russia, after a leading figure in President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party called for it.

“You see an orgy, a hostile orgy that the countries of the collective West have staged, which, of course, makes the situation very complicated,” said Peskov in a daily press call, adding that Russia was working on its responses to sanctions. He said it was too early to detail what retaliatory steps Russia would take.

Moscow has announced a ban on key exports, without indicating which items would be included on a list. Russia’s government also announced plans Wednesday to try to protect Russia airlines’ foreign fleets, support the hotel industry, construction and other sectors.

Peskov said there would likely be “emotional gaps in food supply chains for some time,” after hundreds of Western companies suspended ties with Russia, including McDonalds, Starbucks, Pepsi and CocaCola, but that these would be smoothed out over time. He also downplayed job losses caused by the withdrawals of foreign companies.

“Let’s hope that millions of people will not be left without work, but fewer.”

When Ukraine asked China for help in bringing about a cease-fire after Russia invaded, it was calling on a country whose modern military Kyiv had helped build.

Ukraine has supplied Beijing for years with critical military technology that it couldn’t get elsewhere, including China’s first aircraft carrier, technology for its naval antimissile radar, and advanced jet engines. It’s also a key supplier of crops like corn and sunflower oil to China.

“China would not have even a single operational aircraft carrier in service today, if not for that help,” said Sarah Kirchberger, head of the Center for Asia-Pacific Strategy and Security at Germany’s Kiel University.

This history helps explain why Beijing might feel a bit awkward about the invasion, but China’s dependence on Russia outweighs its relationship with Ukraine, and Beijing has publicly backed Moscow. Ukraine has also been tilting away from China in recent years as it angled to join NATO, the Western military alliance.

The European Union on Wednesday announced that it was expanding its list of Russian oligarchs facing sanctions as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The E.U. also said it was imposing measures against several Belarusian banks, as that country remains allied with Russia in the war.

The Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union is implementing “new sanctions against Russian leaders and oligarchs and their family members implicated in the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” according to the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union. At least 14 oligarchs and prominent businesspeople are listed in the new measures, according to Reuters.

As part of the new sanctions, the E.U. is targeting Belarus and a few banks linked to the SWIFT messaging system. SWIFT is a network that connects banks around the world and is considered the backbone of international finance.

“In particular, the approved measures aim to exclude 3 Belarusian banks from the SWIFT system,” the French organization tweeted. “They clarify the issue of cryptocurrencies and complete the list of technologies and goods that cannot be exported.”

The United States and countries around the world have imposed historic, wide-ranging sanctions on Russia in hope of isolating the country and pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin to abandon the war. Some of that pressure has been directed toward its central bank and Russian oligarchs considered Putin allies.

As of Tuesday, the E.U. had already imposed 518 sanctions against Russia since the invasion began, according to data from Castellum.ai, a global database that tracks sanctions.

The French Presidency of the Council of the E.U. said Wednesday that the new sanctions are expected to be formally adopted soon.