Russia-Ukraine live updates: Zelensky condemns ‘war criminals’ as shelling disrupts civilian evacuations

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Fear of a humanitarian crisis looms large over Ukraine as civilian casualties continue to mount and Russiaâs heavy bombardment of major cities shows no sign of abatement.

In a video interview aired Monday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian soldiers of being âwar criminals.â A growing number of Western leaders are also raising questions about possible war crimes â which Moscow denies â citing reports of attacks on civilians.

Efforts to shuttle Ukrainians to safety via humanitarian corridors were disrupted in recent days, as people fleeing besieged cities such as Mariupol scrambled for shelter amid Russian shelling. At least eight people, including two children, were killed Sunday as a result of a Russian mortar shell exploding in Irpin, a town on the outskirts of Kyiv, a local official said. Britainâs defense ministry said Monday that Irpin residents have reportedly been without critical supplies such as heat, water and electricity.

The United Nations said Monday that it had recorded at least 406 civilian deaths so far, including at least 27 children, but that the actual toll is likely much higher.

âNearly 100 percentâ of Russian troops pre-positioned around Ukraine have been sent into the country to fight, according to a senior U.S. defense official, adding that shelling from the Kremlinâs forces appears to be intensifying and increasingly dependent on long-range missiles âto make up for the lack of ground movement that theyâve had.â

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The Pentagon will send an additional 500 U.S. troops from the United States to Europe to bolster American forces in the eastern part of the continent, a senior U.S. defense official said.More than 1.7 million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion began, according to the U.N.'s refugee agency. More than 1 million of them have crossed into Poland.As Western corporate titans severe ties with Russia, some brands including KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks have stayed put so far, despite calls from activists urging them to boycott Moscow. Most of their stores in Russia are owned by franchisees, which limits the corporationsâ abilities to curtail their operations.Seen across Russia in recent weeks â and even on the podium of the Paralympic Games â the letter âZâ has become a popular symbol among Russians who support the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

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In appearances from presidential office in Kyiv, Zelensky says Russian forces are âall war criminalsâ

By Reis Thebault and Hannah Knowles1:23 a.m.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a tour of his presidential office in Kyiv in aÂ videoÂ address posted to his Facebook page on March 7. (Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remained defiant on Monday in a pair of videos recorded at the leaderâs Kyiv office â the first time he has publicly appeared there since the Russian invasion began â where he declared that his outgunned army âwill endureâ and said everyone involved in the Kremlinâs assault should be considered a war criminal.

In a video address posted to his Facebook page, Zelensky gave Ukrainians â who have relied on his nightly posts for updates and morale boosts â a tour of the presidential office and a view from the window.

âIâm not hiding,â he said. âAnd Iâm not afraid of anyone.â

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FIFA grants temporary free agency to foreign players in Russia and Ukraine

By Des Bieler1:22 a.m.

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FIFA, soccerâs international governing body, announced Monday that it is regarding foreign players signed to teams in Russia and Ukraine as free agents able to move to squads in other countries.

FIFA cited âan ongoing and distressing humanitarian crisisâ in also allowing such players to change clubs even if the transfer windows for the new teams have closed, as long as the switch takes place by April 7.

The catch, as a players union pointed out, is that FIFA said its suspension of Russian and Ukrainian contracts is temporary. It will be in effect until June 30, when the seasons end for the two countriesâ national soccer federations.

âWhile some measures adopted today are helpful amendments, the decision to allow foreign players to only suspend their contracts and thus only temporarily leave Russian clubs is too timid,â stated the union, FIFPRO, according to the BBC. âIt will be hard for players to find employment for the remainder of the season with uncertainty looming over them and, within a few weeks, they will be in a very difficult situation once again.

âThese players should be allowed to terminate their contracts.â

FIFA, along with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), moved last week to bar Russian club teams and its national squad from international competitions.

âFootball is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine,â FIFA and UEFA said in a joint statement at the time.

Anti-Russian hate in Europe is making chefs and school children out to be enemies

By Karla Adam1:21 a.m.

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LONDON â Russian chef Alexei Zimin is donating part of his London restaurantâs revenue to support Red Cross work with Ukrainian refugees. He has been singing songs by a Russian dissident poet on Instagram, posting messages such as: âStop the war. Withdraw troops. Bring our soldiers home.â He knows that in speaking out this way, he may never be able to return to Russia, where he has been credited with leading a gastronomic revolution and owns two more restaurants.

Yet angry messages are filling his restaurantâs voice-mail inbox. âRussians are killers,â one declared. âYouâre Putinâs Russians,â another accused.

Zimin, 50, is among those who have been hit by a sudden and rapidly rising tide of anti-Russian sentiment in Europe. While governments have moved to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin and sanction oligarchs, while societies have been calling for cultural figures â from hockey stars to opera singers â to denounce the war, Russian expats who have never had sympathy for Putin and who are horrified by whatâs happening in Ukraine say they are facing a wave of generalized hostility.

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