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Russia's attack on Ukraine stretched into its sixth day Tuesday, as a massive armored convoy advanced toward the capital, Kyiv, and major cities were hit by more heavy shelling.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, video captured a deadly explosion at the regional state administration building that left at least 10 people dead, according to Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko.
The International Criminal Court said Monday it would open an investigation into whether Russia has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. The decision was announced hours after peace talks in Belarus ended without any clear progress.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy implored the European Union to accept Ukraine's application to join the bloc in a speech before the European Parliament on Tuesday that was met with a standing ovation.
It came amid a swift Western response to Russia's invasion, with countries imposing widening sanctions that hit Russia's economy hard and forced its currency, the ruble, to drop to around 30 percent against the U.S. dollar Monday.
Follow our in-depth coverage of the Russia-Ukraine crisis here.
Ukraine's Zelenskyy tells Russia "just stop the bombing" before more ceasefire talks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday Russia must stop bombing Ukrainian cities before meaningful talks on a ceasefire could start, as a first round of negotiations this week had yielded scant progress.
Speaking in an interview in a heavily guarded government compound, Zelenskyy urged NATO members to impose a no fly zone to stop the Russian air force, saying this would be a preventative measure and not meant to drag the alliance into war with Russia.
Zelenskyy, who has refused offers to leave the Ukrainian capital as Russian forces advanced, also said Ukraine would demand legally binding security guarantees if NATO shut the door on Ukraine's membership prospects.
Setting out his conditions for further talks with Russia, Zelenskyy told Reuters and CNN in a joint interview: "It's necessary to at least stop bombing people, just stop the bombing and then sit down at the negotiating table."
State of the Union: Biden to announce appointment of prosecutor focused on Covid fraud
President Joe Biden plans to announce in his address Tuesday night that the Justice Department is appointing a chief prosecutor to focus on pandemic fraud, including identity theft, according to an administration official.
Biden will also announce that he plans to sign an executive order in coming weeks that will include new directives to help prevent and detect identity theft in public benefits programs, as well as enhance support for victims of identity fraud, according to a White House fact sheet on the issue provided to NBC News.
The new prosecutor will “lead teams of specialized prosecutors and agents focusing on major targets of pandemic fraud, such as those committing large-scale identity theft, including foreign-based actors,” according to the fact sheet. The procesutor will also investigate criminal fraud in federal programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, and Unemployment Insurance benefits, according to the fact sheet.
Foreign minister: Ukraine will spare 'no effort' to evacuate Africans amid reports of racism at border
Responding to criticism that Africans at the Ukrainian border are facing racism and hostility as they attempt to flee the country, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said the country will spare "no effort" to help citizens and non-citizens evacuate.
"Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has affected Ukrainians and non-citizens in many devastating ways. Africans seeking evacuation are our friends and need to have equal opportunities to return to their home countries safely," he tweeted Tuesday.
Thousands of African immigrants have joined the more than 670,000 Ukrainians fleeing the country and many say they are met with discrimination as they attempt to reach safety. Videos posted to social media show officials appearing to threaten to shoot groups of African students, a woman shielding an infant from the cold, officials chasing groups of people and people reported to be stranded in Ukraine.
Kuleba said "Ukraine’s government spares no effort to solve the problem."
Klain says U.S. has formed a coalition to 'devastate' the Russian economy
White House chief of staff Ron Klain says Putin has launched an "unjustified, unprecedented assault on Ukraine."
"The concern is that he continues to target civilians in Ukraine," Klain said in an interview ahead of Biden's State of the Union address. "I care less about what hour of the day or night this happens and more about the fact that what Vladimir Putin is doing in Ukraine is wrong."
Klain adds that the U.S. has assembled a coalition led by Biden and leaders around the globe to "devastate the Russian economy."
Russia's inflation is over 20 percent, "so they are paying a price for what they're doing whatever hour of the day or night they do it," he said.
A civilian trains to throw Molotov cocktails to defend the city in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, on Tuesday.
Biden to say Putin's war was 'premeditated and unprovoked'
During his State of the Union address, Biden plans to say Putin's war was premeditated and unprovoked.
"Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson — when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos," Biden is to say, according to excerpts released by the White House. "They keep moving. And the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising."
Putin "rejected efforts at diplomacy" and thought the West and NATO wouldn’t respond, Biden plans to say. "And he thought he could divide us here at home. Putin was wrong. We were ready."
A woman hugs a girl as refugees from Ukraine wait for a transport at the Moldova-Ukrainian border's checkpoint near the town of Palanca on Tuesday.
Sasse, Biden's national security adviser spar over intelligence sharing with Ukrainians
A Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee accused the Biden administration Tuesday of moving too slowly to share lethal targeting intelligence with Ukrainian forces, drawing a heated response from national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
In an interview Tuesday on NPR, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a member of the Intelligence Committee who attended a classified briefing Monday night about Ukraine, contended that administration lawyers were responsible for delaying the passage of crucial intelligence to Ukraine.
“They need to be sending more actionable intelligence in real time to the Ukrainians,” Sasse said, “because we’re not moving fast enough. Knowing where a Russian tank was 10 hours ago isn’t very helpful to a Ukrainian who is fighting to defend his or her family.”
The U.S. is sharing intelligence, Sasse acknowledged, but he called the Biden administration process “way too lawyerly.”
In response, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said it was “absolutely false” that White House or National Security Council lawyers had taken any steps to block the sharing of intelligence with Ukrainians. “It's just not true,” he said.
Sullivan declined to comment on whether actionable intelligence was being shared.
Sasse, in a new statement to NBC News, accused Sullivan of not telling the whole truth.
“We are not getting Ukrainians enough lethal targeting intelligence and we’re not getting it to them fast enough,” Sasse said. “I don't know what process BS Sullivan is hiding behind — lethal targeting intel needs to go to [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy so he can defend his country.”
Sullivan responded, “It’s plain that Senator Sasse doesn’t have any information that NSC has done anything.”
Two Democratic congressional officials familiar with the matter said Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner, D-Va., and House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, D-Calif., believe the Biden administration has been proactive in sharing intelligence with Ukraine, with one calling the information “forward leaning.”
But they acknowledged that some of the issues posed by the sharing require examination by lawyers. Under international law, providing targeting information is considered directly participating in a war.
Apple to stop selling products in Russia
Apple has halted all sales of physical products in Russia because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, a company spokesperson said Tuesday.
Apple, which does not have any stores in Russia, normally ships its phones, computers and tablets through its online stores, and it also sells products through third-party retail stores there.
The company had already recently stopped Apple Pay service in Russia after the U.S. sanctioned Russian banks.
Apple has also restricted the apps for the Russian state news outlets RT and Sputnik to be visible only in Russia, said Fred Sainz, the Apple spokesperson, and Apple Maps is no longer showing traffic in Ukraine to help protect Ukrainian residents.
The App Store will still function, and users in Russia will still be able to update their software.
Zelenskyy gets standing ovation after speech to European Parliament: 'Nobody is going to break us'
An impassioned speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighting his country’s determination and worth got a standing ovation from the European Parliament and choked up a translator.
"Our people are very much motivated, very much so, we are fighting for our rights, for our freedoms, for our life," Zelenskyy said. "And now we are fighting for survival, and this is the highest of our motivation."
"But we are fighting also to be equal members of Europe. I believe that today we are showing everybody that’s exactly what we are. The European Union is going to be much stronger with us — that’s for sure."
The European Parliament was moved by Zelenskyy's words, standing and applauding for nearly a full minute after he concluded his remarks.
"We’re dealing with reality. We’re dealing with killed people, real life, you know," he said.
He detailed Russia's bombings of Kharkiv earlier in the morning.
He said the city is home to more than 20 universities. Students and residents of Kharkiv often gather in Ukraine's largest square — Freedom Square — for celebrations, he said.
"Can you imagine, this morning two cruise missiles hit this freedom square, dozens of killed ones," Zelenskyy said. "This is the price of freedom."
A translator was overcome with emotion at this point of the speech. His voice cracked repeatedly, and he took a deep breath in before gathering himself.