Russia-Ukraine war live updates: US rushing $200 million in weapons for Ukraine's defence

The United States accused Russia of using a UN Security Council meeting Friday for "lying and spreading disinformation” as part of a potential false-flag operation by Moscow for the use of chemical or biological agents in Ukraine.US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia was playing out a scenario put forth in the council last month by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken — that President Vladimir Putin would "fabricate allegations about chemical or biological weapons to justify its own violent attacks against the Ukrainian people.""The intent behind these lies seems clear, and is deeply troubling," she said. "We believe Russia could use chemical or biological agents for assassinations, as part of a staged or false-flag incident, or to support tactical military operations."

Ukraine was at a turning point in the war with Russian forces appearing to be regroup for a possible assault on Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. "It is impossible to say how many days we still have (ahead of us) to free Ukrainian land. But we can say we will do it," he said. "We are already moving towards our goal, our victory." At a meeting with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said there were "certain positive shifts" in talks with Kyiv, but did not elaborate.

Biden announced the new step, which would enable Western nations to inflict steep tariff hikes on Russian goods, in coordination with NATO allies, the Group of Seven and the European Union.Washington and Brussels also said they would cut off exports of luxury goods to Russia in what EU chief Ursula von der Leyen described as a "direct blow to the Russian elite." US lawmakers -- who would have the final say -- have already indicated they support stripping Russia of the preferential status that ensures equal treatment between international trade partners.

The United States and NATO are shipping weapons into Ukraine at break-neck speed, including highly sensitive items such as shoulder-fired missiles called Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems (MANPADS) that can take down aircraft.The Western arms deliveries, another one of which is expected to arrive in the coming hours, have been vital to enabling Ukrainians to fight the invading Russians forces far more effectively and fiercely than U.S. intelligence expected.But moving those amounts of weaponry into the largest conflict in Europe since World War Two carries with it risks that some could fall into the wrong hands -- a possibility the West has considered."Frankly, we believe that risk is worth taking right now because the Ukrainians are fighting so skillfully with the tools at their disposal and they're using them so creatively," a senior U.S. defense official said on Friday when asked about that danger.

A Russian law giving Moscow stronger powers to crack down on independent journalism is placing Russia under a "total information blackout" on the war in Ukraine, UN independent experts said on Friday. "Russia's recent adoption of a punitive 'fake war news' law is an alarming move by the government to gag and blindfold an entire population," three independent U.N. experts appointed by the top U.N. rights body, the Human Rights Council, said in a statement. "The law places Russia under a total information blackout on the war and in so doing gives an official seal of approval to disinformation and misinformation," they added.

US President Joe Biden said he has moved 12,000 troops along the borders with Russia, such as Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Romania while asserting that Vladimir Putin will not be victorious in the war he has waged against Ukraine.Addressing members of the House Democratic Caucus on Friday, Biden stressed over "not fighting a third World War in Ukraine" but avowed sending an "unmistakable message that we will defend every inch of NATO territory".

Ukrainian officials accused Russia damaging a cancer hospital and several residential buildings in the southern city of Mykolaiv with shelling from heavy artillery. The hospital's head doctor, Maksim Beznosenko, said several hundred patients were in the hospital during the attack but that no one was killed. The assault damaged the building and blew out windows.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia on Friday of kidnapping the mayor of the city of Melitopol, equating it to the actions of ``ISIS terrorists.'' "They have transitioned into a new stage of terror, in which they try to physically liquidate representatives of Ukraine's lawful local authorities,'' Zelenskyy said in a video address Friday evening.

Russia's airplanes and artillery widened their assault on Ukraine on Friday, striking airfields in the west and a major industrial hub in the east, as Moscow's forces tried to regroup from recent losses and their onslaught fast reduced crowded cities to rubble.

US soldiers continued to deploy Friday to Europe, joining thousands already sent overseas to support NATO allies amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. About 130 soldiers from the 87th Division Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Division Sustainment Brigade, lined up with rucksacks inside a terminal at Hunter Airfield in Savannah before marching outside and boarding their chartered flight. It departed amid grey skies and rain.

The United States accused Russia of using a UN Security Council meeting Friday for ``lying and spreading disinformation'' as part of a potential false-flag operation by Moscow for the use of chemical or biological agents in Ukraine.

The United States has accused Russia of violating nuclear safety principles, saying it was concerned by "continued Russian firing on nuclear facilities" in Ukraine but added that there were no signs detected yet of any radiological release.

Britain said on Friday Russian air and missile forces had conducted strikes in the past 24 hours against western Ukrainian cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk. Russian tactical aircraft supporting the advance of Russian ground forces were primarily relying on unguided 'dumb' munitions, British Ministry of Defence intelligence update posted on Twitter said.