The delegations of Russia and Ukraine began the negotiation rounds on Monday in Alexandrovka-Vilcha, on the border between Belarus and Ukraine, while the advance of Putin’s troops continues.

YouTube blocked two Russian channels

YouTube has blocked Russian media channels RT and Sputnik across Europe “in the wake of the ongoing war in Ukraine,” the platform announced in an email sent to the AFP news agency on Tuesday.

“We blocked the YouTube channels of RT and Sputnik throughout Europe, with immediate effect. Our systems need a little time to be fully operational. Our teams monitor the situation 24 hours a day to act as quickly as possible,” they indicated from YouTube.

France assured that the sanctions will cause the collapse of the Russian economy

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Tuesday that sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine will cause the collapse of its economy.

“We are going to cause the collapse of the Russian economy. The economic and financial balance of forces is totally in favor of the European Union, which is discovering its economic power,” Le Maire told France Info radio.

Ukraine will sell war bonds to finance the army

The Government of Ukraine confirmed that it will put up for sale starting this Tuesday war bonds to be able to finance the armed forces that fight against the Russian army. The value of each bond is 1,000 hryvnias ($33) and the interest rate has not yet been determined.

This was reported by the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine through its official Twitter account: “The proceeds from the bonds will be used to meet the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

A Russian missile hit the Kharkiv Regional State Administration

The shocking video began to circulate on social networks showing the exact moment in which a Russian missile hit the front of the building of the Regional State Administration in Kharkiv.

The aftermath of the explosion shows burned cars and debris in the town square. No fatalities or injuries have been reported in the attack so far.

The Russian attack on the city of Kherson began

The Russian army has already begun its attack on the city of Kherson, in southern Ukraine, according to the State Service for Communications and Information Protection on its official Telegram account.

“The assault on Kherson has begun. According to witnesses, the enemy is advancing from the airport to the Nikolaev highway and the ring road near the refrigeration plant,” they said.

The Ukrainian ambassador to the UN celebrated the end of the presidency of his Russian counterpart in the Security Council

The Ukrainian ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, welcomed the end of the monthly term of his Russian counterpart, Vassily Nebenzia, as president of the UN Security Council.

“I am looking forward to midnight when this abomination ends, the occupation of the council president’s seat,” Kyslytsya wrote on her official Twitter account on Monday.

The Russian army threatens the city of Kherson

The Russian army is at the gates of the Ukrainian city of Kherson, in the south of the country, near the Crimean peninsula, its mayor Igor Kolikhayev declared in the early hours of Tuesday.

“The Russian army is setting up checkpoints at the entrances to Kherson. It is difficult to say how the situation will evolve. Kherson is and will remain Ukrainian. Kherson resists!” closed the mayor.

Mastercard blocked transactions from Russia

Mastercard reported that it has blocked multiple transactions from its payment system as a result of the sanctions imposed on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.

The news comes as the United States, along with the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada, said they would take action against Russia by shutting down Russian banks from the Swift international payments system and preventing Russia’s central bank from deploying its foreign exchange reserves to cushion the impact of sanctions.

70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed by Russia

“Many people have died. Currently, places are being prepared in the cemetery for about 70 dead Ukrainian soldiers,” said Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, head of the Sumy region state administration.

According to Zhyvytskyi, it was a Russian artillery attack that destroyed a Ukrainian military unit in the northeastern city of Okhtyrka.

“But the enemy also gets what he deserves,” he added, saying there were “a lot of Russian bodies” in the city, which are now being handed over to the Red Cross.

The Chinese embassy in Ukraine began evacuations

The Chinese embassy in Ukraine reported that the first organized group of citizens left the country on Wednesday. According to local media, these were Chinese students from Kiev who were on their way to Moldova.

The fact that China is only evacuating its citizens now could mean a number of things. One possibility is that Beijing initially felt it was important not to upset Russia prematurely. Another, that China thought that Russia would take Ukraine so quickly that it would not need people to leave.

And another, more worrying possibility is that China has calculated that Russia’s invasion is about to get worse.