Live updates: Fox News photographer killed in Ukraine

Fox News photographer Pierre Zakrzewski was killed in Ukraine when the vehicle he was traveling in with reporter Benjamin Hall was struck by incoming fire, Fox News said on Tuesday.

Hall has been hospitalized since the incident on Monday, which happened when they were newsgathering in Horenka, outside of Kyiv, the network said.

As a war photographer, Zakrzewski had covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria for Fox, according to a memo sent to Fox employees by Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media.

“His passion and talent as a journalist were unmatched,” Scott said.

He was the second journalist killed in Ukraine in two days. Brent Renaud, a documentary filmmaker and another veteran of covering war zones, died Sunday after Russian forces opened fire on his vehicle.

___

HERE ARE TODAY'S KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

— Russia has stepped up its bombardment of Kyiv, as a series of strikes hit a residential neighborhood in the capital city

— The leaders of three European Union countries have planned a bold visit to Kyiv

— Mariupol officials say 2,000 civilian cars have managed to leave the besieged Ukrainian port city via a humanitarian corridor leading west

Go to https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine for updates throughout the day.

___

HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING TODAY:

BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the 30-nation military alliance is set to radically change its security posture in Europe in the future in response to Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and its military integration with Belarus, create a new security reality on the European continent,” Stoltenberg said Tuesday, on the eve of a meeting of NATO defense ministers.

“We need to reset our military posture for this new reality,” he told reporters. Stoltenberg said the ministers, led by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, would discuss possible changes on Wednesday.

“On land, this could include substantially more forces in the eastern part of the alliance, at higher readiness, and with more prepositioned equipment,” Stoltenberg said.

In recent years, NATO has deployed a relatively small force of around 5,000 troops to the Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – and Poland on a rotating basis to deter Russia from invading.

Stoltenberg says he expects the ministers will task NATO military commanders to come up with options for boosting security in eastern Europe for the alliance’s leaders to choose among at their June summit.

___

NEW YORK — Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin says the country aims to spend around 1 trillion rubles ($9 billion) on measures to support an economy hit by international sanctions.

Mishustin said the government would work with other ex-Soviet countries to reshape their trade relationships with a focus on helping Russia to get the imports it needs.

Mishustin said the measures aim to “ensure the maximum flexibility for the economy, remove internal restrictions on business and give more freedom to entrepreneurs.”

Russia’s economy has been disrupted after foreign companies in a wide range of industries suspended their operations in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

The government’s responses so far have included programs to support lending to businesses, suspending some regulatory processes and restricting exports of grain and sugar.

___

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is praying for the people of Kyiv as Russia steps up its bombardment of the Ukrainian capital.

The Vatican said Tuesday that Francis had received a letter from the Kyiv mayor, inviting him to visit the city as a messenger of peace. The Vatican didn’t say if Francis had responded or was considering a visit.

Such a trip would be highly unlikely given security concerns, Francis’ efforts to maintain relations with the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican’s tradition of quiet, behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

In a statement responding to the Kyiv city invitation, Holy See spokesperson Matteo Bruni said Francis was spiritually close “to the suffering of the city, its people, to those who were forced to flee and those who are called to run it. He prays to the Lord that they are protected from violence.”

The March 8 letter invited Francis to visit Kyiv or to participate in a virtual conference of religious leaders. “We appeal to you, as a spiritual leader, to show your compassion, to stand with the Ukrainian people by jointly spreading the call for peace,” the letter read.

___

BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is concerned that Russia might be trying to create a pretext to use chemical weapons in Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said Tuesday that Russia’s “absurd claims” about biological labs and chemical weapons in Ukraine are “an absolute lie.”

“This is just another lie. And we are concerned that Moscow could stage a false flag operation, possibly including chemical weapons,” he told reporters in Brussels.

Stoltenberg says that any use of chemical weapons by Russia would be a violation of international law but he refused to say whether it would be a red line that might draw a military response from NATO.

___

MOSCOW — The Russian Foreign Ministry says that U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and other top Biden administration officials have been put on the Russian sanctions list.

The ministry said in Tuesday’s statement that the measure is a response to the U.S. sanctions against the Russian leadership.

At the same time, it noted that Russia may not renounce official contacts with the U.S. officials targeted by the sanctions if such contacts are in the country’s national interests.

___

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s foreign minister says an operation to evacuate the country’s consul general from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol is underway.

The consul general, Manolis Androulakis, was being evacuated along with staff from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and their families, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said. Androulakis had been sheltering in the OSCE building in the city.

Greece had been trying for days to evacuate its consul general from the city, where the siege has left residents desperately short of food, water, medicine and heat. Earlier this month, Greek diplomats arranged an evacuation convoy from the city of more than 20 vehicles and more than 80 people, mostly members of the local Greek community in Mariupol. That convoy reached Moldova after three days.

___

PRZEMSYL, Poland — Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children, collected food and snacks on Tuesday from volunteers after arriving at the train station in Przemsyl, Poland.

Marina Solonenko, 35, arrived with her children from the eastern city of Kharkiv. She said they are headed to Germany but want to eventually return home “only when it gets quiet.”

“It is very scary in Kharkiv,” she said, struggling to maintain her composure. “Everything is bombed. The city is destroyed. There are no buildings or houses. The center of the city has been destroyed. They hit the residential districts. Everything has disappeared. Many people are leaving. In Kharkiv, only quarter of the population remains.”

Natalia Zhelazna, a refugee from Ternopil in western Ukraine, said, “We live near the airport and it is a little bit scary. Nobody knows when something will happen. That’s why we decided to leave, some people will find shelter for us. Children need good sleep and normal education.”

___

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the country realizes that it can’t join NATO.

Speaking Tuesday to representatives of the U.K.-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), Zelenskyy said that “we heard for years about the allegedly open doors” of NATO, but “we have already heard that we won’t be able to join.” He added that “it’s the truth we must recognize, and I’m glad that our people are starting to realize that and count on themselves and our partners who are helping us.”

The JEF may consist of Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.

Zelenskyy again urged Western allies to provide Ukraine with warplanes.

___

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s parliament has voted to extend martial law for another month.

Acting on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request, Ukrainian lawmakers voted Tuesday to extend the martial law for another 30 days starting March 26.

Under the measure, men between 18 and 60 are barred from leaving the country so they can be called up to fight in the war against Russia. Lawmakers approved a draft bill Zelenskyy sent to parliament prolonging the measure, which was set to expire March 26.

___

KYIV, Ukraine — An adviser to the Ukrainian president says that the Ukrainian and Russian negotiators are discussing a cease-fire and Russian troops’ withdrawal during their talks.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is taking part in Tuesday’s talks via video link, said on Twitter that “the talks are continuing,” adding that “general issues related to a settlement, a cease-fire and troops withdrawal from the country’s territory” are on the table.

Earlier Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow was pressing its demands for Ukraine to drop its bid to join NATO, take a neutral status and “demilitarize.”

___

BERLIN — Activists from the environmental group Greenpeace have blocked access to a Russian-owned oil refinery in Germany in protest at the war in Ukraine.

Dozens of activists attached themselves to railroad tracks at the PCK refinery Schwedt, northeast of Berlin, early Tuesday to stop the transport of oil they said originates from western Siberia.

The activists carried banners reading “Peace Not Oil” — a reference to Germany’s continued import of fossil fuels from Russia despite the Russian attack on Ukraine.

The refinery is estimated to account for 90% of the gasoline consumed in Berlin and the surrounding region of Brandenburg.

PCK is majority-owned by Russian oil giant Rosneft.

The German government has pledged to wean itself off Russian coal and oil by the end of the year.

___

STOCKHOLM — The Swedish government wants to reintroduce identity checks at borders because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has led to Europe’s “biggest and fastest growing refugee crisis since World War II.”

“The situation may become so serious that immediate measures need to be taken to maintain law and order and protect national security,” Infrastructure Minister Tomas Eneroth said Tuesday.

Officials have therefore supported a proposal for a new temporary law that would enable authorities to check identities when traveling by bus, train and passenger ship to Sweden.

Sweden is haunted by a 2015 migration crisis and wants to avoid another large-scale influx of migrants. The Scandinavian nation then took in a record 163,000 people — the highest per capita of any European country.

___

PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron said France is offering protection from the French embassy and asylum to the anti-war activist who interrupted a news program on Russia’s state television, holding a poster protesting the war in Ukraine.

An independent human rights group that monitors political arrests identified the woman as Marina Ovsyannikova. The group, OVD-Info, posted on its website that Ovsyannikova, who identified herself as an employee of the station, was taken into police custody.

Macron said he will “propose this solution in a direct and very concrete manner” to Russian President Vladimir Putin in their next phone call.

He condemned any detention of journalists and hoped that Ovsyannikova’s situation will be clarified “as soon as possible.”

Macron spoke Tuesday after visiting a facility housing Ukrainians fleeing war in western France. The country is getting ready to welcome “at least” 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war, he said.

Government officials said about 15,000 Ukrainians have arrived in France so far.

___

MARIUPOL, Ukraine — The city council of Mariupol says 2,000 civilian cars have managed to leave the besieged Ukrainian port city via a humanitarian corridor leading west.

The council said another 2,000 cars are in the city but waiting to leave along the route, which runs for more than 260 kilometers (160 miles) to the Ukraine-held city of Zaporizhzhia.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on social media the corridor would be open from 8 p.m. Tuesday to 7 a.m. Thursday.

The council advised drivers to spend the night somewhere along the route rather than drive straight through, unless they are already close to Zaporizhzhia by evening.

It was not immediately clear if the total number of cars which had left was for Tuesday only, or if it included 160 cars which left the day before. The city council said nearly 300 people had arrived in Zaporizhzhia as of Tuesday morning, fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

___

BERLIN — Germany’s IT security agency is warning people not to use antivirus software made by the Russian company Kaspersky.

The agency said Tuesday that the current activities by Russian military and intelligence agencies due to the war in Ukraine pose a “considerable threat” to cybersecurity in the European Union and NATO member states.

The Federal Office for Information Security said that IT companies could carry out attacks, be forced to do so by state authorities or become victims of hacking operations themselves.

The agency urged individuals, companies and organizations to switch to alternative software.

___

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont Gov. Phil Scott is urging the public to bring candles or lights to a Tuesday ceremony where he is scheduled to sign into law a bill that will donate nearly $645,000 in humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine.

Scott and other top state officials are scheduled to hold the event at the Statehouse.

When he asked the Legislature to appropriate the money, Scott said there is nothing a small state like Vermont can do to change the outcome of the Russian war on Ukraine, but he wanted to show support for the country and its people.

___

LONDON — Britain has announced new sanctions against 350 Russian individuals and entities, hours after Parliament approved legislation allowing the government to take action against people already sanctioned by the U.S., European Union and Canada.

Those sanctioned include a number of Russian oligarchs, including Alfa Group co-founders Mikhail Fridman and German Khan, as well as former Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, and some of the top governmental spokespeople who have been instrumental in spreading President Vladimir Putin’s propaganda.

Parliament met into the early hours of Tuesday morning to pass a new economic crime bill that made it easier for the government to impose sanctions on those linked to the invasion of Ukraine.

___

ROME — The Italian premier and U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser have agreed on the need to continue “a decisive and unified response” to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Premier Mario Draghi’s office said he met with U.S. adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday, a day after Sullivan met with a top Chinese official in Rome and warned him about China’s support for Russia in the war.

Draghi’s office said the premier and Sullivan both condemned the “unjustified aggression by Russia and the need to continue pursuing a decisive and unified response to Moscow.” Both men also agreed to intensify bilateral contacts, the statement said.

NATO member Italy has backed sanctions against Moscow after initially seeking to avoid targeting the energy sector. Italy imports some 43% of its natural gas needs from Russia, up from 27% a decade ago.

___

LONDON — Ukraine’s president has told northern European leaders that they could “help yourself by helping us,” as he appealed for more weapons to counter Russia’s invasion of his country.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking to leaders of the Joint Expeditionary Force via videolink Tuesday, said the Ukrainian military is rapidly using up weapons and other hardware that western nations have shipped to his country.

He also appealed for a full trade embargo on Russia, saying sanctions have not been enough to counter the Russian military advance.

“We have to acknowledge Russia as a rogue state and there has to be a trade embargo with Russia,” Zelenskyy said. “This is something that we need and you need as well, just like the rest of the world, to make sure there is peace in Europe and Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy also repeated his frustration with NATO over its refusal to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine as he addressed JEF leaders meeting Tuesday in London.

The United Kingdom-led JEF is a grouping of 10 north Atlantic countries designed to react quickly to international crises. It includes NATO members such as Britain and the Baltic states, as well as non-NATO countries such as Sweden and Finland.

___

CHISINAU, Moldova — Italy has signed an agreement worth 10 million euros (US $11 million) to help Moldova, Europe’s poorest country, cope with an influx of Ukrainian refugees.

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio signed the cooperation agreement with his Moldovan counterpart, Nicu Popescu, during a visit to the capital Chisinau on Tuesday.

Later in the day, Di Maio is to formally deliver a preliminary eight metric tons of humanitarian aid, including generators, water, thermal blankets, stoves and sanitary kits, to support Moldovan centers housing people fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Popescu said Moldova, with a population of 2.5 million, has received around 300,000 refugees so far, a third of whom have remained in the country.

___

LONDON — The British government says it will raise import duties on vodka and other Russian products and ban the export of luxury goods to Russia.

The measures announced Tuesday are the latest round of economic sanctions designed to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The U.K. Department for International Trade said the measures are designed to hamper Putin’s war machine by depriving Russia of the preferential tariff treatment it receives from membership in the World Trade Organization.

Russian and Belarusian products ranging from vodka and white fish to iron, oil seeds and grain will face additional import tariffs of 35%.

In addition, the U.K. said it would join with other Group of Seven industrialized countries to ban the export of luxury goods, including luxury vehicles, high-end fashion and works of art, to Russia.

___

LONDON — Britain’s government says almost 89,000 households have signed up to a program to provide a home for Ukrainian refugees, with so much interest that the registration website crashed within the first few minutes of its launch.

Britain launched its “Homes for Ukraine” program Tuesday. It allows Britons to host a named person from Ukraine for a minimum of six months in their own homes or in rent-free separate housing. In exchange, the government will pay each sponsor 350 pounds ($456) a month.

Officials said there will be no limit on how many Ukrainians can enter the U.K. under the program.

___

GENEVA — The International Organization for Migration says more than 3 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded last month.

The new milestone also indicated that 157,000 third-country nationals — people who aren’t Ukrainian — were part of the outflow in what U.N. officials have called the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

IOM spokesman Paul Dillon said at a U.N. news briefing in Geneva on Tuesday that the totals were compiled from figures provided by national authorities.

The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, which provides a more detailed count than the IOM though based on similar data, has reported that more than 1.8 million of the refugees were in Poland.

UNHCR spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh said some 300,000 had moved on from there to Western Europe and noted that the vast majority of those fleeing have been women and children.

___

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Turkey is talking with both Moscow and Kyiv to secure the evacuation of around 100 Turkish citizens trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol.

Dozens of Turkish nationals and others have been sheltering inside a mosque in Mariupol, seeking refuge from the Russian attack on the encircled port on the Sea of Azov.

Turkish defense ministry officials also said Tuesday they hoped the evacuations from Mariupol would begin soon, following a “security evaluation” by Russian authorities.

The officials said roads in the area had been cleared of mines and that work was underway to open humanitarian corridors and for buses to enter Mariupol.

Cavusoglu said Turkey has so far evacuated 14,800 of its citizens from Ukraine.

___

BEIJING — China insists that its stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is “impartial and constructive.”

The Chinese government is also repeating its accusations that the U.S. is spreading misinformation over reports Beijing has responded positively to a Russian request for military supplies.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian accused the U.S. of “immoral and irresponsible” conduct by spreading misinformation.

“What the U.S. should do is to deeply reflect on the role it has played in the development and evolving of the Ukraine crisis and do something practical to ease the tension in Ukraine,” he said, in a nod to China’s contention that Russia was provoked by NATO’s expansion and threats to its security.

The Biden administration is increasingly concerned that China is using the Ukraine war to advance Beijing’s long-term interests in its global competition for influence with the United States.

China has refused to criticize Russia over its invasion and the ensuing war, or even to refer to the conflict as such.

___

NEW YORK — Russian soccer player Artem Dzyuba has declined a call-up to the national team because he has family in Ukraine, which has been invaded by Russian forces.

The 33-year-old forward is the joint top scorer of the Russian men’s national team and is its former captain.

Russian coach Valery Karpin said on the Russian Football Union website Tuesday that “in connection with the difficult situation in Ukraine, where many of his relatives live,” Dzyuba had asked to be excused from the national team for family reasons.

Russia called up 27 players Tuesday for a national team training camp as it challenges a ruling by FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, barring it from playing international games.

Russia was set to host Poland on March 24 for a World Cup qualifying playoff semifinal. Poland cited the war in refusing to play against Russia, with FIFA and European soccer authority UEFA later banning Russian national and club teams from their international competitions.

___

LVIV, Ukraine — Local authorities say the number of people killed in a Russian rocket attack on a TV tower in western Ukraine has risen to 19.

The Rivne regional government posted on its Facebook page Tuesday that 19 people were killed and nine were injured in the strike on the TV tower in Antopol, a village outside the city of Rivne.

The village is only 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the border of NATO member Poland and comes as Russia presses its invasion of Ukraine.

___

KYIV, Ukraine — Outside a Kyiv apartment block hit by overnight Russian shelling, a young firefighter took a moment to rest Tuesday. He sat on the ground, tears falling.

He described rescuing a woman and her daughter and fighting through a flaming corridor before facing a problem with his equipment that forced him to leave.

“It’s very difficult. Yesterday we extinguished one fire, today another, it is very difficult,” said the firefighter, who would give only his first name, Andriy.

“People are dying, and the worst thing is that children are dying,” he told The Associated Press at the scene. “They haven’t lived their lives and they have already seen this. This is the worst.”

After a brief pause, he went back into the fiery building.

___

LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday underscored his drive for energy independence, saying the West’s failure to wean itself from Russian oil and natural gas after the annexation of Crimea paved the way for the invasion of Ukraine.

Western countries made a “terrible mistake” in returning to normal economic relations with Russia after the Crimean incursion and becoming even more dependent on Russian energy exports, Johnson wrote in a front page article in The Telegraph newspaper.

“And so when (Vladimir Putin) finally came to launch his vicious war in Ukraine, he knew the world would find it very hard to punish him. He knew that he had created an addiction,” he said. “That is why he feels able to bomb maternity hospitals. That is why he is emboldened enough to launch indiscriminate assaults on fleeing families.”

Ending the world’s dependence on Russian energy will starve Putin of cash, Johnson said as he made the case for the U.K. government’s plan to phase out imports of oil and gas from Russia by the end of this year.

To replace Russian energy and cut carbon emissions, the U.K. must expand production of wind power, and invest in other forms of renewable energy including solar, tidal, geothermal and hydroelectric power plants, Johnson said. The U.K. must also reverse the “historic mistake” of moving away from nuclear energy, he said.

___

LONDON — Britain’s defense ministry says Russia may be planning to install a pro-Moscow government in Kherson, a Ukrainian city it has occupied, as it attempts to assert “political control” over areas of Ukraine.

The Ministry of Defense says Russia “may seek to stage a ‘referendum’ in Kherson in an attempt to legitimize the area as a ‘breakaway republic’ similar to Donetsk and Luhansk and Crimea.”

U.K. Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly said any attempt at local referendums would “be another attempt to put a veneer of credibility on what is an unacceptable, unjustified illegal invasion.”

In an intelligence update, the defense ministry says protests have been held against occupying Russian forces in the cities of Melitopol, Berdyansk and Kherson, where troops fired warning shots at demonstrators on Monday.

It says Russia has reportedly installed its own mayor in the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol following the alleged abduction of his predecessor on Friday, and the mayor of another city, Dniprorudne, has also reportedly been abducted by Russian forces.

___

WARSAW, Poland — The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia are traveling on Tuesday to Kyiv, Ukraine's capital which is currently under fire, on a European Union mission to show support for Ukraine as Russia’s invasion intensifies.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said in a tweet: “The aim of the visit is to express the European Union’s unequivocal support for Ukraine and its freedom and independence.”

He will be joined by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is Polish the deputy prime minister for security but also the conservative ruling party leader.

Russia’s offensive in Ukraine edged closer to central Kyiv on Tuesday, with a series of strikes hitting a residential neighborhood in the capital as the two countries planned a second day of talks.

__

This item has been corrected to show that Janez Janša is the Prime Minister of Slovenia, not Slovakia.

___

KYIV, Ukraine – A series of Russian strikes hit a residential neighborhood of Ukraine’s capital on Tuesday, igniting a huge fire and frantic rescue effort in a 15-story Kyiv apartment building. At least one person was killed and others remain trapped inside.

The Ukrainian military said artillery strikes hit the Svyatoshynskyi district of western Kyiv, adjacent to the suburb of Irpin that has seen some of the worst battles of the war.

Flames shot out of the apartment building as firefighters rescued people from ladders. Smoke choked the air.

A firefighter at the scene confirmed one person died and that several have been rescued alive but others are still inside as rescuers try to reach them.

Russian forces also stepped up strikes overnight on the northwest suburbs of Irpin, Hostomel and Bucha, the head of the Kyiv region Oleksiy Kuleba said on Ukrainian television.

Russian forces also renewed efforts Tuesday to capture the important port city of Mariupol in the south, and unleashed new artillery strikes on downtown Kharkiv in the east, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said on Facebook.