EU to unveil Russian oil sanctions as evacuees recall Azovstal horror
The European Union is expected to outline oil sanctions against Moscow as Russia continued its attacks on eastern Ukraine and unleashed rockets on a steel plant that is the last redoubt for resistance in the port city of Mariupol.
The attacks came as the head of the UK armed forces criticised the Kremlin’s military campaign, characterised by “shocking intelligence failures”.
Pummelled by western sanctions, Russia now faces new measures from the EU that would target its banks and oil industry — a major step for European countries that rely heavily on Russian energy.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is expected to spell out the proposed new sanctions on Wednesday, including a ban on imports of Russian oil by the end of this year.
Russia’s own $1.8tn economy is heading for its biggest contraction since the years after the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union. Russian president Vladimir Putin raised the economic stakes for Kyiv’s western backers by announcing plans to block exports of vital raw materials.
The impending sanctions came as scores of evacuees who managed to leave the city under United Nations and Red Cross auspices reached the relative safety of Ukraine-controlled Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said 156 people arrived in Zaporizhzhia, after sheltering beneath the sprawling Azovstal steel complex for more than two months.
“Finally, these people are completely safe. They will get help,” Zelenskiy said.
Exhausted-looking people, including young children and pensioners laden with bags, clambered off buses in the car park of a shopping centre. “I can’t believe I made it, we just want rest,” said Alina Kozitskaya.
One middle-aged woman walked away from the evacuation bus sobbing
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