KHARKIV, Ukraine, March 1, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Russia shelled the Ukrainian

city of Kharkiv as it pressed on with its invasion Tuesday, defying mounting
global pressure that saw a war crimes probe opened against Moscow, sanctions
smash its economy and FIFA ban it from the World Cup.

  After their first talks since the war started failed to secure a
breakthrough Monday, Russia continued to target residential areas and
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a global ban on Russian
planes and ships.

  "We must close entry for this state in all ports, all canals and all the
world's airports," he said on Facebook.

  Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier outlined Moscow's demands for
ending the invasion, including recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea
and Ukraine's demilitarisation.

  He issued his demands in a phone call with French leader Emmanuel Macron
shortly before the Russian-Ukranian talks.

  Instead, the world has responded with an intensifying diplomatic, economic,
cultural and sporting backlash, with Moscow coming under fire at the UN
General Assembly and the International Criminal Court (ICC) opening a war
crimes investigation.

  "I am satisfied that there is a reasonable basis to believe that both
alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in
Ukraine" since 2014, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement.

  Russia also faced urgent calls at an extraordinary UN General Assembly
debate to end its "unprovoked" and "unjustified" assault, which has provoked
a massive diplomatic, economic, cultural and sporting backlash.

  Inside the General Assembly hall Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres pleaded: "The fighting in Ukraine must stop. Enough is enough."

  It followed Putin's phone call with Macron where the Russian leader
"stressed that a settlement is possible only if Russia's legitimate security
interests are unconditionally taken into account", said the Kremlin.

  Fighting continued during the dialogue, with at least 11 people killed by
Russian attacks in Kharkiv and Russian missile fire on several residential
buildings.

  Explosions were also reported in and around Brovary, a city on the
outskirts of the capital, Kyiv.

  Russian fire killed several civilians, including children, in Kharkiv and
Russian armoured vehicles and tanks are "everywhere" around the city, said
mayor Igor Terekhov, quoted by Ukrainian media.

  More than 350 civilians, including 14 children, have been killed during the
invasion, Ukraine says, while more than half a million people have fled the
country.

  In Kyiv, many were preparing for a fresh assault with makeshift barricades
dotting the streets.

  The Russian army urged Ukrainians to leave Kyiv "freely" on one highway out
ahead of what is an expected Russian offensive to capture the capital.

  The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was "gravely concerned" as
Russian forces advanced towards Ukraine's largest nuclear plant, strongly
warning against any military action that could threaten the Zaporizhzhia
facility.

  - Ruble plummets -

  Western nations have moved to increasingly isolate Russia, with the United
States expelling 12 members of Moscow's UN mission from America for being
"intelligence operatives".

  Canada announced a ban on Russian oil imports Monday.

  The European Union and its allies were also preparing more sanctions
against Russia in the coming days to "raise the cost" of war in Ukraine, an
aide to Macron told reporters.

  And Turkey said it would implement an international treaty to limit ships
passing through the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits, a move requested by
Ukraine to block the transit of Russian warships.

  The Russian ruble crashed to a record low as sanctions imposed by the West
over the weekend had an immediate impact in Moscow, forcing the central bank
to more than double its key interest rate to 20 percent.

  Putin also announced emergency measures intended to prop up the ruble,
including banning residents from transferring money abroad.

  - Long queues -

  Long queues for groceries snaked through the streets of Kyiv on Monday
after a strict 36-hour military curfew was lifted and volunteer militias
learned how to make home-made explosives.

  "We will greet them with Molotov cocktails and bullets to the head," bank
employee Viktor Rudnichenko told AFP. "The only flowers they might get from
us will be for their grave."

  Many Russians raced to withdraw cash.

  Retired soldier Edward Sysoyev, 51, fidgeted impatiently while in line at a
bank in Moscow.

  "Ninety percent of Russians are going to rush to withdraw their rubles and
change them into dollars, property or even gold... it'll be ordinary people
who pay for this military bun-fight," he said.

  - 'Unprovoked armed aggression' -

  In Russia, there were more signs of rare dissent among the usually ultra-
loyal oligarchs who surround the Russian leader -- in addition to anti-war
demonstrations that saw an estimated 2,100 people arrested on Sunday.

  Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska said "we need real crisis managers and not
fantasists", while billionaire banker Oleg Tinkov said "innocent people are
dying every day, this is unthinkable and unacceptable!"

  Western defence officials and the Kyiv government say Ukrainian troops have
so far kept the country's major cities out of Russian hands despite
incursions in the capital and Kharkiv over the weekend.

  However the small southern city of Berdyansk has been occupied, Ukraine
said.

  Moscow claimed it had "gained air superiority over the entire territory of
Ukraine", while accusing Ukrainian troops of using civilians as human
shields.

  However Olivier Kempf, a security analyst at the Foundation for Strategic
Research think tank, said that Russian forces were "not bogged down".

  "This is war, so there are difficulties. They may have logistics issues.
But regardless of what we're told, they are making progress," he told AFP.
"Only in video games do you conquer a country in two days."

  - Kicked out of World Cup -

  The weekend featured a momentous series of announcements from Europe, with
Germany unveiling a historic change to its defence policies, and the EU
saying it would buy and supply arms to Ukraine, the first such move in its
history.

  On Monday the European Union said it would add Russian oligarchs and the
Kremlin's spokesman to its sanctions blacklist while traditionally neutral
Switzerland said it would adopt the bloc's sanctions.

  However the EU poured cold water on Zelensky's request for "immediate"
membership to the bloc, saying the process to join takes years.

  The response from the world of sports also gathered steam, as Russia was
expelled from the World Cup and the country's clubs and national teams were
suspended from all international football competitions "until further
notice", FIFA and UEFA said.

  Poland has taken in more than half of the 500,000 people who have fled
Ukraine, according to the UN.

  Katerina Zaporojets, a laboratory worker from the central city of
Cherkassy, said it took her 24 hours to arrive at the western Shegyni border
post -- and she will likely wait another 48 hours before crossing.

  "The trip was really hard," the 31-year-old told AFP. "It's calmer here,
but the drive was really scary."