Russia-Ukraine war latest news: US condemns Putin’s nuclear deterrence order; rouble crashes as markets open – live updates | World news

The Ukrainian military has claimed its forces made successful attacks against Russian forces through the use of drones.

On Sunday, the Ukrainian armed forces released footage purportedly showing the destruction of a Russian BUK missile system by a drone.

Commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said the drone attack took place near the town of Malyn in the Zhytomyr region, about 100km (about 62 miles) north-west of Kyiv.

The rouble plunged nearly 30% to an all-time low versus the US dollar on Monday as markets openbed for trading on the first day after western nations announced punishing economic sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

The rouble dropped to as low as 119 per dollar, and was last down 28.77% at 118 from its closing price 83.64 on Friday.

The sanctions include blocking some Russian banks from the Swift international payments system, leading investors to anticipate a run on the Russian currency as people try to change their money for dollars and other denominations.

“The escalating crisis in Ukraine will force markets to price in a substantially higher geopolitical risk premium,” strategists at the Australian bank Westpac said on Monday. “The Ukrainian situation is volatile.”

A referendum in Belarus on Sunday reportedly approved a new constitution renouncing the country’s non-nuclear status at a time when the former Soviet republic has become a launch pad for Russian troops invading Ukraine, Russian news agencies report.

The move could theoretically allow Russia to place nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil for the first time since the country gave them up after the fall of the Soviet Union. The referendum result will come into force 10 days after its official publication, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.

On Sunday, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said: “If you [the west] transfer nuclear weapons to Poland or Lithuania, to our borders, then I will turn to Putin to return the nuclear weapons that I gave away without any conditions.”

According to RIA, the head of the Belarus central elections commission, Igor Karpenko, said that 65.16% of citizens voted for the amendments to the constitution in a referendum.

This number was also reported in the Kyiv Independent newspaper, also citing that 65.16% of citizens allegedly supported these constitutional amendments.

The west has already said it will not recognise the results of the referendum, which is taking place against the background of a sweeping crackdown on domestic opponents of the government.

Canada has announced that it will ship non-lethal protective military equipment such as helmets and body armour to Ukraine’s army, but ruled out sending troops in against Russian forces.

Ukrainian troops need bulletproof vests, helmets, gas masks and night vision equipment, Canadian foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly said at a press conference on Sunday.

The contributions will amount to 25m Canadian dollars (17.6m euros), said Joly, stressing that she had received the request “directly” from Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna.

Canada’s defence minister Anita Anand meanwhile reiterated that a combat mission was “not on the table right now.”

Canada announced on February 14 that if would send arms and ammunition to Ukraine, a first, accompanied by a loan of 500 million Canadian dollars.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau tweeted:

To help the people of Ukraine defend themselves, we’re sending them additional military supplies that have been requested – including night vision goggles, body armour, gas masks, and helmets.”

Canada has a large Ukrainian diaspora, numbering more than 1.3 million.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said Ukraine belongs in the European Union and the bloc would like to see the country be a part of it in time.

“Indeed over time, they belong to us. They are one of us and we want them in,” Von der Leyen said in an interview with Euronews on Sunday.

Her comments came hours after the 27-nation EU decided to supply weapons to Ukraine, a first in the bloc’s history.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirmed he had a phone conversation with Von der Leyen where the pair talked about “concrete decisions on strengthening Ukraine’s defence capabilities” as well as macro-financial assistance and Ukraine’s membership in the EU.

More bad economic news for Putin.

The European Central Bank said on Monday morning that Sberbank Europe, a fully-owned subsidiary of Sberbank Russia, which in turn is majority-owned by the Russian state, is failing or likely to fail along with its Croatian and Slovenian units.

“Sberbank Europe AG and its subsidiaries experienced significant deposit outflows as a result of the reputational impact of geopolitical tensions,” the ECB said in a statement. “This led to a deterioration of its liquidity position.

“There are no available measures with a realistic chance of restoring this position at group level and in each of its subsidiaries within the banking union.”

Ukraine’s interior ministry says 352 Ukrainian civilians have been killed during Russia’s invasion, including 14 children.

The ministry says an additional 1,684 people, including 116 children, have been wounded.

The Russian rouble is set to plunge nearly 20% to a new record low versus the dollar on Monday, Reuters reports.

The rouble was indicated as low as 104 per dollar in futures trading, a more than 19% tumble.

The euro also sank more than 1% after western nations announced a harsh set of sanctions to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, including blocking some banks from the Swift international payments system.

Russia’s attack and subsequent sanctions have wrought havoc on markets around the globe.

The risk-sensitive Australian and New Zealand dollars also tumbled, while the safe-haven yen rallied as Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military command to put nuclear-armed forces on high alert on Sunday, the fourth day of the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two.

The euro declined 1.15% to $1.1140 in early Asian trading, on track for its biggest one-day decline in nearly two years.

The Aussie slid 0.98% to $0.71625, while New Zealand’s kiwi lost 1.10% to $0.66630.

The yen climbed 0.36% to 115.06 per dollar.

As Russian troops draw closer to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv’s mayor has confirmed that nine civilians in the city have been killed so far, including one child, in an interview with the Associated Press.

Vitali Klitschko ordered a curfew began about sundown on Saturday and is to extend until at least 8am Monday. His order pointedly stated that any unauthorised person outside during this time could be considered a saboteur.

“We are hunting these people, and it will be much easier if nobody is on the street,” Klitschko explained, saying that six Russian saboteurs were killed Saturday night.

Russian troops’ advance on the city has been slower than many military experts had expected but the overall Russian military advantage is well-known to all.

“I just talked to the president (Zelenskiy). Everybody is not feeling so well,” Klitschko said, adding that city government employees were in shock but not depressed. “We show our character, our knowledge, our values.”