Your Friday Briefing: 1 million refugees

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March 4, 2022

By Melina Delkic

Writer, Briefings

Good morning. We're covering Russia's advances in southern Ukraine and a mass exodus from the war.

A Ukrainian refugee and her dog in Radymno, Poland, on Thursday.Maciek Nabrdalik for The New York Times

One million refugees have fled Ukraine

Russian forces advanced in southern Ukraine on Thursday as the number of people who fled Ukraine reached one million, a week into Russia's invasion. Follow our live updates.

Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov, continued to hold out despite a massive Russian bombardment that had cut power, water and heat. After capturing the city of Kherson, Russian forces were moving toward Mykolaiv, one of Ukraine's three largest ports.

Russia's advance on the capital, Kyiv, however, appeared to be stalled for a third day as the Kremlin sent more troops into the country, according to a U.S. defense official.

The U.N. predicted that 10 million Ukrainians — roughly a quarter of the population — could be displaced, including about four million who could cross borders. Half a million children have fled into neighboring countries, UNICEF said.

Our reporters spoke to refugees making the long journey westward, enduring difficulties but also buoyed by the generosity of their countrymen. Ukrainians were packing into trains in Kyiv, a day after a missile strike damaged its central railway station. The U.N. recorded 802 civilian casualties, with 209 people killed and 553 injured.

Diplomacy: During a second round of talks, Russia and Ukraine agreed to allow supplies of food and medicine to reach areas of intense fighting and establishing "humanitarian corridors" for civilians.

A French official said that a call between President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Emmanuel Macron of France left the French leader persuaded that Russia wants "control of all of Ukraine."

In other developments:

Athletes from Russia and Belarus will not be allowed to compete in the Paralympics.
Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said Russian troops were "confused children" who didn't know why they were in Ukraine.
The International Chess Federation cut ties with Russia, and a top Russian chess player condemned Russia's aggression.
As many as 20,000 Ukrainian tourists are stranded in Egypt.
These maps show how Russian troops are pushing into Ukraine.

Chelsea's stadium in London. Neil Hall/EPA, via Shutterstock

Russian oligarchs under pressure

With the war in Ukraine escalating, the U.S. and its allies are targeting key allies of President Vladimir Putin: Russian oligarchs.

It isn't easy to freeze and seize these billionaires' far-flung and hidden assets. In the U.S., a new team has been created in the Justice Department, known as Task Force KleptoCapture, to pursue the assets of "those whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue this unjust war," the attorney general said.

Other countries are taking action as well: France, Germany, Japan and Britain have all announced plans to seize the billionaires' assets, like yachts, or to discourage business dealings with them, some of whom have been placed on a sanctions list.

One of Russia's best known oligarchs, Roman Abramovich, confirmed this week that he was trying to sell his Chelsea football club, days after British lawmakers moved to pass new legislation targeting wealthy Russians.

Tech controls: U.S. companies will be barred from exporting certain sensitive items that would support defense, aerospace and maritime industries in Belarus, the Biden administration announced, after it took the same steps for Russian industries last week. The limits also apply to international companies that use U.S. technology.

Arts world: Vladimir Potanin, one of Russia's richest men, stepped down as a trustee of the Guggenheim Museum. Anna Netrebko, a superstar Russian soprano, will no longer appear at the Metropolitan Opera after failing to comply with the company's demand that she distance herself from Putin.

Test pick-up in Auckland, New Zealand, last month.Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

New Zealand's fast-spreading Covid outbreak

New Zealand is being walloped by a major outbreak of the Omicron variant, with the virus spreading at what may be the fastest rate in the world.

The country reported 23,194 new cases on Thursday, a once unthinkable number in a small island nation that held off major outbreaks for years. The record daily case count until recently was in the low hundreds.

The explosion in cases has come as the government, under political pressure, loosened its strict pandemic regulations and as the highly transmissible Omicron reduced the effectiveness of the controls that remained.

Quotable: "This is the first time most New Zealanders are dealing with Covid-19 in their own homes," said Siouxsie Wiles, a microbiologist at the University of Auckland.

Related: The last of Australia's strict pandemic-era border restrictions have been lifted.

THE LATEST NEWS

Asia Pacific

Yoon Suk-yeol, center, of the People Power Party. Yoon was a prosecutor general under the Moon administration.Jung Yeon-Je/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A South Korean presidential candidate dropped out of the race and voiced his support for the conservative front-runner, Yoon Suk-yeol. It could tip the balance in the election, Reuters reports.
Hundreds of people around the world have been arrested on charges of sharing child sexual abuse material, officials say, after a two-year investigation led by New Zealand authorities.
A Japanese court convicted Greg Kelly, the former deputy to the ex-Nissan chief, Carlos Ghosn, of helping him conceal part of his compensation from regulators.
After more than a decade without a title sponsor, the Women's Tennis Association secured a deal with Hologic, a medical device company, at a crucial moment after it suspended tournaments in China.

Around the World

Former President Donald Trump in Orlando, Fla., last weekend.Scott McIntyre for The New York Times

The congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol said there was evidence to conclude that former President Donald Trump may have committed crimes to try to stay in office.
For the second time in three days, service on the London Underground was severely disrupted because of a strike by workers over pensions and job reductions.
A painting by the Surrealist artist René Magritte sold at auction for 59.4 million pounds with fees, or about $79.7 million, breaking the record for a work by the artist.

Morning Read

Musicians and revelers crowding a downtown street in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.Dado Galdieri for The New York Times

The show must go on — and against police orders, it did. Rio de Janeiro's Carnival was canceled for the second year in a row, because of the pandemic. But some artists took to the streets to make their own carnival and our correspondent and photographer were there to cover it.

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ARTS AND IDEAS

Four of the six Dr. Seuss books that his estate said "portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong."Christopher Dolan/The Times-Tribune, via Associated Press

Old book, new book, bold book, Seuss book

The company that oversees the estate of Dr. Seuss, the pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel, announced this week that it would be publishing a new series of children's books inspired by the author's unpublished sketches. The books, which will be released starting next year, will be written and illustrated by a group of emerging artists from diverse backgrounds.

The announcement came a year after the company decided to stop publishing six of Geisel's lesser-known books because of their racist content, a decision that divided public opinion at the time.

Each book will include an original, unpublished sketch by Dr. Seuss and a note from the artists explaining how they were inspired by it. Two such sketches, released ahead of the books' publication, include an image of three colorful, smiling hummingbirds, and another of a mouse-like creature with fuzzy, elongated ears.

PLAY, WATCH, EAT

What to Cook

Bryan Gardner for The New York Times

The trick to this one-pot pasta with sausage and spinach is seasoning the pasta water with cumin.

What to Read

In her new novel, "Glory," NoViolet Bulawayo, the first Black woman from Africa to become a finalist for the Booker Prize, writes about a nation on the cusp of revolution.

What to Watch

The directors Bong Joon Ho and Ryusuke Hamaguchi talk about the best-picture Oscar nominee "Drive My Car."

Now Time to Play

Here's today's Mini Crossword, and a clue: There are 10 in a decade (five letters).

Here's today's Wordle. (If you're worried about your stats streak, play in the browser you've been using.)

And here is today's Spelling Bee.

You can find all our puzzles here.

That's it for today's briefing. See you next time. — Melina

P.S. The Times photojournalist Lynsey Addario spoke to CNN about capturing the war's impact on Ukrainians.

The latest episode of "The Daily" is about Russia's changing strategy.

Manan Luthra wrote today's Arts and Ideas, and Nancy Wartik contributed writing. You can reach Melina and the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

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