The European Union on Wednesday cut seven Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system and banned Kremlin-controlled media outlets RT and Sputnik from broadcasting into the bloc.

The measures, effective immediately, were the latest ratcheting up of the Western-coordinated sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, now in its seventh day.

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Police in Moscow detained two women and five children who wanted to lay flowers at the Ukrainian Embassy as day six of Russia's deadly invasion of Ukraine came to a close Tuesday.

Researcher Alexandra Arkhipova said the children aged 7 to 11 were initially held with their mothers in a police van before being taken to a police station and eventually

Russian forces said they had captured a port on the Black Sea on Wednesday as Russian and Ukrainian troops battled for another city and Ukraine's leader said Moscow wanted to "erase" his country.

The Russian army said it had taken control of Kherson, as its troops advanced and pounded cities across southern and eastern Ukraine, defying sanctions

The Moscow Stock Exchange remained closed for the third day in a row on Wednesday as the Russian authorities rolled out additional measures to limit the economic impact from the swingeing sanctions imposed by the West. 

The Bank of Russia, which operates the stock exchange, said it had decided that trading would not be resumed except for the