Mastercard said late on Monday US time that it has blocked multiple financial institutions from its payment network as a result of sanctions imposed on Russia over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mastercard will continue to work with regulators in coming days, the company said in a statement. It also promised to contribute a $2m for humanitarian relief.

Some of Britain’s biggest businesses have already pulled out of Russia in what is a highly significant move for UK plc.

Shell and BP have both profited enormously from their joint ventures in Russia’s huge oil fields but they have now withdrawn. Our business team looks at the “great decoupling” of British business here, while our business commentator Nils Pratley argues that there is no going back for the oiil giants.

The rush to disinvest from Russia is impressively quick since it’s possible to imagine an alternative script in which the oil companies’ boards tried to buy time by issuing woolly “all options are open” statements. A definitive statement to sell its 20% stake in Rosneft (in BP’s case) and ditch all partnerships with Gazprom (Shell’s position) leaves no ambiguity. There can be no going back.

The sanctions arraigned against Russia seem to spread by the hour, with Hollywood film studios Disney and Warner the latest organistations to cut ties with Vladimir Putin’s state.

The Walt Disney Co said on Monday US time that it is pausing the release of theatrical films in Russia, starting with the upcoming Pixar release, Turning Red.

Within hours, WarnerMedia said it would pause this week’s release of The Batman in Russia.

“We will make future business decisions based on the evolving situation” Disney said in a statement. “In the meantime, given the scale of the emerging refugee crisis, we are working with our NGO partners to provide urgent aid and other humanitarian assistance.”

The Ukrainian Film Academy created an online petition that called for an international boycott of Russian cinema and the Russian film industry following the invasion.

Still on the space theme, AFP reports that Nasa is looking at how it can manage the international space station without Russian help.

The collapse of the rouble provided a big talking point in Monday’s coverage and was followed by a dramatic doubling of interest rates by the Central Bank of Russia to protect the currency.

Our Moscow correspondent Andrew Roth went out on the streets to talk to people trying to withdraw money from the banks “before it was worth zero”.

The country could soon be facing a severe recession and one businessman told Andrew: “I’m going to tell them that we are going into a crisis that we have never experienced before. It’s like flying on a plane with no engines or the engines are on fire.”

The rouble relatively stable in early trading on Tuesday at around 105 to the US dollar. But this chart has a dramatic graph shwoing how far the rouble has crashed in value against the greenback in the past decades.

Here’s our latest roundup of what we know so far about day six of the invasion of Ukraine:

Ukraine has received donated Starlink satellite internet terminals from SpaceX.

“Starlink here. Thanks, @elonmusk,” Ukraine’s vice prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, tweeted, days after asking SpaceX’s billionaire chief executive officer Elon Musk for help.

The terminals look like home satellite television dishes and can provide relatively fast internet service, by residential standards, by connecting to a fleet of satellites in low orbit.

Fedorov’s tweet included a picture of the back of a military-looking truck, loaded with terminals.

Musk tweeted back, “You are most welcome”.

Taiwan has sent 27 tonnes of medical supplies to Ukraine, the government announced on Tuesday, saying it was extending a helping hand as a member of the “democratic camp” in the international community, Reuters reports.

Taiwan has joined with Western allies in putting sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and expressed cross-party sympathy for the Ukrainian people, seeing parallels with what Taipei views as Beijing’s threats against the island.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said the supplies left on Monday night on a flight to Frankfurt and will be sent onwards to Ukraine via “appropriate routes and channels”.

There’s a lot of focus in the British press on Tuesday morning about the deaths of children in Russian bombardment of cities, as some of the front pages show below.

Worth flagging then that the Guardian’s Emma Graham-Harrison, who is in Kyiv, filed this very powerful report on the impact on children on Sunday, including the story of a 10-year-old girl called Polina who was allegedly killed by “Russian saboteurs”.

Here’s a new video in which Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, says Russia continued to bomb Ukrainian cities on Monday while negotiations to end the conflict were taking place on the Belarus border.

Zelenskiy also accused Russia of committing war crimes in Kharkiv and said his country had applied to join the European Union.

The United States has promised more sanctions against Russia and more weapons for Ukraine’s military, according to Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba.

After speaking on the phone to US secretary of state Anthony Blinken, Kuleba has tweeted that “US support for Ukraine remains unfaltering”.

“I underscored that Ukraine craves for peace, but as long as we are under Russia’s assault we need more sanctions and weapons. Secretary assured me of both. We coordinated further steps.”

Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, has read aloud a text message exchange between a Russian solider in Ukraine and his mother before he was killed.

When the mother purportedly asks her son if he is still in the Crimea on training exercises he tells her:

“Mama, I’m in Ukraine. There is a real war raging here. I’m afraid,” the message allegedly reads, adding that “we are bombing all the cities”, “even civilians”.

More from Kharkiv, where Monday saw some very heavy bombardment.

The BBC Ukrainian service report that contains quotes from the city’s mayor saying nine people have been killed also quotes a city official saying on Telegram that “dozens” of bodies could be seen in the city’s streets. He called it a “war crime”.

In quotes also reported by Agence France-Presse, Oleg Sinegubov, head of the Kharkiv military state administration, said the Russians had bombarded civilian areas where there was no critical infrastructure or armed forces. He estimated “there are 11 dead and dozens wounded”.

He added:

Dozens of dead civilians are lying in the middle of the streets, there are very seriously injured. Affected cars along with passengers burned to the ground.

What is happening in Kharkiv now is a war crime! It is a genocide of the Ukrainian people.

The struggle continues! We will survive, residents of Kharkiv region, we help each other, we are one!

More from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s video address late Monday night, via the AP:

Zelenskiy says Russian troops have intensified shelling of Ukraine, calling it an effort to force his government into making concessions during talks held Monday.

In a video address, Zelenskiy says that “the talks were taking place against the backdrop of bombing and shelling of our territory, our cities. Synchronizing of the shelling with the negotiating process was obvious. I believe Russia is trying to put pressure (on Ukraine) with this simple method.”

The president did not share details about the talks, but said he was not prepared to make concessions “when one side is hitting each other with rocket artillery”, the AP said.

The Ukrainian president has called for a no-fly zone for Russian missiles, planes and helicopters following the attack on Kharkiv.

Volodymr Zelenskiy said Russia had carried out 56 rocket strikes and sent 113 cruise missiles over five days.

Earlier on Monday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the administration did not support a no-fly zone ban, since it would draw the US into direct military conflict with Russia: “It would essentially mean the US military would be shooting down planes, Russian planes,” Psaki said on MSNBC. “That is definitely escalatory… That is not something the president wants to do.”

Canada will supply upgraded ammunition and anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, prime minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa.

“Canada will continue to deliver support for Ukraine’s heroic defense against the Russian military,” he said, according to Reuters. “We are announcing our intention to ban all imports of crude oil from Russia, an industry that has benefited President Putin and his oligarchs greatly.”

Canada had sent non-lethal support to Ukraine earlier and has backed sanctions against Russia. Canada’s foreign minister on Sunday had also left the door open for citizens of Ukrainian descent to join the new foreign legion and take up arms against Russia.

“We understand that people of Ukrainian descent want to support their fellow Ukrainians and also that there is a desire to defend the motherland and in that sense it is their own individual decision,” Mélanie Joly told reporters. “Let me be clear: we are all very supportive of any form of support to Ukrainians right now.”

US senator Dick Durbin is requesting that the White House grant “temporary protected status” to Ukrainians currently in the US, NBC News reported.

The Senate majority whip, who is also chair of the judiciary committee, told reporters that there are 29,500 Ukrainians in the US on visas, including tourists and students. Temporary protected status would allow them to remain without risk of deportation, if their visas run out. He said he was sending a letter to the Biden administration making the request.

“Some of them – the visas have expired and they’re supposed to return to Ukraine. That’s unacceptable under the current circumstances,” the Democratic senator told reporters, adding that he believed Republicans would support his calls as well.

Facebook and Instagram are blocking access to Russian state media outlets across the European Union, the social media parent company Meta, has announced.

Nick Clegg, the company’s head of global affairs, said it had received requests from multiple governments and the EU to take steps against state-controlled Russian media outlets RT and Sputnik:

Meta said it had uncovered a “relatively small” disinformation network targeting Ukraine, made up of about 40 accounts, pages and groups on the two social media platforms, reported the Guardian’s technology editor, Dan Milmo. The network ran websites posing as independent news entities and created fake personas across social media including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Telegram as well as Odnoklassniki and VK in Russia, Meta said.

Here’s more reporting on life in Ukraine as local residents shelter in bunkers to keep safe, from the Guardian’s Ekaterina Ochagavia and Katie Lamborn:

From inside a makeshift bunker in the basement of their block of flats in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, Olia and her neighbours give an insight into their lives as they reach day five of heavy shelling from Russian forces.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second biggest city, was the focus of dozens of Grad missiles targeting civilian areas in an apparent change of tack by Moscow. Olia, a young artist, reflects on the conflict so far and explains how she is keeping her spirits up.

As Ukrainians across the country evacuate amid Russia’s full-out attacks, African, Caribbean, and Asian citizens have faced discrimination at the Ukraine-Poland border, denied entry into Poland.

From the Guardian’s Emmanuel Akinwotu and Weronika Strzyżyńska:

A deluge of reports and footage posted on social media in the past week has shown acts of discrimination and violence against African, Asian and Caribbean citizens – many of them studying in Ukraine – while fleeing Ukrainian cities and at some of the country’s border posts.

They are among hundreds of thousands of people trying to escape the country as civilian casualties and destruction mount.

The Nigerian government has condemned the treatment of thousands of its students and citizens fleeing the war in Ukraine, amid growing concerns that African students are facing discrimination by security officials and being denied entry into Poland.

A deluge of reports and footage posted on social media in the past week has shown acts of discrimination and violence against African, Asian and Caribbean citizens – many of them studying in Ukraine – while fleeing Ukrainian cities and at some of the country’s border posts.

More than half a million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began last week, according to the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR.

The Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, said on Monday: “All who flee a conflict situation have the same right to safe passage under UN convention and the colour of their passport or their skin should make no difference,” citing reports that Ukrainian police had obstructed Nigerians.

“From video evidence, first-hand reports, and from those in contact with … Nigerian consular officials, there have been unfortunate reports of Ukrainian police and security personnel refusing to allow Nigerians to board buses and trains heading towards Ukraine-Poland border,” he said.

Read the full article here.

More on what the experience is on-the-ground for Ukrainian people:

From the Kyiv Independent’s Illia Ponomarenko:

Sitting alone in a wartime city in the night, sipping iced whiskey, listening to the sound of air raid sirens roar, looking into the dark of the street. I will never forgive them for what they did to the Kyiv we love.

More on the US expelling 12 Russian diplomats: US officials have said that the Russian diplomats “have abused their privileges” by engaging in espionage that is harmful to national security, calling the expelled diplomats “intelligence operatives.”

From journalist Jack Detsch:

The White House further confirmed that that expulsion of said diplomats has been in the works for months, reported Reuters.

The US has ordered 12 Russian diplomats at the United Nations to leave by 7 March, reported Reuters.

At a news conference held by Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Nebenzya took a phone call and confirmed shortly afterwards that 12 diplomats had been declared “persona non grata” by US authorities and instructed to leave by 7 March, according to the New York Times.

Nebenzya called the expulsion of Russian diplomats a “gross violation” of the US’s position as the UN host country.

“There are a lot of countries that understand what the Russian position is and what it is doing and why,” said Nebenzya.

More on Turkey banning all warships from crossing the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits leading to the Black Sea from the Guardian’s Ruth Michaelson:

Turkey controls the straits under the 1936 Montreux Convention, which stipulates that in a time of war Turkey may block access to warships belonging to states bordering the Black Sea, providing they are not returning to their permanent bases there.

Turkish officials including Çavuşoğlu declared yesterday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine constitutes a war, a shift in tone after officials previously described it as a “military operation,” even while condemning Russia’s actions.

According to the convention, Black Sea nations must notify Turkey eight days in advance of their warships, including submarines, transiting the straits while warships belonging to other nations require 15 days notice. The decision to block ships could affect an estimated 16 Russian warships and submarines currently in the Mediterranean, some of which are part of their Black Sea fleet.

Following a meeting of his cabinet, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated earlier today that “we have decided to exercise the authority granted to our country by the Montreux Convention regarding vessel traffic on the straits in order to prevent the escalation of the crisis.”

Erdogan has repeatedly offered to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, amid efforts to maintain its alliances with both parties. Turkey imports roughly a third of its natural gas from Russia and previously bought Russia’s S400 missile defense system, but has recently enhanced its economic and defense ties to Ukraine, including selling Kyiv Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones.

“Throughout this process, we have maintained our multifaceted diplomatic initiatives uninterruptedly to ensure peace and stability, and we continue to do so,” said Erdoğan.

Several presidents of EU member states have published an open letter calling for Ukraine’s swift candidacy into the EU.

The letter reads as follows:

We, the Presidents of the EU member states: the Republic of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Poland, the Slovak Republic, and the Republic of Slovenia strongly believe that Ukraine deserves receiving an immediate EU accession perspective.

Therefore, we call on the EU Member States to consolidate highest political support to Ukraine and enable the EU institutions to conduct steps to immediately grant Ukraine a EU candidate country status and open the process of negotiations.

In this critical moment, we reiterate our full solidarity with Ukraine and its People.

The open letter follows an appeal earlier today from Ukraine president Volodymyr