Russia being banned from US airspace

The company says that in response to recent events, they are beginning the process to discontinue operations and developing steps to exit the Sakhalin-1 venture. Kyiv A Russian airstrike hit a residential area near a hospital late Tuesday in Zhytomyr, a city about 140 kilometers west of Ukraines capital, Mayor Serih Sukhomlin said in a Facebook video.

President Joe Biden plans two announce that the US is banning Russian planes from its airspace in retaliation for the Ukraine invasion, according to two people familiar with the matter. The announcement follows similar actions by Canada and the European Union and is set to come during his State of the Union address Tuesday evening. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the address.

___ Kyiv: Ukraine's Defense Ministry says it has evidence that Belarus, a Russian ally, is preparing to send troops into Ukraine. The ministry statement, posted on Facebook at midnight, said the Belarussian troops have been brought into combat readiness and are concentrated close to Ukraine's northern border.

"During the past 24 hours, according to intelligence findings, there has been significant aircraft activity. In addition, there has been movement of a column of vehicles with food and ammunition" approaching the border," the statement said.

___ Irving: ExxonMobil says it will not invest in new developments in Russia because of Russian military attacks on Ukraine.

The company said in a statement it supports the people of Ukraine as they seek to "defend their freedom and determine their own future as a nation." ExxonMobil operates the Sakhalin-1 project on behalf of an international consortium of Japanese, Indian and Russian companies. The company says that in response to recent events, they are beginning the process to discontinue operations and developing steps to exit the Sakhalin-1 venture.

___ Kyiv: A Russian airstrike hit a residential area near a hospital late Tuesday in Zhytomyr, a city about 140 kilometers west of Ukraine's capital, Mayor Serih Sukhomlin said in a Facebook video. Ukraine's emergency services said the strike killed at least two people, set three homes on fire and broke the windows in the hospital. Zhytomyr is the home of the elite 95th Air Assault Brigade, which may have been the intended target.

___ Mexico City: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says his government will not impose any economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The president often cites a guiding principle of nonintervention in foreign affairs.

He said Tuesday that "we want to maintain good relations with all the world's governments, and we want to be in a position to be able to speak with all parties to the conflict." Russian investment in Mexico is estimated at some $132 million and the bilateral trade at more than $2.4 billion.

López Obrador also sounded off on the censoring of some Russia media outlets and called on Twitter to answer accusations that it is removing messages favorable to Russia. In his words, "We can't be speaking of freedom and at the same time limiting freedom of expression." Russian officials have taken steps to cushion the impact of massive economic sanctions, with the central bank raising interest rates to defend the ruble's exchange rate, requiring companies to sell foreign exchange earnings, and making unlimited short term credit available to banks.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)