At least 2,000 civilians have died since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the Ukrainian state emergency service says.

In response to the decision by multiple countries to close their airspace to Russian aircraft, Russian aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya, on Monday announced that it was closing Russian airspace to 35 countries.

The ECOWAS Parliament has announced that it would hold its first Extraordinary Session of 2022, to discuss the security and political situation of the sub-region from March 8 to March 12 in Liberia, Monrovia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed an official appeal for the European Union (EU), asking for the accession of Ukraine via a new special procedure, the presidential spokesman Sergii Nykyforov said.

Russian forces fired missiles at several Ukrainian cities and landed troops on its south coast on Thursday, right after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised what he called a special military operation in eastern Ukraine.

A Chinese envoy on Tuesday warned against the politicisation of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

Japanese carmaker, Toyota Motor Corp, on Monday said it was preparing to shutdown all of its plants in Japan as from March 1 due to a cyber attack on one of its domestic suppliers, according to local media reports.

Brazilian football great Pele has been discharged from hospital following a urinary tract infection (UTI).