Russia planning retaliatory visa measures – Lavrov

Moscow is developing measures to restrict entry into Russia for nationals of “unfriendly” countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

“A draft presidential decree is being developed on retaliatory visa measures in response to the unfriendly actions of a number of foreign states,” he said in televised remarks.

The state news agency Tass quoted him as saying the measures would “respond to unfriendly actions by the United States and its satellites”, including “illegitimate sanctions” and “decisions that infringe on the rights of Russian citizens and legal entities”.

It did not specify which countries the measures would apply to, but the government has previously approved a list of states and territories “that commit unfriendly actions against Russia, its companies, and citizens”.

The list includes the United States and Canada, the EU states, the UK, Ukraine, Switzerland, Norway, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and several others.

EU seeks end to golden passport schemes, halt in sales of visas to Russians
The European Union’s executive arm has called on the bloc’s member states to end national programmes to sell citizenship to investors, also known as golden passports schemes, and urged them to suspend the sale of visas to Russians and Belarusians.

The move by the European Commission follows a new push from the European Parliament to shrink and regulate the multi-billion-euro citizenship and visa industry, which the EU has long considered a security risk.

It urged an immediate end to existing national programmes for the sale of passports. Currently, only Malta, Cyprus and Bulgaria have such schemes and they have all committed to ending them.

Brussels also said governments should check whether sanctioned individuals were holding a golden passport or visa they had issued.

Several EU countries run golden visa schemes, including Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy.

Kyiv mayor says death toll in the capital more than 100 people
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has said the Ukrainian capital’s current death toll stands at more than 100 people amid Russia’s offensive.

Nearly 5,000 people killed in Mariupol, local official says
Nearly 5,000 people have been killed in Mariupol since Russia launched its attack on the city, a spokesperson for the city’s mayor has said.

Citing data from the mayor’s office, the spokesperson also said about 90 percent of buildings in Mariupol had been damaged and that about 40 percent had been destroyed.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the figures provided.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general accuses Russia of ‘genocide’ in Mariupol
Ukraine’s prosecutor general has said Russian forces’ alleged indiscriminate shelling of residential areas in Mariupol and the reported forced deportation of thousands of Ukrainians from the city to Russia amount to “genocide”.

“What is happening in Mariupol is not just war crimes,” Iryna Venedyktova said during a news briefing.

“War has rules, and this is beyond rules. I look at it from the viewpoint of considering it genocide, when an entire city is taken hostage,” she added.

Venedyktova also alleged that under the disguise of “evacuation”, thousands of Mariupol residents – including 2,000 children – had been forcibly deported to Russia in buses and had their passports confiscated.

“More than two thousand children have been deported from Mariupol alone,” she said. “This is more than a war crime.”

Italy helping Ukraine with security guarantees push, Zelenskyy says
Zelenskyy says he has spoken to Prime Minister Mario Draghi about Italy helping to create a system that would give Ukraine security guarantees to protect it from future threats.

“Discussed the course of countering Russian aggression. Thanked for the important defence and humanitarian support. Ukrainian people will remember this,” the Ukrainian president tweeted.

“We appreciate Italy’s willingness to join the creation of a system of security guarantees for Ukraine,” he added.

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