Satellite imagery showed a forty-mile-long Russian military convoy advancing on Ukraine’s capital (RFE/RL), Kyiv, amid U.S. warnings that Russia could soon increase the aggressiveness (CNN) of its attack. Today, a Russian missile killed ten people in the center of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, according to emergency responders. The United Nations said that more than 660,000 people have fled Ukraine (AFP) since the conflict began.
 
Talks between Russian and Ukrainian envoys yesterday were inconclusive and are set to resume in the coming days. Ukraine applied for European Union membership, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for support in an address to the European Parliament. Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court announced it will open an investigation into war crimes in Ukraine.

After days of heavy rains and flooding, Sydney is bracing (SMH) for a six-hour “rain bomb.”
 
U.S./Taiwan: A delegation of former U.S. military and national security officials begins a rare visit to Taiwan today (SCMP). The officials will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and other Taiwanese officials and affirm U.S. support for the island.

A Taliban government spokesperson said Afghans who have legal documents and invitations can travel abroad (TOLOnews). Countries including the United States and United Kingdom had criticized the Taliban’s announcement on Sunday of new travel restrictions.
 
India/Ukraine: An Indian student was killed in the shelling (NDTV) of Kharkiv, Ukraine, India’s foreign ministry said. Some sixteen thousand Indian students are thought to be in Ukraine.

The arms embargo previously applied (Al Jazeera) only to some leaders of the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Russia voted to extend the embargo despite its ties with Iran, which backs the Houthis.
 
This Backgrounder unpacks the war in Yemen.
 
Tunisia: At least nine migrants died after their boat overturned (AP) off the Tunisian coast.

The court ruled that the owner, China Molybdenum, will lose leadership of the mine (NYT) for at least six months. The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said the company owes billions of dollars in payments.
 
Burkina Faso: The chief of the military junta signed a charter saying the country will hold elections in three years, AFP reported.
 
For the Africa in Transition blog, CFR’s Ebenezer Obadare explains why Burkina Faso’s coup bodes ill for stability in West Africa.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey will apply the Montreux Convention (Hurriyet), which allows it to prevent warships from entering the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits, to avoid escalation in the war in Ukraine.

The oil ban is largely symbolic, as Canada has not imported Russian crude oil since 2019. The shipment of anti-tank weapons systems will be Canada’s third (CBC) delivery of lethal weapons to Ukraine during the current conflict.
 
U.S./Cuba: The United States plans to increase staffing at its Havana embassy to restore visa processing for Cubans, which has largely been suspended since the Donald Trump administration, unnamed sources told Reuters.
 
This Backgrounder looks at U.S.-Cuba relations.

The diplomats were asked to leave the United States (NPR) by March 7. A spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations said the expulsion had been in the works for several months.