Japan increases economic sanctions on Russia
Japan will add 25 more Russian officials and oligarchs to its list of blacklisted individuals as part of its economic sanctions on the country, its Foreign Ministry announced on Friday.
The ministry said in its regular press livestream that it will freeze the assets of the listed individuals and ban Japanese exports to 81 Russian businesses.
“We need to stop this [Russia's] aggression as soon as possible,” Japan’s foreign minister Hayashi Yoshimasa said in the press conference.
Japanese automakers Toyota and Mazda have already suspended imports and halted factory productions in Russia.
Prime Minister Kishida also announced an additional 100 million dollars of humanitarian assistance to aid Ukraine and neighboring countries.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks with Dutch marines at a base in Bardufoss in Norway on Friday.
Australia imposes sanctions on Belarus president, Russian 'propagandists'
Australia has placed sanctions on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and family, as well as on 22 Russian individuals or “propagandists”, its Foreign Ministry announced on Friday.
Foreign minister Marise Payne said in a statement that the Belarusian government has provided “strategic support” to Russia by providing grounds to train military forces, fire missiles, facilitate transportation of Russian troops and heavy weapons into Ukraine "in their assault on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."
The sanctions placed on Russia will continue to target “propagandists and disinformation operatives” including editors from organizations such as Russia Today, the Strategic Culture Foundation, InfoRos and NewsFront.
Payne said the move reflected “the strategic importance of disinformation in Russia's attempts to legitimize Putin's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine."
Biden says Putin using energy resources to 'coerce' neighbors as EU commits to transatlantic data flows
President Joe Biden, in a joint statement with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said Putin has used Russia’s energy resources to "coerce" its neighbors, as the two leaders announced measures to reduce Europe’s dependency on Russian fuel.
“I know that eliminating Russian gas will have costs for Europe. But it's not only the right thing to do from a moral standpoint, it's going to put us on a much stronger strategic footing,” he said in Brussels on Friday, as they announced the establishment of a task force.
Von der Leyen also revealed a new framework for transatlantic data flow, enabling “predictable and trustworthy data flows between the EU and U.S.,” which Biden said will help “companies both small and large compete in the digital economy.”
Mariupol officials: About 300 dead in theater attack, according to eyewitnesses
Around 300 people died after Russian forces bombed a theater where over 1,000 people had taken refuge in the besieged city of Mariupol, local officials said Friday, citing eyewitnesses.
NBC News was not able to independently the claim, which involved an attack on March 16 that has become an emblem of Russia's indiscriminate bombardment of civilian targets.
Mariupol's city council said that "about 300 people" died in the attack on the theater, according to eyewitnesses, calling it a "horror."
The council said that it had wanted to "believe" that those inside the theater had all managed to escape, but that testimonies from those who'd been inside the building "say otherwise."
"The Drama Theater in the heart of Mariupol has always been the hallmark of the city," the council said in a statement. "Now there is no more Drama theatre. In its place, a new point of pain for Mariupol residents appeared, ruins that became the last refuge for hundreds of innocent people."
Russia has denied targeting civilians in its attacks on Ukraine.
U.S., E.U. announce Task Force to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy
The United States and European Union have announced a joint task force to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian fuels, strengthening the region’s energy security as Russia continues its invasion in Ukraine.
“This Task Force for Energy Security will be chaired by a representative from the White House and a representative of the President of the European Commission,” said the White House on Friday.
The Task Force will focus its efforts on diversifying liquefied natural gas, reducing demand for natural gas altogether and accelerating renewable energy projects, it said.
President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen talk to the media about Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the U.S. Mission in Brussels on Friday.
Russia and Ukraine swap prisoners of war
Russia and Ukraine have carried out their first "full-fledged" prisoner swap since the war began, according to Ukraine's deputy prime minister.
Iryna Vereshchuk said in a Telegram post that 10 Russian prisoners of war were handed over in exchange for 10 Ukrainian servicemen.
An additional 11 Russian civilian sailors rescued from a sunken ship were being exchanged for 19 Ukrainian sailors who hailed from the Sapphire rescue ship, she added. The Sapphire's crew was captured in late February when the vessel was trying to get troops off of Snake Island.
Vereshchuk did not say when or where the exchange took place in her Thursday post.
Russia's human rights commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, confirmed the swap, according to the Interfax News Agency.
"We, too, were involved in establishing contact with Ukraine on this issue. Work continues in the framework of the queries I receive from citizens," Moskalkova told Interfax.
Ukrainian servicemen attend a funeral for marine Alexandr Khovtun in Kyiv on Sunday. Khovtun died in combat in the town of Huta-Mezhyhirska, north of Kyiv.