March 2, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the Russian government would consider all countries that introduce sanctions on the country to be "de facto unfriendly."

In a conference call with reporters, Peskov said, "Judging by the measures that many countries are taking against us, they are now all de facto unfriendly. Whether they are on the list or not.

"In this case, the list is secondary. But the response to these unfriendly, hostile actions, must be analyzed, no one is going to shoot ourselves in the foot to harm someone. We do what we need to, what suits us, and we’re doing it with a sober head."

The news comes as countries around the world are imposing fresh sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The European Union, United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland, Australia and Taiwan all hit Moscow with new injunctions over the weekend, condemning the military incursion that unfolded Saturday across the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Hundreds of workers and local people have blocked an access road to a Ukrainian nuclear power plant near the southeastern town of Enerhodar, as Russian forces advance in the area.

Videos posted to the Facebook page of the local authority showed a large crowd carrying Ukrainian flags blocking the road Wednesday morning.

Garbage trucks were also being used to block the thoroughfare.

Dmytro Orlov, mayor of Enerhodar, said on his Facebook page: “We conveyed the position of our city and its residents that the ZNPP [Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant] is under reliable protection, that its workers and residents of Enerhodar are under Ukrainian flags.”

“All municipal services are working in emergency mode. Nobody is going to surrender the city. People are determined,” Orlov added.

Russia informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that its military forces have taken control of the territory around the Zaporizhzhia plant, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a Russian delegation will be "in place" Wednesday for new round of talks with Ukraine, but gave no additional details about the location or format of the discussions. 

Peskov declined to give the location of possible talks. On Monday, talks took place been Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Belarus, not far from the Ukrainian border. The two sides discussed a potential ceasefire, according to a Ukrainian presidential adviser, but did not yield any concrete result.

The Kremlin spokesperson said he could not predict whether a Ukrainian delegation would show, adding, "we hope it happens."

Read CNN analysis prior to the first round of talks here:

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Analysis: Is the Ukraine-Russia meeting a path forward or political sideshow?

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko told CNN that while he has traveled the globe representing his country as a Hall of Fame boxer, right now he is "very proud to be Ukrainian."

Klitschko also called for countries to support Ukraine, because it will be "difficult to survive" without it.

Klitschko said infrastructure -- electricity, heating and water -- are up and running in Kyiv. He said authorities are in direct communications with the Red Cross and other humanitarian organizations, who have sent food and support that is en route to the Ukrainian capital.

What Kyiv really needs, Klitschko said, is "more hard sanctions against Russia."

Klitschko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of attempting to remake the Soviet Union and make Ukraine "part of (a) Russian empire."

The mayor said that Ukrainians will fight for "every square" and "every street" of Kyiv should Russian forces advance on the city.

The ex-boxer continued:

Watch the interview:

Fierce fighting is continuing around Mariupol, as Russian and Russian-backed separatist forces have surrounded the southern Ukrainian city of about 400,000 people on three sides. 

Residents reported heavy shelling overnight, but Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said Ukrainian authorities were able to restore some mobile communications despite working as the city was being shelled and shot at.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said early Wednesday that the number of wounded civilians "is growing every day."

Russian forces are hoping to take Mariupol to complete a land corridor that would link the Crimea with southern Russia. Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 from Ukraine.

The Ukrainian flag has been brought down at the country’s embassy in Moscow, Russian state news agency RIA reported Wednesday.

According to RIA, a sign indicating the building was home to the Ukrainian embassy was also removed and the doors sealed. 

The Ukrainian government severed diplomatic ties with Russia on February 24, after Moscow ordered an invasion of the country.

India is setting up an embassy in the Ukrainian city Lviv after evacuating all its citizens from the capital Kyiv, India’s foreign secretary Harsh Shringla told reporters late Tuesday.

He did not say if the embassy in Kyiv would be shut.

The Ministry of External Affairs declined to confirm to CNN if the Kyiv embassy had been shut.

Earlier this week, the Indian embassy in Kyiv had issued advisories for all Indian citizens to leave the capital.

“All of our nationals have left Kiev,” Shringla said Tuesday. 

So far, 12,000 of the 20,000 Indian citizens that were in Ukraine have left the country. Half of those remaining, around 4,000, are in conflict zones in the Kharkiv-Sumy region of Ukraine, while the rest are “out of harm’s way,” Shringla added.

The Indian ​Air Force also joined aid evacuation efforts by sending a C-17 aircraft to Romania early Wednesday, state broadcaster Doordarshan News reported.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has denied reports that the southern city of Kherson has fallen to the Russians.

Russian state media had previously reported that Russian troops had taken full control of the city.

Kharkiv's regional police department and Kharkiv National University have been targeted in a military strike Wednesday morning, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service and footage geolocated by CNN. 

The videos show the buildings engulfed by fire and emergency personnel attending the scene. Three people were injured, according to a statement from the state's emergency service.