Russia-Ukraine war highlights: US bars rename Moscow Mule cocktail; Russia bans German newspaper website

With that we wrap the LIVE updates on the Russia-Ukraine war to tonight. Do join us tomorrow for the top developments on the crisis between Moscow and Kyiv, until then stay tuned to CNBCTV18.com for more news, views and other updates.

Russia blocks German newspaper's website

Russian authorities have blocked the website of German newspaper Bild, part of their efforts to control the message on Ukraine. Communications and media regulator Roskomnadzor said Sunday it blocked Bild's website at prosecutors' request. Instagram and Facebook were already blocked in Russia after Roskomnadzor said they were being used to call for violence against Russian soldiers. Russian authorities also have shut access to foreign media websites, including BBC, European news network Euronews, the US government-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle and Latvia-based website Meduza. Bild says it has been putting Russian-language reports on Russia's war in Ukraine and its slide toward totalitarian dictatorship on its website, and parts of its live video broadcasts have been subtitled in Russian. It noted that it also has a Russian-language Telegram channel. Bild editor-in-chief Johannes Boie said the decision to block its website in Russia confirms us in our journalistic work for democracy, freedom and human rights.

US diplomats say no American policy of regime change in Russia

Top American officials clarified on Sunday that the United States does not have a policy of regime change in Russia, as supporters and critics of President Joe Biden played down his declaration that Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power". Biden's comments in Poland on Saturday also included a statement calling Putin a "butcher," and appeared to be a sharp escalation of the U.S. approach to Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Julianne Smith, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, sought to contextualize Biden's remarks, saying they followed a day of speaking with Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw. Russia's month-old invasion has driven a quarter of Ukraine's population of 44 million from their homes. "In the moment, I think that was a principled human reaction to the stories that he had heard that day," Smith told CNN's "State of the Union" program before adding: "The U.S. does not have a policy of regime change in Russia. Full stop."

India pays for Russian LNG imports in US dollar

India's largest gas utility GAIL (India) Ltd continues to pay for the LNG it imports from Russia's Gazprom in US dollars and will seek exchange rate neutrality in case payments are sought in any other currency such as Euro, two sources said. GAIL has a deal to receive 2.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually on a delivered basis from Russia's Gazprom. This translates into 3 to 4 cargoes or ship loads of super-cooled natural gas every month. "The contract with Gazprom provides for making payments in US dollars," a source with direct knowledge of the matter said. "Payments become due 5-7 days after the delivery of the LNG cargo. The last payment was made on March 23, which was in US dollars." An LNG shipload was received on March 25 and its payment will be due in early April. 

US bars rename Moscow Mule cocktail to show support to Ukraine

Spiced fuzzy coconut Moscow Mule cocktail, served in a chilly copper mug, has completely vanished from bars across the US, as an attempt to raise awareness and show solidarity against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Numerous countries, including the US, have launched sanctions against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine. This was followed by local and state boycotts on one of Russia's most iconic exports - vodka. Across US liquor stores and bars have removed bottles of Russian vodka from their shelves and changed the name of this popular classic cocktail Moscow Mule and called it by various names like Kyiv Mule, Snake Island Mule, American Stallion, Freedom Mule or Texas Mule. The Russian vodka has been replaced by local brands like Texas made Tito's handmade vodka, Indiana made Fuzzy's vodka. The stores are also promoting Ukrainian vodka more prominently.

Spanish choirs lead global singalong for peace in Ukraine

More than 1,000 local choirs in towns and cities across the world sang out in unison on Sunday to call for peace in Ukraine. The event, run by Spanish organisation Choirs for Peace, saw groups in countries including Spain, Portugal, Britain, Italy and Mexico livestreamed on YouTube as they sang together. In Madrid, hundreds of people gathered outside the Reina Sofia museum. Some held signs saying "peace" and others wore ribbons in the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag. "We want to sing a very simple song called Dona Nobis Pacem, which means give us peace, to ask for peace in Ukraine and in all the other forgotten wars," Mariano Garcia, coordinator for Choirs for Peace, told Reuters.

Thousands turn up for London Mayor's Ukraine solidarity march

Thousands of Londoners turned up for a march and vigil called by the city's mayor for a message of solidarity with the people of Ukraine in its ongoing conflict with Russia. London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced over GBP 1.1 million in funding to support migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum in London in his speech at the end of the march at Trafalgar Square on Saturday. The square had been dressed in the Ukrainian colours of blue and yellow for the vigil, which marked addresses by Ukrainian politicians, celebrities and anti-war activists. I'm proud that today Londoners are uniting to send a message of support to the people of Ukraine. These innocent people have been through unimaginable pain and suffering over the last month, and by joining together, we are showing that we stand with them, said Khan. I'm also pleased to announce that London will be giving more than GBP 1.1 million to support migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum in the capital, including those coming from Ukraine.

Ukraine: Russian referendum in occupied territory would have no legal basis

Ukraine said on Sunday that Russia holding a referendum in occupied Ukrainian territory would have no legal basis and would face a strong response from the international community, deepening its global isolation. The Russian-controlled Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine could hold a referendum soon on joining Russia, its local leader was quoted as saying. "All fake referendums in the temporarily occupied territories are null and void and will have no legal validity," Ukraine's foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said in a statement to Reuters. "Instead, Russia will facе an even stronger response from the international community, further deepening its global isolation."

Pope evokes spectre of Ukraine war sparking global conflict

The threat of a global conflict spawned by Russia's invasion of Ukraine should convince everyone that the time has come for humanity to abolish war before it abolishes humanity, Pope Francis said on Sunday. "More than a month has passed since the invasion of Ukraine, since the start of this cruel and senseless war, which, like every war, is a defeat for everyone, for all of us," he said to thousands of people in St. Peter's Square for his Sunday blessing. "We must repudiate war, a place of death where fathers and mothers bury their children, where men kill their brothers without even seeing them, where the powerful decide and the poor die," he said.

Ukraine says Russia wants to split nation, calls for more arms

Russia wants to split Ukraine into two, as happened with North and South Korea, Ukraine's military intelligence chief said on Sunday, vowing "total" guerrilla warfare to prevent a carve up of the country. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the West to give Ukraine tanks, planes and missiles to help fend off the Russian forces, which the Kyiv government said were increasingly targeting fuel and food depots. Meanwhile, U.S. officials continued efforts to soften comments on Saturday from U.S. President Joe Biden, who said in a fiery speech in Poland that Russian leader Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power".

Blinken says US not seeking Russian regime change

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the US is not trying to topple Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite its harsh condemnations of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Blinken spoke a day after President Joe Biden said of Putin during a speech in Warsaw: For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power. At a news conference in Jerusalem, Blinken said Biden's point was that Putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against Ukraine or anyone else. He said the US has repeatedly said that we do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia, or anywhere else for that matter. In this case, as in any case, it's up to the people of the country in question. It's up to the Russian people, Blinken said. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has again urged the West to provide Ukraine with warplanes and air defense missiles. Speaking in a video address early Sunday, Zelenskyy said that our partners have all that, and it's just collecting dust. And in fact it's necessary not just for Ukraine's freedom, but for the freedom of Europe.

Russia-Ukraine war: IMF chief warns of unrest caused by crisis

The head of the International Monetary Fund is warning that the global economic strain caused by Russia's war in Ukraine could stoke civil unrest in the Middle East and beyond. Speaking at the Doha Forum in Qatar on Sunday, Kristalina Georgieva said Russia's invasion and the resulting sanctions on Moscow have forced the world's poorest to bear the worst of the crisis as they grapple with inflated food costs and scarcer jobs. Georgieva hinted that the current situation evoked the lead-up to the 2011 uprisings known as the Arab Spring, when skyrocketing bread prices fueled anti-government protests across the Middle East. When prices jump, and poor people cannot feed their families, they will be on the streets, she said. One thing we know about trouble in one place, it travels, it doesn't stay there. Georgieva called for greater global cooperation to fill the gaps in commodity and energy supplies. Please, work together, she said. Oil producers, gas producers and food producers today are in a position to help reduce this uncertainty.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says West needs more courage in helping Ukraine fight

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the West of lacking courage as his country fights to stave off Russia's invasion, making an exasperated plea for fighter jets and tanks to sustain a defense in a conflict that has ground into a war of attrition. Speaking after U.S. President Joe Biden met with senior Ukrainian officials in Poland on Saturday, Zelenskyy lashed out at the West's ping-pong about who and how should hand over jets and other defensive weapons to us while Russian missile attacks kill and trap civilians.

Ukraine says two evacuation corridors agreed for Sunday, including from Mariupol

Ukraine and Russia have agreed two 'humanitarian corridors' to evacuate civilians from frontline areas on Sunday, including allowing people to leave by private car from the southern city of Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

Citing Ukraine war, UNESCO says education system of countries should have crisis-sensitive policies

The unfolding events in Ukraine are a stark reminder that crises can strike anytime and the education system in all the countries must have plans to prepare, respond and recover from such emergencies, according to UNESCO's Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report. Teachers need to be equipped to teach in increasingly challenging conditions such as damaged facilities or overcrowded classrooms, and to be able to differentiate pedagogy to adapt to learners from education systems that use other curricula and languages, it pointed out. The report comes amid a fierce Russian military offensive in Ukraine, with the toll on civilians rising as Moscow seeks to pound cities into submission from entrenched positions. "The unfolding events in Ukraine are a stark reminder that crises can strike anytime, anywhere.