March 4, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

One mother screamed that without a ventilator and pain killers, her child would die.She still doesn't know if the mother and child are alive.Read the full story:As of Thursday, more than 1.2 million refugees have left Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.Of the 1,209,976 refugees who have fled, more than half crossed into Poland.Others went to other neighboring countries including Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Romania.More than a million left within just the first week, and many more are “on the move both inside and outside the country,” with many internally displaced families, according to UNHCR.From CNN's Natasha Bertrand, Oren Liebermann and Barbara StarrRussia is poised to deploy up to 1,000 more mercenaries to Ukraine in the coming days and weeks, as a senior Western intelligence official warned Moscow could "bombard cities into submission," an escalation that could lead to significant civilian casualties.The US has already seen "some indications" that Russian mercenaries may be involved in Moscow's invasion of Ukraine "in some places," a senior defense official said earlier this week, but it wasn't clear exactly where or in what numbers."We've seen some indications that they're being employed," the official said.Now, a US official tells CNN that Russia is planning to deploy up to 1,000 more mercenaries in the near future.Stalled forces: Some Russian forces have struggled with morale issues and setbacks on the battlefield, including a massive convoy north of Kyiv that has remained largely stalled for the past several days.The mercenary forces would fortify the flagging units, the official said, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters its second weekend.The official added that the US believes the mercenaries already in Ukraine have "performed poorly when facing the stiffer-than-expected resistance from the Ukrainians," and that as many as 200 such mercenaries have already been killed in the war as of late February.Meanwhile, US and Western officials expect Russia to increase the pace and strength of its strikes on key Ukrainian population centers, including the capital Kyiv.An intensifying assault: Russia now seems prepared to “bombard cities into submission,” one senior western intelligence official said on Friday, which could include a significant increase in the number of civilian casualties. During a weekly livestream on social media Thursday, Bolsonaro said, “Brazil remains in a balanced position and we don’t have the capacity to solve this issue."From CNN's Jill MartinThe International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has announced that starting Monday, Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials, including judges, are not allowed to take part in FIG competitions or FIG-sanctioned competitions.The decision means that those athletes and officials from those two federations are barred from competing in the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan from March 10-13.On Saturday, FIG had announced that Russian and Belarusian national flags would not be displayed, and the two countries' anthems will not be played at any FIG-sanctioned event.Friday's announcement takes this a step further.“They constitute preventive measures aiming at preserving the integrity of Gymnastics, the safety and integrity of members and all athletes and participants, and at fighting against all forms of violence and of sports injustice," the statement continued.“Russian and Belarusian nationals who are members of the FIG Executive Committee or of FIG technical committees are not affected by this measure when acting in their capacity as FIG Authorities," the statement said. “The EC will continue to monitor the situation closely and may further adapt these exceptional measures according to future developments,” FIG added.You can read the FIG statement in its entirety here.From CNN's From Oren LiebermannThe United States flew B-52 Stratofortress bombers over NATO’s eastern flank on Friday, exercising with the German and Romanian militaries in a sign of unity as the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its second weekend.