LVIV, Ukraine/KYIV, March 4 (Reuters) - Russia blocked Facebook and some other websites on Friday and passed a law that gave Moscow much stronger powers to crack down on independent journalism, prompting the BBC, Bloomberg, and other foreign media to suspend reporting in the country.
Moscow's attack on Ukraine, the biggest on a European state since World War Two, has created over 1 million refugees, a barrage of sanctions, and fears of a global economic hit and wider conflict in the West unthought-of for decades.
Fighting was raging in Ukraine as Russian troops besieged and bombarded cities in the second week of an invasion that has isolated Moscow, which says its attack is a "special operation" to capture individuals it regards as dangerous nationalists.
Kyiv, in the path of a Russian armoured column that has been stalled outside the Ukrainian capital for days, came under renewed assault, with explosions audible from the city centre. Europe's biggest nuclear power plant had also been seized.
The southeastern port city of Mariupol - a key prize for the Russian forces - has been encircled and shelled. There is no water, heat, or electricity and it is running out of food after five days under attack, according to Mayor Vadym Boychenko.
"We are simply being destroyed," he said.
Putin's actions have drawn almost universal condemnation and many countries have imposed heavy sanctions as the West balances punishment with avoiding a widening of the conflict.
Fighting back in the information war, Russia's parliament passed a law imposing a prison term of up to 15 years for spreading intentionally "fake" news about the military.
"This law will force punishment - and very tough punishment - on those who lied and made statements which discredited our armed forces," the chairman of the Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin said.
Russia is blocking Facebook for restricting state-backed channels and the websites of the BBC, Deutsche Welle, and Voice of America.
The BBC, Bloomberg News, and other foreign media said they would temporarily suspend the work of their journalists in Russia while they assessed the situation.
A glut of global brands has halted operations or exited completely while shipping and supply chain issues have made it difficult to work in Russia.
French luxury fashion house Chanel said on Friday it is halting all business in Russia while tech giant Microsoft is suspending sales of its products and services.
Samsung Electronics said it was suspending shipments to Russia and donating $6 million to support humanitarian efforts.
'DANGEROUS DANGERS'
As the war between Russia and Western nations escalates in many areas, the United States has warned the Ukraine conflict that it poses a threat to constitutional order.
But at a meeting on Friday, NATO allies rejected Ukraine's request for airstrikes, saying they were increasing support but direct intervention could make the situation worse.
"We have a responsibility ... to prevent this war from escalating beyond Ukraine because that would be even more dangerous, destructive, and could cause human suffering," said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy criticized the conference as "weak" and "confused." "It was clear that not everyone saw the European liberation struggle as the first goal," he said.
He will take part in the Zoom call with the U.S. Senate on Saturday.
A humanitarian crisis is looming, as more than a million people seek refuge in western Ukraine and neighboring countries.
The attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest nuclear power, about 140 miles (225 km) west of Mariupol, has brought conflict into the crisis.
When the shells invaded the area, the training building burned down - causing a lot of noise around the world before the fire was extinguished and officials said the facility was safe.
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has said that the world is a step in the right direction.
The attack signaled a "new dangerous increase" in Russia's attacks, he said during an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, warning that "imminent danger" was continuing and sought assurance in Moscow that such attacks would never happen again.
An official at Energoatom, who works on Ukraine's nuclear power plant, told Reuters that the fighting was over and that radiation levels were normal. But his organization could no longer communicate with the facility's management or control its nuclear assets, he said.
International Atomic Energy Agency official Raphael Grossi said the plant was not damaged in what he believed was a Russian project. Only one of the six reactors was active, about 60% of the capacity.
Russia's defense ministry also said the center was operating normally. He blamed the fire on the Ukrainian workers and said his troops were in control.
The center and the nearby area are now guarded by Russian troops, said a Moscow envoy to the United Nations.
PROTECTION OF KYIV
Moscow denies targeting Ukrainian citizens and says it intends to disarm its neighbor, oppose what it sees as NATO violence, and arrest leaders he calls neo-Nazis.
Ukraine and its Western allies call it the baseless reason for the war to conquer a country of 44 million people.
Further EU sanctions were coming, possibly including a ban on Russian-sanctioned ships in European ports and a ban on the importation of steel, timber, aluminum, or coal, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said.
The United States is weighing in on reducing Russia's oil purchases and ways to reduce the impact on global consumer goods and consumers as lawmakers push for a bill that would completely ban Russia's power sales. Learn more
In the Kyiv area of Borshchahivka, a twisted cruise missile engine was lying on the road where it appeared to have crashed overnight by Ukrainian air forces.
Ukraine's presidential adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych, said the development had been halted at the port south of Mykolayiv. If captured, the city of 500,000 people could become the largest city to ever fall.
Russian troops made great strides in the south, capturing Ukraine's first major city, Kherson, this week. The bombings have become more serious in recent days in the northeastern cities of Kharkiv and Chernihiv.
Ukrainians were fleeing to the west, many flocking to Lviv near the Polish border.
James the Elder of the United Nations children's agency said that doctors in Lviv were preparing a pediatric diagnostic program in case of injuries.
"The green dot means good here, the yellow dot means important support. They are learning the black dot which means the child will not succeed," he said.
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