A convoy of buses attempted to evacuate more civilians from the devastated port city of Mariupol on Wednesday as Russian forces pounded targets across eastern Ukraine and tried to advance westwards against heavy Ukrainian resistance. In a worrying development for Ukraine, the armed forces of Belarus, its northern neighbour and ally of Russia, began large-scale drills to test their combat readiness. Some Russian forces entered Ukraine via Belarus when the invasion began on Feb. 24. Piling Western economic pressure on Russia, the European Commission proposed a new package of sanctions targeting Russian oil exports, banks, state broadcasters and army officers. The ban on oil exports – a big blow to Russia’s struggling $1.8 trillion […]