Official says ‘battle continues’ in key city, rebuffing Russian claim of control

Here’s what to know

• President Biden added to the unprecedented — and growing — battery of political and economic embargoes against Moscow, announcing that the United States would close its airspace to Russian airlines.
• Russia’s Defense Ministry said 498 service members have died and more than 1,500 have been wounded in the fighting. It’s the first time Russian officials have conceded the conflict’s high toll on Russian lives — though there is no way to verify the count.
• More than 900,000 Ukrainians have fled since the start of the invasion, the United Nations reported, marking the largest exodus in Europe since the Balkan wars of the 1990s. The U.N. had recorded 227 civilian deaths Wednesday, including 15 children, and warned the true numbers were likely much higher.
• China asked Russia to delay its Ukrainian invasion until after the Olympics, according to a Western intelligence report.