“Russian President Vladimir Putin has been stripped of his honorary taekwondo black belt over his country’s invasion of Ukraine, a personal rebuke heaped on top of international economic and sporting sanctions,” Reuters reports.

New satellite images from Maxar Technologies show the Russian military convoy that has reached the outskirts of Kyiv is now more than 40 miles long, CNN reports.

The Economist: “Russia’s biggest problem appears to be logistics. A Western official says that Russia has particular problems with engineering units. Ukraine has blown up many bridges, and Russia has been unable to get bridging units through congested roads. Russian tanks and other vehicles lie abandoned on the roadside, either broken-down or out of fuel, suggesting supply lines are overstretched, and support units are unable to keep up. Marooned units are prime targets for ambushes. Ukrainian forces have no shortage of arms with which to strike them—in recent days, Denmark, Luxembourg and Finland became the latest European countries to say they would supply thousands of anti-tank missiles.”

“Nor has Russia secured the skies. Western officials thought that Russian missiles would wipe out Ukraine’s air defences—a network of radars and surface-to-air missiles—in the first hours of a war. In fact, the strikes were lighter than expected, possibly to conserve low stocks of precision munitions.”

“Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska have broken ranks with the Kremlin and called for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine,” CNN reports.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) tweeted that “history is watching” Donald Trump’s praise of Vladimir Putin.

Said Christie: “No walking that back. History is watching.“

CNN: “Stiffer than expected Ukrainian resistance and Russia’s own logistical missteps have bogged down Russia’s advance, sparking a fragile optimism. The US has also continued sharing downgraded intelligence with the Ukrainians, including about Russian military moves, in an attempt to help Ukraine on the battlefield.”

“But intelligence and defense officials closely tracking the Russian campaign say that Putin still holds a number of moves in reserve that could devastate the Ukrainian resistance.”

The United States has asked 12 Russian United Nations diplomats to leave the United States, accusing them of “espionage activities,” CNN reports.

Wall Street Journal: “Diplomatic ties between Russia and the U.S. have been deteriorating for months, and it wasn’t clear if the move or timing had a connection to the war in Ukraine.”

Jonathan Last: “Biden did not draw lines in the sand. He did not personalize the conflict. He did not turn himself into the star of the show. He did not allow anyone, anywhere, to believe that this was about America.”

“Since the invasion, Biden has been a full partner with our European allies. He has not pushed them into decisions. He recognized that having a united front was more important than any particular aspect of the response. And after only four days Europe came to the conclusion—on its own—that it would do everything the American foreign policy establishment had wanted. Biden understood that these countries needed to come to the decision to fight back on their own, and not be publicly cajoled into it.”

“Biden also understood that the EU and NATO are actually very powerful allies and that when they work in concert with the United States, we represent a significant geopolitical force.”

“Superyachts owned by Russian billionaires who have ties to President Vladimir Putin are on the move as the United States and their allies prepare further sanctions on their property following the invasion of Ukraine,” CNBC reports.

“If he wants to kill himself he doesn’t need to use a nuclear arsenal. He has to do what the guy in the bunker did in Berlin in May 1945.”

— Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.N. Sergiy Kyslytsya, speaking about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“President Joe Biden will send a delegation of former senior defense and security officials to Taiwan on Monday, a senior official of his administration said, a sign of support for the island claimed by China after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Nikkei Asia reports.

Ukraine has asked to join the European Union under a special procedure, according to a video message posted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Washington Post reports.

Media outlets later shared photographs they said showed Zelensky signing an application for membership.

“The first talks between Russia and Ukraine over Moscow’s invasion ended with the two nations agreeing to continue discussions in coming days,” the Washington Post reports.

“Talks went on for almost five hours in southern Belarus near the Ukraine border, said the head of the Russian delegation, Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky.”

Wall Street Journal: “What Europe’s populists saw in Mr. Putin was a kindred spirit, a leader willing to disregard the rules of international cooperation that emerged in the wake of World War II, underpinned by the military might of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They admired Mr. Putin’s unapologetic nationalism and his deep-seated distrust of the U.S.”

“That admiration is now running up against the reality of Mr. Putin’s forces pouring into Ukraine. Some populists are rushing to distance themselves, branding Mr. Putin’s aggression a setback of historic proportions.”