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The Kazakh company Qazaq Air said on Saturday it had suspended the flights to Russia and over its territory over the termination of the insurance coverage.

"Qazaq Air has received a notification from an insurance organisation about the decision not to provide insurance coverage on the territory of Russia and in its airspace. Due to this situation, the airline is not able to operate flights to Russia until the issue of insurance coverage over the territory of Russia is resolved. In this regard, today's flight - 12 March - to Novosibirsk has been cancelled", the airline said in a statement.

The insurance issues are likely to be linked to the massive sanctions against Russian over its military operation in Ukraine.

The US company Colgate-Palmolive has decided to suspend investments in Russia and will sell only essential health and hygiene products in the country over the latter's military operation in Ukraine.

"Many of you have also asked about our operations in Russia. We have suspended the importation and sales of all products other than essential health and hygiene products for everyday use. We also have ceased all capital investments, media, advertising and promotional activities. Going forward, we will continue to assess the situation to take actions in a way that aligns with our values and reflects our commitment to Colgate people and the communities where they live and work", Colgate-Palmolive CEO Noel Wallace said in a statement.

"Like some of our international competitors, we are currently closing our remaining business [in Russia] in line with the legal and regulatory requirements", the bank said in a statement late Friday.

Deutsche Bank added that it would not join new projects in Russia.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri has condemned the Russian decision to block the social network over Meta's decision to allow publication of calls for violence against Russian soldiers and Russians in the context of the military operation in Ukraine.

Following the controversial statements by Meta, the Russian authorities decided to block Instagram starting from Monday.

"On Monday, Instagram will be blocked in Russia. This decision will cut 80 million in Russia off from one another, and from the rest of the world as ~80% of people in Russia follow an Instagram account outside their country. This is wrong", Mosseri wrote on his Twitter page.

Radiation monitors continue to operate normally in much of the territory of Ukraine and the United States has found no indications of any radiation release in the country, US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a statement.

"Thankfully, radiation monitors in much of Ukraine still function, and we have not detected any signs of radiological release", Granholm said in a Twitter statement on Friday. "[The Department of] Energy continues to monitor the situation".

Granholm said the US remains concerned about Russia's "reckless actions and violations of nuclear safety principles".

Statements from Kiev about the threat posed by the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after it was taken under control by Russian troops are not true, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"They do not correspond to reality and are disinformation", Zakharova said when asked to comment on such statements.

Danish troops on Friday arrived at the Amari Air Base near Tallinn to join the NATO Battlegroup in Estonia, the Estonian Defence Forces said.

Earlier in the week, Danish military equipment, including Piranha V armoured personnel vehicles, arrived at the Estonian port of Paldiski.

"A total of about 150 Danish troops from the Viking Company of the Jutland Dragoon Regiment arrived on Friday at the Amari Air Base. Apart from the Viking Company, roughly 70 military logistical specialists and military policemen. The Danish armed forces unit will replace a unit of France's 5th Dragoon Regiment", the Estonian military said in a statement.

Approximately 1,900 NATO soldiers with military equipment are currently deployed in Estonia.

At the 2016 Warsaw Summit, NATO decided to enhance its presence in the alliance's eastern flank by deploying four multinational battalion-size battle groups in Poland and the three Baltic countries on a rotational basis.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Moscow discussed the course of Ukrainian-Russian negotiations, and agreed that if Kiev wishes, the conflict can be resolved at any time, Lukashenko's spokeswoman Natalya Eismont said on Friday .

"As a matter of priority, the heads of state discussed in detail the situation in the world, in the region, with a focus on Ukraine. One of the main topics in this context was the progress of the negotiations taking place in Belarus, and the positions of the Russian and Ukrainian sides", Eismont said, as quoted by the state-run agency Belta.

Putin's aide Vladimir Medinsky, who leads Russia's negotiating team in the talks with Kiev, was invited to the meeting, she noted.
"Unanimous opinion was voiced: if the Ukrainian side wishes, the conflict can be resolved at any moment", the spokeswoman said.

The US State Department spokesman also relayed to reporters that if reports that Syrian foreign fighters could join hostilities in Ukraine are true, it would lead to a greater escalation in the conflict. Earlier Friday, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin that many volunteers are ready to help the Donbass militias, including 16,000 people from Middle Eastern countries.

In particular, the channels of RIA Novosti and Radio Sputnik were blocked, it added.
"We will continue our work until the last reader. And what is happening in Western social networks is lawlessness and a violation of any principles of freedom of speech and democracy, so promoted by them", the agency added.

Meta Global Affairs President Clegg says that the company is only going to apply policy changes on calling for violence against Russians in Ukraine itself.

"The EU + @G7 + partners will soon stop treating Russia as a Most-Favoured Nation @WTO, removing key trade benefits. Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine must be countered with the full rigour of international law, incl. trade law. We will follow up with more sanctions", Dombrovskis tweeted.

The media giant is going to allow posts that call for death to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in a number of countries, including Russia, Ukraine, and Poland, Reuters said on Thursday in a report, citing internal company emails.

Calls for violence against Russian soldiers will be considered permissible by the company, but not against prisoners of war, the report said. Meta will also allow for praise of the right-wing Azov Battalion, which is normally prohibited, the report added.

"We continue to flow security systems to Ukraine. There is another shipment on the way in the next 24 hours into Europe. So, it's happening even as we speak. We're going to continue to flow resources to Ukraine as fast and as much as we can", the official said during a press briefing.

"President Biden highlighted how the United States is continuing to surge security, humanitarian, and economic assistance to Ukraine", the readout said. "He also updated President Zelensky on the actions the United States is taking today in coordination with the G7 and the EU to further raise the costs on Russia".

Exceptions will be made for humanitarian flights, including those transporting the wounded.