Oil prices rose on Thursday in the Federal Republic of Germany, as the German government has signaled its willingness to join the other EU members in an embargo of Russian oil exports.

Human Rights Watch said Sunday that it had documented a series of grave abuses allegedly committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, including rape and murder.

U.S. astronaut Mark Vande Hei and two Russian cosmonauts have returned to Earth on Wednesday after spending a record 355 days at the International Space Station (ISS).

BERLIN—Germany will continue to pay for Russian gas in euros or dollars, a government spokesman said, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin had told the German chancellor nothing would change for European partners despite his plan for rouble payments.

A Russian missile struck an oil depot in western Ukraine late on Monday, the governor of the Rivne region said.

Russia will pick up an American astronaut as scheduled later in the month and deliver him to a third country, U.S. space officials said on March 14.

The latest on the Russia–Ukraine crisis, March 16. Click here for updates from March 15.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators on Sunday said that there has been progress in talks to potentially end the more than two-week-long conflict, with results coming in days.

Russian airstrikes intensified on Friday in western Ukraine as satellite footage suggested Moscow’s forces outside Kyiv have regrouped after remaining more than a week outside the city.

The U.S. State Department denied allegations pushed by Russian officials this week that the U.S. military is involved in creating chemical weapons or biological weapons in Ukraine.

A dual Russian-American citizen has been charged with acting as an agent in the United States, the Department of Justice announced on March 8.

Shell on March 8 said it will stop buying Russian oil and natural gas.