Crude futures settle higher

Oil prices climbed on Tuesday.

The West Texas Intermediate for March delivery gained 1.76 U.S. dollars, or 2.9 percent, to settle at 62.39 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery added 1.98 dollars, or 3.02 percent, to settle at 67.57 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

Russia said on Tuesday that it had taken control of two more settlements from Ukraine, while Ukraine, on the same day, reported repelling Russian offensives on multiple fronts.

Russia's Defense Ministry said in its latest report that over the past 24 hours, its forces captured the key logistics hub of Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, and the village of Novoyakovlivka in southeast of the city of Zaporizhzhia.

The Russian forces also carried out strikes on 154 targets using tactical aircraft, attack drones, missile forces and artillery, and these targets included Ukraine's energy infrastructure as well as storage and launch sites for long-range unmanned aerial vehicles, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said in a situation report that as of 08:00 Tuesday, it had carried out strikes on Russian drone control stations, multiple rocket launch systems and command posts over the past day.

The Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks in several directions, including Kupiansk and Lyman, the report said.

Furthermore, Ukraine's local authorities and the country's energy ministry said on Tuesday that the Russian forces launched air strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure from late Monday night to early Tuesday morning.

The attacks left dozens of people injured in Odesa city and Mykolaiv Oblast, and triggered power outages in multiple areas, the Ukrainian side said.