Russian troops landed this Wednesday in Kharkov (east), the second Ukrainian city, and claimed to have taken Jersón (south) on the seventh day of the invasion launched by Vladimir Putin, whom Joe Biden described as a “dictator” and whose country is subject to heavy sanctions by the West.
(Read: Ukraine asks Russia not to destroy the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev)
“Russian airborne troops have landed in Kharkiv… and attacked a hospital,” the Ukrainian military said in a statement on Telegram. “There is a fight going on between the invaders and the Ukrainians,” he added.
(You may be interested in: Germany’s strategy to contain the threat of Putin)
(Due to the public interest in the events between Russia and Ukraine, all of our coverage of that invasion and related actions will be freely accessible to all readers of TIME.)
Russia stepped up the offensive in Ukraine on Tuesday, launching a major operation against Kiev, a heavy bombardment of Kharkov, and a siege against the port of Mariupol, prompting the Ukrainian president to once again ask the Europeans for help.
Satellite images captured during the night of Monday a column of more than 60 kilometers of Russian vehicles and artillery advancing in the direction of Kiev. In tune with the advance towards the capital, the Ukrainian army moved its device to the west and north of the city, an AFP journalist confirmed.
“The shooting and shelling woke us up all night,” said Natacha, who opened a canteen for soldiers and volunteers in the town of Chaika, west of Kiev, where it snowed overnight.
The Russian army instructed civilians in Kiev to live near Ukrainian intelligence infrastructure to evacuate the area because it is preparing attacks against those targets.
Also last Tuesday, Russia bombed the center of Kharkov, a city of 1.4 million people not far from the border. At least 18 dead and 26 wounded is the balance of the bombings, according to reports from the relief services.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky called the bombings a “war crime” and said the defense of the capital, Kiev, is the “priority”. The Russians appeared to be making gains in the south of the country, in the Azov Sea region.
In another battlefront, the capital Kiev also experienced more attacks and a television tower was hit by a missile, leaving five dead and five wounded, and causing the news media to be cut off.
The Mariupol port was without electricity due to the bombing and the region’s governor said that the town of Volnovakha, with 20,000 inhabitants, was almost “destroyed”. This area is key since it allows the Russians to unite the Crimean peninsula – annexed by Moscow in 2014 – with the territories of the Ukrainian separatists.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Donetsk separatist militias joined “military units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, which took control of the Ukrainian areas along the Sea of Azov.”
The commander of the separatist forces of the pro-Russian territory of Donetsk, Eduard Basurin, indicated that Mariúpol “will be completely surrounded” this Tuesday.
The calculations of the taking in Kharkov
A Russian dictator, invading a foreign country, has costs throughout the world.
This eastern city of 1.4 million inhabitants, located near the border and with a large Russian-speaking populationwas the target of bombing launched the day before, which caused civilian casualties and which Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky described as “war crimes”.
“Practically noor there are areas left in Kharkov where no artillery shells have hit“An adviser to the Ministry of the Interior, Anton Gerashchenko, said on Telegram.
In the south, the Russian army claimed the capture of Kherson, a city of 290,000 inhabitants at the mouth of the Dnieper River in the Black Sea that they had surrounded in the previous hours.
The offensive, which since its inception seven days ago has left hundreds of civilian victims, unleashed a wave of sanctions against Russia on all fronts – financial, sports, cultural or business – that have shaken its economy but have not pushed Russia back. its president Vladimir Putin.
Fear of imminent seizure of Kiev
In the capital Kiev, An attack hit the television tower, leaving five dead and five injured. Local authorities fear a major assault following the release of satellite images of a Russian convoy more than 60 kilometers long north of the city.
Ukrainian media reported new explosions overnight in the capital and in Bila Tserkva, some 80 km to the south. In addition, the emergency service reported a bombardment of residential areas in Yítomir (266,000 inhabitants), west of Kiev, with two dead and three wounded.
In the south, in addition to the capture of Kherson, the Russian army indicated on the eve that it had established contact between the troops advancing from the annexed Crimean peninsula and the militias of the pro-Russian separatists in Donbas, information that could not be verified but that would represent a strategic achievement for their forces.
In the middle of these two territories, the port city of Mariúpol resists, which was left without electricity due to the bombings that, according to its mayor, left more than a hundred injured. For Kiev, a new danger looms to the north, in Belarus, an ally of Moscow, which has ordered the deployment of additional troops to the border with Ukraine.
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, these troops could “support the Russian invaders in the future.” Ukraine sued Russia before the International Court of Justice, which convened hearings on March 7 and 8 to study Kiev’s allegations of alleged war crimes. According to the Ukrainian authorities, more than 350 civilians were killed in the conflict, including 14 children.
In addition, around 677,000 people have fled and another million were displaced inside Ukraine, according to the UN, which called for an urgent collection of 1.7 billion dollars, estimating that in the coming months 16 million people will need help in Ukraine and in the neighbor countries.
The countless casualties of the war
The balance of the conflict is uncertain. The UN reported 102 dead among civilians and 304 wounded, but acknowledges that the balance may be higher. The Russian forces have not published any balance of what they describe as a “special military operation”, but acknowledged that they suffered casualties.
The UN estimates that more than 660,000 people have fled Ukraine. The situation “seems on the way to becoming the largest refugee crisis in Europe this century,” said the spokeswoman for the refugee agency (UNHCR).
Given the advance of the Russians, Zelensky urged the international community on Tuesday to veto Russia from “all ports” and “airports in the world”, a call picked up by the Danish shipping giant Maersk that announced the suspension of the voyages to Russian ports.
Zelensky spoke Tuesday before the European Parliament by videoconference and reiterated his request to join the EU immediately and urged Europeans to prove that they are with their country.
“Europe will be stronger with Ukraine in its midst. Without you, Ukraine will be alone. We have proven our strength (…), so prove that you are with us, prove that you will not abandon us,” he said in a dramatic call which was applauded by the plenary.
While Ukraine’s quick entry into the European Union seems out of the question, European leaders expressed support for Ukraine and Germany promised more sanctions.
The president of the European Council, the Belgian Charles Michel, accused Russia of committing “geopolitical terrorism” and the head of the German government, Olaf Scholz, urged an immediate end to the “bloodbath”.
Ukraine calls for the economic destruction of Russia
Zelensky called for the “economic destruction” of Russia, at a time when the sanctions adopted by the United States, Europe and allied countries are of historic magnitude. Punitive measures include airspace closures, exclusion from a major international financial transfer system, Currency blockade and individual sanctions against the political, government and business elite.
“We are ready to intensify it and maintain it (the pressure, ndlr) as long as necessary,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, visiting Poland, said on Tuesday. The pressure is on all fronts.
The International Olympic Committee recommended the exclusion of Russia from all competitions. Among other measures, Russia was left out of the World Cup in soccer and the rugby federation, and this Tuesday it lost the venue for the World Cup in volleyball.
The first negotiations between the two sides, held on Monday in Belarus, ended without any ceasefire and the delegations returned to their capitals for consultations, without setting a date for another meeting.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin was informed of the talks but it was too early to “evaluate” the outcome of the talks.
In this framework, the Russian Sefemsa minister, Sergei Shoigu said his troops will continue the offensive until they achieve their goals.
The minister recalled that his country wants a “demilitarization” and “denazification” of Ukraine, as well as to protect itself from the “military threat created by Western countries.”
At the UN headquarters in Geneva, numerous delegations, including Ukraine and Western countries, boycotted the online intervention of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a Disarmament conference and at the Human Rights Council session, leaving the room almost empty . Later, Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested that Russia may be excluded from the UN Human Rights Council.
The UN has launched a call to collect 1.7 billion dollars in emergency aid for Ukraine, as it estimates that 12 million people inside Ukraine will need help and projects that some four million displaced people could require help in neighboring countries in the next months.
AFP
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