Russian forces on Wednesday continued their indiscriminate attack of Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, turning it into a “bombed-out wasteland of ruined buildings and debris,” according to Reuters.
Russian airstrikes targeted residential areas and civilian infrastructure, reports The Wall Street Journal, including a university building and police headquarters. The outlet adds:
Authorities reported 21 dead and 112 injured in the past 24 hours.
Russian forces also attempted to seize the city’s military hospital, local authorities said. However, the front line held and the city of 1.4 million people remained under Ukrainian control, they said.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said the Russians have adopted new tactics in recent days: “The enemy is afraid of direct contact with Ukrainian defenders. That’s why it switched to the tactic of firing at peaceful Ukrainian cities from afar.”
Ukraine’s emergency service said on Wednesday that 2,000 civilians have died since the attack started seven days ago. Hundreds of buildings – including transportation hubs, hospitals, schools and homes – have also been destroyed.
“Children, women and defense forces are losing their lives every hour,” the emergency service said in a statement.
“Roughly 874,000 people have fled Ukraine and the U.N. refugee agency warned the number could cross the 1 million mark soon. Countless others have taken shelter underground,” notes The Associated Press.
Kherson, a port city of 300,000, is encircled by Russian forces, who claim they have captured the city. But Ukrainian officials dispute that and say fighting continues.
The mayor of Kherson said he is “waiting for a miracle” to restore basic services and treat the wounded. The New York Times notes that “conditions inside the city were dire, with food and medicine running out.” The Times adds:
Overnight, Russian troops surrounded Mariupol, a port city in the southeast. More than 120 civilians were being treated for injuries in hospitals, [Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko] said. Residents baked 26 tons of bread to help withstand the coming onslaught, according to the mayor.
“We cannot even take the wounded from the streets, from houses and apartments today, since the shelling does not stop,” Boychenko told reporters.
Yet, Ukrainian soldiers and civilians continues to mount a fierce resistance that has prevented Russia from achieving its early goals.
Reznikov, the defense minister, said that weapons flowing from the West have helped Ukraine fend off the Russian onslaught. In particular, the arrival of Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 armed drones was key in stalling a 40-mile military convoy headed toward Kyiv.
The AP reports:
Even as Russia pressed its assault, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that a delegation would be ready later in the day to meet Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also said his country was ready — but noted that Russia’s demands have not changed and that he wouldn’t accept any ultimatums. Neither side said where the talks might take place.
As the war wears on, Russia finds itself increasingly isolated, beset by the sanctions that have thrown its economy into turmoil and left the country practically friendless, apart from a few nations like China, Belarus and North Korea. Leading Russian bank Sberbank announced Wednesday that it is pulling out of European markets amid the tightening Western sanctions.
U.S. President Joe Biden offered vociferous support to the Ukrainian people during Tuesday’s State of the Union Address.
“Six days ago, Russia’s Vladimir Putin sought to shake the very foundations of the free world, thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways,” Biden said. “But he badly miscalculated. He thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world would roll over. Instead, he met with a wall of strength he never anticipated or imagined. He met the Ukrainian people.”
The Times adds:
Hailing the heroism of the Ukrainian resistance, Mr. Biden introduced Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, who joined Jill Biden in the first lady’s box holding a small Ukrainian flag. In a show of bipartisan solidarity, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, some of them wearing blue and yellow and many of them waving Ukrainian flags, leapt to their feet in an ovation to her and her country.
