Muristek
Russia Ukraine War LIVE Updates: Russia strikes near Ukrainian capital Kyiv; port city under siege
As the Russia Ukraine War enters its 18th day, violence has expanded to areas in western Ukraine, closer to NATO members Poland and Romania. The war has forced more than 2.5 million people to flee Ukraine. The country’s chief prosecutor’s office says at least 79 children have been killed since the invasion began on Feb. 24. Russian forces pounded the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, shelling its downtown as residents hid in an iconic mosque and elsewhere to avoid the explosions. Fighting also raged in the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, as Russia kept up its bombardment of other cities throughout the country. Mariupol has endured some of Ukraine’s worst punishment since Russia invaded. Unceasing barrages have thwarted repeated attempts to bring food, water and medicine into the city of 430,000 and to evacuate its trapped civilians. More than 1,500 people have died in Mariupol during the siege, according to the mayor’s office, and the shelling has even interrupted efforts to bury the dead in mass graves. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is bombing Mariupol “24 hours a day.” And as Russian units also fanned out to prepare for an assault on Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, Zelenskyy urged his people to continue their resistance, saying Russia would need to carpet-bomb Kyiv and kill its residents to take the city.
Most Read