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kyiv — Russian forces pounded the central square of Ukraine’s second-largest city and other civilian targets on Tuesday as a 65-kilometre-long convoy of tanks and other vehicles approached the capital.
Ukraine’s president has accused Moscow of using terror tactics in the biggest ground war to tear Europe apart in generations.
As the Kremlin is increasingly isolated by harsh economic sanctions that have sent the rouble plummeting, Russian troops have advanced on Ukraine’s two largest cities on day 6 of an invasion that has shaken the world order of the 21st century. In Kharkiv, a strategic eastern city with a population of around 1.5 million, explosions destroyed administrative buildings and Soviet-era residential areas in the region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the targeted attack on Kharkiv’s main square “outright and undisguised terror”, calling it a war crime.
“No one will forgive. Nobody will forget… This is state terrorism of the Russian Federation,” he said.
Later, in an emotional appeal to the European Parliament, Mr Zelensky said: “We are also fighting to be equal members of Europe. I believe that today we are showing everyone that this is what we are… We have proven that at the very least, we are like you.”
In addition to strikes on cities, reports emerged that Moscow used cluster bombs on three populated areas. If confirmed, it would represent a disturbing new level of brutality in the war – and could lead to even greater isolation in Russia.
Already, with Western powers sending weapons to Ukraine and exerting global pressure on the Russian economy, President Vladimir Putin’s options have diminished as he seeks to redraw the world map – and bring back Ukrainian democracy. Western-leaning in Moscow’s orbit.
The Kremlin on Tuesday denied using such ammunition and again insisted its forces had only struck military targets – despite documented evidence by AP journalists of bombings of homes, schools and of hospitals.
Unsubdued despite Western condemnation, Russian officials stepped up their threats of escalation – days after raising the specter of a nuclear attack. Russia’s defense minister vowed on Tuesday to continue the offensive until it achieves its goals, while a senior Kremlin official warned that the West’s ‘economic war’ against Russia could turn into a “real war”.
A first round of talks on Monday between Ukraine and Russia failed to stop the fighting, although the two sides agreed to another meeting in the coming days.
Across the country, many Ukrainian civilians spent another night huddled in shelters, basements or hallways. More than half a million people have fled the country and the UN human rights office said on Tuesday it had recorded the death of 136 civilians, including 13 children. The actual toll is likely much higher.
A Ukrainian military official said Belarusian troops joined the war in the Chernihiv region on Tuesday, without providing details. Shortly before, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country had no intention of joining the fight.
The precision bombing of Kharkiv’s Freedom Square – Ukraine’s largest square and the hub of the city’s public life – was a turning point for many Ukrainians, shameless proof that the Russian invasion was not aimed not only to hit military targets, but also to break their morale.
The strike blew out or shattered windows and walls of buildings surrounding the massive central plaza, which was littered with debris and dust. Inside one building, pieces of plaster were strewn about and doors, ripped off their hinges, stood in the hallways.
“People are under the rubble, we have taken out bodies,” said Yevhen Vasylenko, a representative of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Kharkiv region. He said at least six people were killed and 20 injured in the strike.
Regional administration head Oleh Sinehubov said at least 11 people had been killed and dozens injured the day before. Other people were injured on Tuesday, authorities said.
One after another, explosions erupted in a residential area of Kharkiv in video verified by the AP.
Determined to keep life going despite the attacks, hospital workers moved a Kharkiv maternity hospital to a bomb shelter. Amid makeshift electrical outlets and mattresses stacked against the walls, pregnant women paced the crowded space, accompanied by the cries of dozens of newborn babies.
Russia’s objectives in striking the center of Kharkiv were not immediately clear. Western officials speculated that she was trying to draw in Ukrainian forces to defend the city while a larger Russian force surrounded Kyiv. They believe Mr. Putin’s overall goal is to overthrow the Ukrainian government and install one close to the Kremlin.
Mr Zelenskyy said Russia was using the strikes to pressure its government. He did not give details of the talks between Ukrainian and Russian envoys, but he said on Monday evening that Kyiv was not ready to make concessions “when one side hits another with artillery rockets. “.
Meanwhile, Russian troops were advancing towards Kyiv, a city of nearly 3 million people. The convoy of armored vehicles, tanks, artillery and support vehicles was 25 kilometers from the center of the city and stretched for about 65 kilometers, according to satellite images from Maxar Technologies.
In a disturbing development, New York-based human rights organization Human Rights Watch said it documented a cluster bomb attack outside a hospital in eastern Ukraine in recent days. Local residents also reported the use of ammunition in Kharkiv and in the village of Kiyanka near the northern town of Chernihiv, although there was no independent confirmation.
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has announced plans to open an investigation into Ukraine and is monitoring the conflict.
Flames erupted from a military base northeast of Kyiv, in the suburb of Brovary, in footage taken from a car driving past. In another video verified by the AP, a passenger begs the driver, “Misha, we have to drive fast because they’re going to knock again.”
And Ukrainian authorities on Sunday released details and photos of an attack on a military base in Okhtyrka, a town between Kharkiv and Kyiv, saying more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed along with local residents. The attack could not be immediately confirmed.
Russian military movements were blocked by fierce ground resistance and a surprising inability to dominate Ukrainian airspace.
The Ukrainians have shown ingenuity in an attempt to stop the Russian advance: on a highway between Odessa and Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, residents piled up tractor tires filled with sand and topped with sacks of sand to block Russian military convoys. In Kyiv, sandbags were piled up outside the doors and windows of the city hall.
In the face of this Ukrainian resistance and crippling Western sanctions, Mr Putin put Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert – including intercontinental ballistic missiles and long-range bombers – in a stern warning to the West and a a signal of his willingness to take the conflict to a terrifying new level. But a senior US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US had yet to see any appreciable change in Russia’s nuclear stance.
Western countries have increased arms deliveries to Ukraine to help its forces defend themselves, but have so far ruled out sending troops.
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