Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that the third world war will be “nuclear” and “destructive”, basically warned NATO not to intervene militarily in Ukraine, a day after the peace talks Can’t hold back the bloodshed and when the Russian paratroopers descended on Kharkiv, the second largest city in the country and the center of fierce fighting.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry confirmed the arrival of the Russian paratroopers on Telegram, although it remains unclear whether they will be involved in a ground battle. “There is a war going on between the invaders and the Ukrainians,” they said. Authorities confirmed Wednesday afternoon that “massive shelling and bombing” as well as urban warfare were underway. Pictures showed buildings in the city center on fire.
Ukraine’s interior minister says more than 2,000 civilians have been killed in the six-day conflict.
Mr Kharkiv was paralyzed by increased fighting on Wednesday morning, with Ukraine Interior Ministry Adviser Anton Gerashchenko confirming that a Russian air strike torched the barracks of an airfield where some of the troops were stationed. Ukrainian soldiers. “The reality is that there is no area left in Kharkiv where a shell has not yet hit,” he said in a statement on Telegram Wednesday morning.
UKRAINE STATE EMERGENCY SERVICES / Reuters
The mayor of Kharkiv on Wednesday said 21 people had been killed in overnight skirmishes, pushing the death toll higher.
Russia also announced early Wednesday it had taken control of the port city of Kherson, something the Ukrainian military denies. “According to information from our brigade, battles are ongoing,” a Ukrainian military spokesman told CNN. “The city is not completely taken, some parts are under our control.”
Russian troops in a 40-mile convoy were currently about 15 miles from the capital Kyiv when precision strikes knocked down a television tower and ravages a Holocaust . memorial site and private maternity clinics on Tuesday continued to “soften” the city over what many believe a ground invasion is imminent. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to CNN and Reuters from a fortified bunker deep beneath a building in Kyiv on Tuesday, the first time he had face-to-face interaction with Western journalists. He told CNN, “People have to stop fighting before we’re ready to talk about peace.” Asked if the talks would be a waste of time if Russia continued shelling, he said, simply, “We’ll see.”
Some military analysts argue that the existence of the convoy supports Russia’s claim that it actually controls Ukrainian space, making it impossible for them to attack the somewhat vulnerable convoy. The mayor of Kyiv, former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, vowed to hold the city. “We were in front of one of the strongest armies in the world. Independent will is our top priority. And we are protecting our family, our city, our country and our future,” he said told CNN on Wednesday. “There is a huge patriotic movement right now. Old people — you can imagine — doctors, actors, actors from the theater, many professions never expected to fight, holding weapons, but right now they (are) coming to them ta. They are ready to fight. Surprise.”
The reaction inside the war theater to President Joe Biden labeling Vladimir Putin a “dictator” during his State of the Union address has been muted, with analysts predicting the Russian President will not react. “I think those personal comments by Joe Biden are probably the things that will be on the radar of the Russian president,” said former CNN Moscow bureau chief and Russia affairs expert Jill Dougherty. “Things like ‘dictator, Putin alone is to blame, more isolated than ever.’ But I don’t think they’ll be involved in that. You know, you can’t really defend yourself by saying ‘No, I’m not a dictator.’ But what they can do is try to dismiss the argument. “
Meanwhile, inside Russia, clearly fearing an exodus of the country’s wealthy multinationals, who already have European passports through residency, Putin signed a decree. bans anyone from leaving the country with more than $10,000 in foreign currency to “ensure Russia’s financial stability,” according to the Kremlin.
Oleksiy Arestovich, a top aide to Zelensky, noted on Wednesday that Russian soldiers are getting younger and younger. “The Russian military is running out of resources,” he told the UNIAN news agency. “They are sending cadets from military academies to war, a squad of second-year officers from a military school surrendered to us.” If confirmed, it would help explain why Russia’s already fearsome military could not advance any faster.
On Wednesday morning, Russia announced its delegation “will be available” for new talks with Ukrainian negotiators later in the day, although no location has been announced. Tass news agency later confirmed that an aide to Zelensky said the Ukrainian delegation would be at the table for a second time to try to reach a peace agreement to avert the deadly conflict.
