The Russia-Ukraine war has entered into the 15th day while heavy combat continues inside Ukraine. Russian forces reached the outskirts of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine and the country’s second-largest city of Kharkiv. Ukrainian military and armed units have managed to slow down and in some areas nearly halt the Russian advances.
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Russian forces announced a limited ceasefire on Tuesday to allow civilians to safely flee from the under-attack Ukrainian cities. AFP reported.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy urged his people to keep resisting the invading Russian forces. President also called for a global boycott of all Russian products including oil and gas.
The Russian military is taking down any military base or armed unit that comes in its way. The Russian forces also insist that it is not targeting civilians.
The Russian armed forces managed to capture the regional capital Kherson.
In Mariupol, the Southern Ukrainian region, about 400,000 have been pounded by heavy shelling after the city was encircled by the Russian forces. According to Al Jazeera reports.
At first, the US was exploring a deal in which Poland would send Soviet-era aircraft to Ukraine in return for American F-16 fighter jets. According to the report from Wall Street Journal.
But later Washington has denied such a move that directly involved it in the conflict.
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According to Ukrainian officials, the Russian forces bombed cities in eastern and central Ukraine, and stepped up shelling of suburbs of Kyiv.
“Every house, every street, every checkpoint, we will fight to the death if necessary,” said Vitali Klitschko, the Mayor of Kyiv.
Ukrainian officials said Russian forces carried out airstrikes after dark Monday on oil depots in Zhytomyr and Cherniakhiv, two towns west of Kyiv. Officials said the strikes blew up 26 oil tanks.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s foreign minister said more than 20,000 people from 52 countries have volunteered to fight in Ukraine’s new international legion.
The situation in Mariupol has become increasingly desperate, with shortages of food, water, and power, and some looting that police have ignored.
A fast-deteriorating humanitarian crisis is unfolding, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are trapped in cities without water, food, and electricity.
According to the reports, two million civilians have fled the country in what is the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War ll.
The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Lithuania and Latvia on Monday to calm any fears that they have about their security. He stressed that the US commitment to NATO’s mutual defense pact is ‘sacrosanct’ and that NATO and the US were discussing stationing troops in the Baltics permanently.
The death toll in the ongoing conflict is difficult to measure. The UN human rights office confirmed the death of 406 civilians.
French President Macron kept an open line of communication with Putin, criticizing Moscow’s offer to allow besieged Ukrainians safe passage into Russia and Belarus.
The Australian government has also placed sanctions on Moscow for its propaganda and disinformation which legitimize Russia’s invasion.
Britain’s ministry of defense said the large Russian military convoy in the northwest of Kyiv has made “little progress in over a week” and suffered continuous losses.
Russian FM Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba have held face-to-face talks in Antalya, Turkey.
Russian FM accused Western powers of behaving dangerously over Ukraine by supplying the country with weapons, warning the moves will affect the region’s security for years to come.