Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says a Russian missile strike hit a central square in the city of Kharkiv, calling it an act of "undisguised terror."
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_14024 A member of the Ukrainian Emergency Service looks at the City Hall building in the central square following shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian strikes pounded the central square in Ukraine’s second-largest city and other civilian sites Tuesday in what the country’s president condemned as blatant campaign of terror by Moscow. (AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy)
AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_52194 The body of a victim lies next to damaged cars in the central square following shelling of the City Hall building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy)
AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_30240 This handout photo released by Ukrainian Emergency Service shows a view of the damaged City Hall building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine’s embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe’s largest ground war in generations. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_06229 Ukrainian families say goodbye as they prepare to board a bus to Poland at Lviv bus main station, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine’s embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe’s largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
AP Photo/Bernat Armangue
Russia_Ukraine_War_72347 People arrive at a train station as they try to leave Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Explosions and gunfire that have disrupted life since the invasion began last week appeared to subside around Kyiv overnight, as Ukrainian and Russian delegations met Monday on Ukraine's border with Belarus. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti
Russia_Ukraine_War_83134 People walk along an empty road during curfew, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Explosions and gunfire that have disrupted life since the invasion began last week appeared to subside around Kyiv overnight, as Ukrainian and Russian delegations met Monday on Ukraine's border with Belarus. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti
Poland_Ukraine_War_56570 Refugees from Ukraine rest at the railway station in Przemysl, Poland, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Ambassadors from dozens of countries on Monday backed a proposal demanding that Russia halt its attack on Ukraine, as the U.N. General Assembly held a rare emergency session during a day of frenzied and sometimes fractious diplomacy surrounding the five-day-old war. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
AP Photo/Markus Schreiber
Poland_Russia_Ukraine_War_91759 Refugees try to stay warm after fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the Medyka border crossing in Poland, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. All day long, as trains and buses bring people fleeing Ukraine to the safety of Polish border towns, they carry not just Ukrainian fleeing a homeland under attack but large numbers of other citizens who had made Ukraine their home and whose fates too are now uncertain. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)
AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_15114 Ambulance paramedics move an injured man on a stretcher, wounded by shelling in a residential area, at the maternity hospital converted into a medical ward and used as a bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian strikes on the key southern port city of Mariupol seriously wounded several people. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_25872 An armed man stands by the remains of a Russian military vehicle in Bucha, close to the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko)
AP Photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_17789 Medical workers move a patient in a basement of a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward and used as a bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian strikes on the key southern port city of Mariupol seriously wounded several people. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_43967 People look at the gutted remains of Russian military vehicles on a road in the town of Bucha, close to the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko)
AP Photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko
Russia_Ukraine_War_21914 The dead body of a victim from shelling in a residential area lies on a stretcher in a corridor in a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian strikes on the key southern port city of Mariupol seriously wounded several people. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_34654 EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - A man looks at a Russian soldier's body lying next to a military vehicle on a road in the town of Bucha close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko)
AP Photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko
Russia_Ukraine_War_68290 Ukrainian army soldiers, left, rest while others eat near the front line with Russian troops in northern Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Ricard Garcia Vilanova)
AP Photo/Ricard Garcia Vilanova
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_60830 A woman passes by at a market closed for business in Nikolaev, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
AP Photo/Sergei Grits
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_83831 The dead bodies of soldiers are seen in military vehicle on a road in the town of Bucha, close to the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko)
AP Photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_15018 A woman takes photos of a destroyed accommodation building near a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine's embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe's largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_26022 This shows a view of Khreshchatyk, one of the main streets in Kyiv, empty due to curfew, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Explosions and gunfire that have disrupted life since the invasion began last week appeared to subside around Kyiv overnight, as Ukrainian and Russian delegations met Monday on Ukraine's border with Belarus. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti
Belgium_Russia_Ukraine_War_83461 Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the Plenary, via remote link, during an extraordinary session on Ukraine at the European Parliament in Brussels, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. The European Union's legislature meets in an extraordinary session to assess the war in Ukraine and condemn the invasion of Russia. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel will be among the speakers. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
AP Photo/Virginia Mayo
Russia_Ukraine_War_91583 Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to St. Petersburg's governor Alexander Beglov during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
Russia_Ukraine_War_66685 People arrive at the train station as they try to leave Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Explosions and gunfire that have disrupted life since the invasion began last week appeared to subside around Kyiv overnight, as Ukrainian and Russian delegations met Monday on Ukraine's border with Belarus. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti
Russia_Ukraine_War_77156 Ukrainian emergency service personnel work outside the damaged City Hall building following shelling, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy)
AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_18639 A medical worker attends to a wounded man at a hospital in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, again Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine's embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe's largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Russia_Ukraine_War_17780 Ukrainian emergency service personnel carry a body of a victim out of the damaged City Hall building following shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy)
AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy
Russia_Ukraine_War_78676 An armed man stands near a barricade during an air raid alarm in Maidan Square, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian strikes pounded the central square in Ukraine’s second-largest city and other civilian targets, and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda
Russia_Ukraine_War_79701 Ukrainians prepare to board a bus to Poland at Lviv bus main station, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine’s embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe’s largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
AP Photo/Bernat Armangue
Russia_Ukraine_War_86499 A man leaves a vehicle damaged by shelling in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city again Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine's embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe's largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Russia_Ukraine_War_68954 An armed man stands by the remains of a Russian military vehicle in Bucha, close to the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko)
AP Photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_83134 People walk along an empty road during curfew, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Explosions and gunfire that have disrupted life since the invasion began last week appeared to subside around Kyiv overnight, as Ukrainian and Russian delegations met Monday on Ukraine's border with Belarus. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti
Russia_Ukraine_War_76535 A man walks past a queue of cars heading to the Poland border near Shehyni, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city again, and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital. Ukraine's embattled president said the tactics were designed to force him into concessions in Europe's largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Pavlo Palamarchuk)
AP Photo/Pavlo Palamarchuk
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_25340 Damaged cars and a destroyed accommodation building are seen near a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine's embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe's largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Russia_Ukraine_War_41878 Medical workers operate on people injured by shelling in a residential area at a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian strikes on the key southern port city of Mariupol seriously wounded several people. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_33311 People shop next to nearly empty shelves at a market in Nikolaev, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
AP Photo/Sergei Grits
Russia_Ukraine_War_94865 A man crosses a deserted boulevard during an air raid alarm, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian strikes pounded the central square in Ukraine’s second-largest city and other civilian targets, and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_56744 Medical workers show a newborn baby to a woman who gave birth in a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian strikes on the key southern port city of Mariupol seriously wounded several people. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka
APTOPIX_Switzerland_Russia_Ukraine_War_26336 Ambassadors and diplomats leave the room while Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov (on screen) addresses with a pre-recorded video message the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. The diplomats got up and left the room when Sergei Lavrov's pre-recorded video message began to play, in protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP, Pool)
Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP, Pool
Greece_Russia_Ukraine_War_95193 A woman protests during a rally against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Protests continue all over the world as Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis
Belgium_Russia_Ukraine_War_12535 Members of European Parliament sit behind signs in support of Ukraine during an extraordinary session on Ukraine at the European Parliament in Brussels, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. The European Union's legislature meets in an extraordinary session to assess the war in Ukraine and condemn the invasion of Russia. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Council President Charles Michel will be among the speakers. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
AP Photo/Virginia Mayo
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_Denver_03700 An American flag unfurls off a pedicab as it glides past the Denver City/County Building, which is illuminated in yellow and blue in support of Ukraine, late Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, in Denver. Colorado's State Capitol will also be illuminated in blue and yellow in support of Ukraine. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
AP Photo/David Zalubowski
Russia_Ukraine_War_80734 A woman cuddles her newborn baby in her arms at a basement used as a bomb shelter at the Okhmadet children's hospital in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1. 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti
Russia_Ukraine_War_91533 People crowd on a platform as they wait to board a Lviv-bound train in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1. 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti
Russia_Ukraine_War_29471 Customers walk past plastic-wrapped shelves with alcoholic beverages banned for sale in a supermarket in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti
Russia_Ukraine_War_28653 Ukrainian servicemen and volunteers of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces stand behind a damaged car at a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine's embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe's largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Russia_Ukraine_War_38929 People walk by a damaged vehicle and an armored car at a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine’s embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe’s largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Russia_Ukraine_War_83493 A man reacts inside a vehicle damaged by shelling, in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city again Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine's embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe's largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Russia_Ukraine_War_30240 This handout photo released by Ukrainian Emergency Service shows a view of the damaged City Hall building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine’s embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe’s largest ground war in generations. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP
APTOPIX_Russia_Ukraine_War_80729 Sick children and women with their newborn babies stay in a basement used as a bomb shelter at the Okhmadet children's hospital in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1. 2022. Russian strikes pounded the central square in Ukraine’s second-largest city and other civilian targets, and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti
Russia_Ukraine_War_46271 This handout photo released by Ukrainian Emergency Service shows emergency service personnel inspecting the damage inside the City Hall building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine's embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe's largest ground war in generations. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP
Russia_Ukraine_War_76717 Women with their pets walk past a queue of cars heading to the Poland border near Shehyni, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city again, and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital. Ukraine's embattled president said the tactics were designed to force him into concessions in Europe's largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Pavlo Palamarchuk)
AP Photo/Pavlo Palamarchuk
Russia_Ukraine_War_89550 A volunteer of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces walks by a damaged armored vehicle at a checkpoint in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine's embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe's largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Russia_Ukraine_War_72565 Servicemen of the military commandant of Donetsk People's Republic stand next to a burned vehicle near a damaged by shelling building in Donetsk, the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov
Poland_Ukraine_War_06265
Russia_Ukraine_War_21676 A family carrying their belongings walk to the train station to leave the city as sirens sound announcing new attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti
Russia_Ukraine_War_65596 People fleeing from the conflict drive cars heading to the Ukrainian and Romania border near Cernivtsi, in Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (IHA Photo via AP)
IHA Photo via AP
Poland_Ukraine_War_34417 A man who fled from conflict in Ukraine looks from a bus after crossing into Poland at the Medyka crossing, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Ambassadors from dozens of countries on Monday backed a proposal demanding that Russia halt its attack on Ukraine, as the U.N. General Assembly held a rare emergency session during a day of frenzied and sometimes fractious diplomacy surrounding the five-day-old war. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
AP Photo/Markus Schreiber
Russia_Ukraine_War_36724 Ukrainian Pavlo Bilodid, 33, kisses his wife and daughter goodbye as they prepare to board a bus to Poland at Lviv bus main station, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine’s embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe’s largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
AP Photo/Bernat Armangue
Russia_Ukraine_War_06229 Ukrainian families say goodbye as they prepare to board a bus to Poland at Lviv bus main station, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine’s embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions in Europe’s largest ground war in generations. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces escalated their attacks on crowded urban areas Tuesday in what Ukraine’s leader called a blatant campaign of terror, while U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to make his Russian counterpart “pay a price” for the invasion.
“Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed after the bloodshed on the central square in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, and the deadly bombing of a TV tower in the capital.
Biden used his first State of the Union address to highlight the resolve of a reinvigorated Western alliance that has worked to rearm the Ukrainian military and adopt tough sanctions, which he said have left Russian President Vladimir Putin ”isolated in the world more than he has ever been.”
“Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson — when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos,” Biden said. “They keep moving. And the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising.”
Biden devoted the first 12 minutes of his Tuesday evening address to Ukraine, with lawmakers of both parties repeatedly rising to their feet and applauding as he praised the bravery of Ukraine’s people and condemned Putin’s assault.
As Biden spoke, a 40-mile (64-kilometer) convoy of hundreds of Russian tanks and other vehicles advanced slowly on Kyiv, the capital city of nearly 3 million people, in what the West feared was a bid by Putin to topple the government and install a Kremlin-friendly regime.
The invading forces also pressed their assault on other towns and cities, including the strategic ports of Odesa and Mariupol in the south.
Day 6 of the biggest ground war in Europe since World War II found Russia 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.
As the fighting in Ukraine raged, the death toll remained unclear. One senior Western intelligence official estimated that more than 5,000 Russian soldiers had been captured or killed. Ukraine gave no overall estimate of troop losses.
The U.N. human rights office said it has recorded 136 civilian deaths. The real toll is believed to be far higher.
Britain’s Defense Ministry said it had seen an increase in Russian air and artillery strikes on populated urban areas over the past two days. It also said three cities — Kharkiv, Kherson and Mariupol — were encircled by Russian forces.
Many military experts worry that Russia may be shifting tactics. Moscow’s strategy in Chechnya and Syria was to use artillery and air bombardments to pulverize cities and crush fighters’ resolve.
Ukrainian authorities said five people were killed in the attack on the TV tower, which is near central Kyiv and a short walk from numerous apartment buildings. A TV control room and power substation were hit, and at least some Ukrainian channels briefly stopped broadcasting, officials said.
The bombing came after Russia announced it would target transmission facilities used by Ukraine’s intelligence agency. It urged people living near such places to leave their homes.
Zelenskyy’s office also reported a missile attack on the site of the Babi Yar Holocaust memorial, near the tower. A spokesman for the memorial said a Jewish cemetery at the site, where Nazi occupiers killed more than 33,000 Jews over two days in 1941, was damaged, but the extent would not be clear until daylight.
In Kharkiv, with a population of about 1.5 million, at least six people were killed when the region’s Soviet-era administrative building on Freedom Square was hit with what was believed to be a missile.
The Slovenian Foreign Ministry said its consulate in Kharkiv, located in another large building on the square, was destroyed in the attack.
The attack on Freedom Square — Ukraine’s largest plaza, and the nucleus of public life in the city — was seen by many Ukrainians as brazen evidence that the Russian invasion wasn’t just about hitting military targets but also about breaking their spirit.
The bombardment blew out windows and walls of buildings that ring the massive square, which was piled high with debris and dust. Inside one building, chunks of plaster were scattered, and doors, ripped from their hinges, lay across hallways.
“People are under the ruins. We have pulled out bodies,” said Yevhen Vasylenko, an emergency official.
Zelenskyy pronounced the attack on the square “frank, undisguised terror” and a war crime. “This is state terrorism of the Russian Federation,” he said.
In an emotional appeal to the European Parliament later, Zelenskyy said: “We are fighting also to be equal members of Europe. I believe that today we are showing everybody that is what we are.”
Another Russian airstrike hit a residential area in the city of Zhytomyr, the town’s mayor said. Ukraine’s emergency services said Tuesday’s strike killed at least two people, set three homes on fire and broke the windows in a nearby hospital. About 85 miles (140 kilometers) west of Kyiv, Zhytomyr is the home of the elite 95th Air Assault Brigade, which may have been the intended target.
Zelenskyy said 16 children had been killed around Ukraine on Monday, and he mocked Russia’s claim that it is going after only military targets.
“Where are the children? What kind of military factories do they work at? What tanks are they going at?” Zelenskyy said.
Human Rights Watch said it documented a cluster bomb attack outside a hospital in Ukraine’s east in recent days. Residents also reported the use of such weapons in Kharkiv and Kiyanka village. The Kremlin denied using cluster bombs.
Cluster bombs shoot smaller “bomblets” over a large area, many of which fail to explode until long after they’ve been dropped. If their use is confirmed, that would represent a new level of brutality in the war and could lead to further isolation of Russia.
The first talks between Russia and Ukraine since the invasion were held Monday, but ended with only an agreement to talk again. On Tuesday, Zelenskyy said Russia should stop bombing first.
“As for dialogue, I think yes, but stop bombarding people first and start negotiating afterwards,“ he told CNN.
In his speech, Biden announced that the U.S. was joining several other countries in closing its airspace to Russian planes. He also warned the country’s oligarchs that the Department of Justice was assembling a task force to investigate any crimes they committed.
“We are joining with our European allies to find and seize your yachts, your luxury apartments, your private jets,” he said. “We are coming for your ill-begotten gains.”
Biden trumpeted the toll global measures had taken on the Russian economy already, including a stock market plunge and currency devaluation.
Moscow made new threats of escalation, days after raising the specter of nuclear war. A top Kremlin official warned that the West’s “economic war” against Russia could turn into a “real one.”
Inside Russia, a top radio station critical of the Kremlin was taken off the air after authorities threatened to shut it down over its coverage of the invasion. Among other things, the Kremlin is not allowing the fighting to be referred to as an “invasion” or “war.”
Roughly 660,000 people have fled Ukraine, and countless others have taken shelter underground. Bomb damage has left hundreds of thousands of families without drinking water, U.N. humanitarian coordinator Martin Griffiths said.
“It is a nightmare, and it seizes you from the inside very strongly. This cannot be explained with words,” said Kharkiv resident Ekaterina Babenko, taking shelter in a basement with neighbors for a fifth straight day. “We have small children, elderly people, and frankly speaking it is very frightening.”
A Ukrainian military official said Belarusian troops joined the war Tuesday in the Chernihiv region in the north, without providing details. But just before that, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country had no plans to join the fight.
A senior U.S. defense official said that Russia’s military progress — including by the massive convoy — has slowed, plagued by logistical and supply problems. Some Russian military columns have run out of gas and food, the official said, and morale has suffered as a result.
Overall, the Russian military has been stalled by fierce resistance on the ground and a surprising inability to completely dominate Ukraine’s airspace.
The immense convoy, with vehicles packed together along narrow roads, would seemingly be “a big fat target” for Ukrainian forces, the senior Western intelligence official said on condition of anonymity.
“But it also shows you that the Russians feel pretty comfortable being out in the open in these concentrations because they feel that they’re not going to come under air attack or rocket or missile attack,” the official said.
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Isachenkov and Litvinova reported from Moscow. Mstyslav Chernov in Mariupol, Ukraine; Sergei Grits in Odesa, Ukraine; Robert Burns, Zeke Miller and Eric Tucker in Washington; Francesca Ebel, Josef Federman and Andrew Drake in Kyiv; Lorne Cook in Brussels; and other AP journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
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Follow the AP’s coverage of the Ukraine crisis at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
