Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that almost 6,000 members of Russia’s invading force had been killed as Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked war against Ukraine hit the one-week mark. Zelensky vowed that Russia would not topple his government by pummeling Ukraine’s cities and civilians with missiles, but with pressure from unprecedented international sanctions against Moscow swelling by the day, that appeared to be Putin’s strategy.
Russia’s invading forces continue to push slowly deeper into Ukrainian territory, claiming “full control” on Wednesday of the city of Kherson on the southern coast, about 100 miles east of the key port of Odesa. U.S. officials say a mammoth column of Russian troops and weapons currently about 20 miles north of Kyiv could encircle the capital city within a week and then seize it within a month.
But Russia’s war from a distance — an increasingly merciless barrage of heavy artillery hitting major population centers — is already exacting a devastating toll on Ukrainian civilians. More than 660,000 have fled their homes to neighboring countries. Tens of thousands more continue to wait in long lines at the borders, freezing with children and pets in tow. The United Nations said Tuesday that at least 136 Ukrainian civilians had been killed, but after another night of Russian shelling, that toll was likely to rise on Wednesday.
The mayor of the southeastern city of Mariupol said there was intense shelling overnight, leaving emergency services unable to evacuate casualties.
In his first State of the Union speech on Tuesday night, President Biden voiced solidarity with the Ukrainian people and lambasted Putin, whom he vowed would “pay a continuing high price over the long run” for his decision to unleash “violence and chaos” on his neighbors.
