Fighting continues in several Ukrainian cities as Russia continues its invasion.
As the devastation rocks Kyiv, a renewed convoy of Russian tanks has amassed north of the Ukrainian capital as of Mar. 1. Russian forces have struggled to subdue Kyiv’s soldiers and civilian fighters, and the new convoy indicates that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to pressure the city harder.
Meanwhile, Russian forces have begun to employ siege tactics in their assault on Kharkiv, following the city’s bombardment on Monday, said to be the most destructive activity of the invasion at the time.
On Mar. 1, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to the European Union, asking the 27-member bloc to allow membership for Ukraine. Zelensky also called for Russian military forces to be held accountable for committing war crimes, citing the deliberate targeting of civilians in its assault.
“Today, Russian troops shelled Kharkiv using rocket artillery,” Mr. Zelensky said in a video posted on Feb. 28 to his Facebook page. “This is, without any doubt, a military crime. A peaceful city. Peaceful residential neighborhoods. Not a single military object in sight.”
Russia’s actions have been met with overwhelming global opposition. At a Feb. 28 meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Western diplomats walked out in protest during Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s pre-recorded address.
As of Feb. 28, Russia is reeling from financial devastation as the result of Western sanctions. On Feb. 26, the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, and Canada announced that they would expel Russian banks from global banking network system SWIFT, freezing Russian assets, crashing Russia’s stock market by 33%, and shrinking the Russian economy by $800 billion as the Russian ruble diminishes rapidly in value.
A meeting between Russian and Ukrainian delegates in Belarus took place at 1 p.m. Kyiv time on Feb. 28. Ukrainian delegates demanded an “immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian troops” prior to the meeting.
