{"id":25319,"date":"2022-03-02T08:59:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T13:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=25319"},"modified":"2022-03-02T13:02:45","modified_gmt":"2022-03-02T18:02:45","slug":"russian-intensifies-its-assault-on-ukraine-as-war-enters-sixth-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=25319","title":{"rendered":"Russian Intensifies Its Assault On Ukraine As War Enters Sixth Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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A damaged car sits at the central square following shelling of the City Hall building in Kharkiv (AP\/Press Association Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Russian forces escalated their attacks on crowded urban areas in what Ukraine\u2019s leader called a blatant campaign of terror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,\u201d Ukraine\u2019s president Volodymyr Zelensky vowed after the bloodshed on the central square in Kharkiv, the country\u2019s second-largest city, and the deadly bombing of a TV tower in the capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 40-mile convoy of hundreds of Russian tanks and other vehicles advanced slowly on Kyiv, the capital city of nearly three million people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The invading forces also pressed their assault on other towns and cities, including the strategic ports of Odesa and Mariupol in the south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day six of the biggest ground war in Europe since the Second World War 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the fighting in Ukraine raged, the death toll remained unclear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN human rights office said it has recorded 136 civilian deaths. The real toll is believed to be far higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK Ministry of Defense 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 \u2013 Kharkiv, Kherson and Mariupol \u2013 were encircled by Russian forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many military experts worry that Russia may be shifting tactics. Moscow\u2019s strategy in Chechnya and Syria was to use artillery and air bombardments to pulverize cities and crush fighters\u2019 resolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bombing came after Russia announced it would target transmission facilities used by Ukraine\u2019s intelligence agency. It urged people living near such places to leave their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Zelensky\u2019s office also reported a missile attack on the site of the Babi Yar Holocaust memorial, near the tower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Kharkiv, with a population of about 1.5 million, at least six people were killed when the region\u2019s Soviet-era administrative building on Freedom Square was hit with what was believed to be a missile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Slovenian foreign ministry said its consulate in Kharkiv, located in another large building on the square, was destroyed in the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The attack on Freedom Square, Ukraine\u2019s largest plaza, and the nucleus of public life in the city, was seen by many Ukrainians as brazen evidence that the Russian invasion was not just about hitting military targets but also about breaking their spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are under the ruins. We have pulled out bodies,\u201d said Yevhen Vasylenko, an emergency official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Zelensky called the attack \u201cfrank, undisguised terror\u201d and a war crime. \u201cThis is state terrorism of the Russian Federation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an emotional appeal to the European Parliament later, Mr Zelensky said: \u201cWe are fighting also to be equal members of Europe. I believe that today we are showing everybody that is what we are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Russian airstrike hit a residential area in the city of Zhytomyr, the town\u2019s mayor said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukraine\u2019s emergency services said Tuesday\u2019s strike killed at least two people, set three homes on fire and broke the windows in a nearby hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 85 miles west of Kyiv, Zhytomyr is the home of the elite 95th Air Assault Brigade, which may have been the intended target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Zelensky said 16 children had been killed around Ukraine on Monday, and he mocked Russia\u2019s claim that it is going after only military targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere are the children? What kind of military factories do they work at? What tanks are they going at?\u201d Mr Zelensky said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human Rights Watch said it documented a cluster bomb attack outside a hospital in Ukraine\u2019s east in recent days. Residents also reported the use of such weapons in Kharkiv and Kiyanka village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kremlin denied using cluster bombs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cluster bombs shoot smaller \u201cbomblets\u201d over a large area, many of which fail to explode until long after they\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first talks between Russia and Ukraine since the invasion were held on Monday, but ended with only an agreement to talk again. On Tuesday, Mr Zelensky said Russia should stop bombing first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs for dialogue, I think yes, but stop bombarding people first and start negotiating afterwards,\u201c he told CNN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201cinvasion\u201d or \u201cwar\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is a nightmare, and it seizes you from the inside very strongly. This cannot be explained with words,\u201d said Kharkiv resident Ekaterina Babenko, taking shelter in a basement with neighbors for a fifth straight day. \u201cWe have small children, elderly people, and frankly speaking it is very frightening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukraine\u2019s defense ministry also said on Tuesday it has evidence that Belarus, a Russian ally, is preparing to send troops into Ukraine,\u00a0 while oil prices surged more than five dollars per barrel after a release of supplies failed to calm markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the US, President Joe Biden in his first State of the Union address that the US was closing airspace to Russian planes and vowed to seize the yachts and apartments of Russian oligarchs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leading Russian bank Sberbank also said on Wednesday that it is pulling out of European markets amid tightening Western sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bank said its subsidiaries in Europe were facing an \u201cabnormal outflow of funds and a threat to the safety of employees and branches\u201d, according to Russian news agencies. – AP<\/strong><\/p>\n

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