The latest round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials netted no major breakthroughs, though there were some “small positive” signs of progress on the humanitarian front, an adviser to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday afternoon.
A Kremlin aide said the third meeting between the two countries had “failed to live up to our expectations” but added that both sides are committed to more talks.
President Joe Biden wrapped up a 90-minute video conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin and is urging him to ease the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. The White House was tight-lipped about what specifically was discussed but said the Western world leaders shared intelligence and observations about recent interactions with Putin and top Ukrainian officials.
The news of the meeting came shortly after reports emerged that the mayor of Hostomel, a small town near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, was shot and killed while distributing bread and medicine to those in need.
A statement by the Hostomel council said Yuri Prylypko “died as a hero,” but it added that it would be impossible for people to pay their respects at a public funeral due to the intense fighting. Hostomel is close to an airfield that serves as a key strategic point in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
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Russian forces unleashed a torrent of new attacks on several cities today as Zelensky told Ukrainians to brace for more.
So far, Moscow has destroyed 202 schools, 34 hospitals, and more than 1,500 residential buildings since the war began over a week ago, according to Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak. Nearly 1,000 towns and villages have been deprived of electricity and heat. Many Ukrainians have no supplies, access to clean water, or food.
Of the 150,000 Russian troops Vladimir Putin stationed on Ukraine’s border ahead of the invasion, nearly 100% are believed to have been deployed, a U.S. defense official said.
“That’s our best estimate right now,” the senior official told Reuters.
The Pentagon also announced it has deployed another 500 troops to Europe, bringing the total number of U.S. forces in neighboring NATO countries to about 100,000. Over the weekend, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered KC-135 refueling aircraft and aircrews to Greece, air support units to Poland and Romania, and ordnance and maintenance support troops to Germany.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his country would impose sanctions against 10 more Russians who he said were “complicit in this unjustified invasion.” The list of 10, compiled by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, included current and former senior government officials, oligarchs, and supporters of the Russian leadership.
The United Nations human rights office said at least 406 civilians, including 27 children, had died in the past week, while another 801 had been injured. The organization said the true numbers are almost certainly much higher, noting that intense shelling has delayed the flow of information from places like Volnovakha, a town north of the besieged port city of Mariupol where there have been reports of hundreds of deaths.
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In Kyiv, soldiers and volunteers have built hundreds of checkpoints, using sand, spiked cables, and stacked tires to keep the Russians out.
“Every house, every street, every checkpoint, we will fight to the death if necessary,” Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
In Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, heavy shelling slammed into apartment buildings and hit hospitals.
“I think it struck the fourth floor under us,” Dmitry Sedorenko said from his Kharkiv hospital bed. “Immediately, everything started burning and falling apart.”
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When the floor gave way beneath him, he crawled out through the third floor, past the bodies of some of his neighbors, the Associated Press reported.
There was also heavy shelling in Bucha, Vorzel, and Irpin, which has been cut off from electricity and water for three days. Witnesses there saw at least three tanks and said Russian soldiers were seizing houses and cars.
