This comes on the sixth day of the Russian invasion that has shaken the 21st century world order
Russia on Tuesday shelled a square in the center of Ukraine's second-largest city and other civilian targets and a 64-kilometer (40-mile) military convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital, as the embattled Ukrainian president accused Moscow of resorting to terror tactics to exert pressure in Europe's biggest ground war in generations. With the Kremlin increasingly isolated by harsh economic sanctions that have sunk the ruble, Russian troops advanced on the country's two main cities. In the strategic eastern city of Kharkiv, home to about 1.5 million people, videos posted on the Internet showed explosions in a Soviet-era administrative building and residential areas. A maternity ward was moved to a shelter amid the attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack in the central square of Kharkiv, which he attributed to a Russian missile, an act of "direct and undisguised terror" and a war crime. "No one will forgive. No one will forget (...) This is state terrorism of the Russian Federation." As the fighting expanded beyond military targets on the sixth day of the Russian invasion that has shaken the 21st century world order, reports emerged that Moscow has employed cluster bombs in three inhabited areas. If confirmed, this would mean that the war has reached a worrying new level.
The Kremlin on Tuesday denied the use of such munitions and again insisted that its forces have only attacked military targets, despite evidence documented by The Associated Press of bombings of homes, schools and hospitals. Russia's defense minister vowed Tuesday to press ahead with the offensive until Moscow achieves its objectives, following a first round of contacts between Ukraine and Russia that did not stop the fighting. Both sides agreed to meet again in the coming days. Across the country, many civilians spent another night huddled in shelters, basements and corridors. More than half a million people have fled the country and the United Nations human rights office said Tuesday it has confirmed 136 civilian deaths, including 13 minors. The actual figure could be much higher, it warned. "This is a nightmare, it grips you inside so tightly. You can't explain it in words," said Ekaterina Babenko, a resident of Kharkiv who took shelter in a basement with her neighbors for the fifth day in a row. "We have small children, elderly people, and, honestly, this is very scary." A Ukrainian military official said Belarusian troops joined the war on Tuesday in the Chernihiv region, but offered no further details. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said he had no plans to enter the conflict.
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