Refugee count tops 1 million; Russians besiege Ukraine ports

The number of people sent fleeing Ukraine by Russia’s invasion topped 1 million on Wednesday, the swiftest refugee exodus this century, the United Nations said, as Russian forces kept up their bombardment of the country’s second-biggest city, Kharkiv, and laid siege to two strategic seaports.

The tally from the U.N. refugee agency released to The Associated Press amounts to more than 2 percent of Ukraine’s population being forced out of the country in less than a week. The mass evacuation could be seen in Kharkiv, where residents desperate to get away from falling shells and bombs crowded the city’s train station and tried to press onto trains, not always knowing where they were headed.

In a videotaped address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Ukrainians to keep up the resistance. He vowed that the invaders would have “not one quiet moment” and described Russian soldiers as “confused children who have been used.”

Moscow’s isolation deepened, meanwhile, when most of the world lined up against it at the United Nations to demand it withdraw from Ukraine. And the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into possible war crimes.

With fighting going on on multiple fronts across the country, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Mariupol, a large city on the Azov Sea, was encircled by Russian forces, while the status of another vital port, Kherson, a Black Sea shipbuilding city of 280,000, remained unclear.

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said the attacks there had been relentless.

“We cannot even take the wounded from the streets, from houses and apartments today, since the shelling does not stop,” he was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Russia reported its military casualties for the first time since the invasion began last week, saying nearly 500 of its troops have been killed and almost 1,600 wounded. Ukraine did not disclose its own military losses but said more than 2,000 civilians have died, a claim that could not be independently verified.

In a video address to the nation early Thursday, Zelenskyy praised his country’s resistance.

“We are a people who in a week have destroyed the plans of the enemy,” he said. “They will have no peace here. They will have no food. They will have here not one quiet moment.”

He said the fighting is taking a toll on the morale of Russian soldiers, who “go into grocery stores and try to find something to eat.”

“These are not warriors of a superpower,” he said. “These are confused children who have been used.”

- Yuras Karmanau, Jim Heintz, Vladimir Isachenkov and Dasha Litvinova, The Associated Press.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office says fighting is still occurring around the port city of Kherson, which Russian officials have said is in their “complete control.”

Zelenskyy’s office told The Associated Press that it could not comment on the situation there while the battle was still being waged.

But the mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolykhaev, said Russian soldiers were in the city and came to the city administration building. He said he asked them not to shoot civilians and to allow them to gather up the bodies from the streets.

“I simply asked them not to shoot at people,” Mayor Igor Kolykhaev said in a statement. “We don’t have any Ukrainian forces in the city, only civilians and people here who want to LIVE.”

Kherson, a city of 300,000, is strategically located on the banks of the Dnieper River near where it flows into the Black Sea. If Russian troops take the city, they could unblock a water canal and restore water supplies to the Crimean Peninsula.

The battle in the Kherson region began last Thursday, the first day of the invasion, and by the next day the Russian forces were able to take a bridge that connects the city with territory on the western bank.

-The Associated Press

The miles-long column of Russian troops and equipment assumed headed for Kyiv continues to be in a holding pattern, according to the Pentagon’s assessment.

“They are not moving at any rate that would leave one to believe that they’ve solved their problems,” a senior defense official told reporters Wednesday.

Multiple reports have suggested that Russia is low on both fuel and rations for its troops, more than 150,000 of whom have moved into Ukraine since the invasion began a week ago.

Indications are that Ukraine has taken the opportunity to target the convoy, the official said, echoing what Ukrainian Brig. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov told Military Times on Wednesday, in an attempt to stymie what officials believe is Russia’s ultimate goal: to occupy Kyiv and install a puppet government. The official spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity.

“We’ve seen indications that at times and at certain places, the convoys may have been resisted by Ukrainian forces and I think I have to leave it at that,” the official said. “But we’ve seen indications that we are in no position to refute [Ukraine claims they have hit the convoy].”

On the larger Russian effort, “we would assess that it is slowed because of resistance from the Ukrainians, which has been effective and and quite creative, too,” the U.S. official said. “It has been because of [Russia’s] own logistical and sustainment problems. Now, as I said before, we don’t know whether that was bad planning or just bad execution or both. We also believe that they have had morale problems that have led to less than effective operational success north of Kyiv.”

But, the official added, Russia has the troops and the means to sustain itself as the plan shifts. Particularly, the official said, it appears that Russia isn’t for whatever reason employing its artillery, infantry, combat aviation, special operations and other capabilities in any cohesive way, which could be holding back its efforts.

“We expect that the Russians will learn from these stumbles and will try to overcome them,” the official said, adding that the convoy likely also includes supplies for troops already outside Kyiv.

-Meghann Myers, Military Times

Ukraine’s leader decried Russia’s escalation of attacks on crowded cities as a blatant terror campaign, while U.S. President Joe Biden warned that if the Russian leader didn’t “pay a price” for the invasion, the aggression wouldn’t stop with one country.

“Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed after Tuesday’s bloodshed on the central square in Kharkiv , the country’s second-largest city, and the deadly bombing of a TV tower in the capital. He called the attack on the square “frank, undisguised terror” and a war crime.

The assault on Kharkiv continued Wednesday, even as Russia said it would be ready to resume talks with the Ukrainian side in the evening. A Russian strike on the regional police and intelligence headquarters, according to the Ukrainian state emergency service. It said three people were wounded.

The strike blew off the roof of the police building and set the top floor on fire, and pieces of the five-story building were strewn across adjacent streets, according to videos and photos released by the emergency service.

Biden used his first State of the Union address to highlight the resolve of a reinvigorated Western alliance that has worked to rearm the Ukrainian military and adopt tough sanctions , which he said have left Russian President Vladimir Putin “isolated in the world more than he has ever been.”

“Throughout our history we’ve learned this lesson — when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos,” Biden said. “They keep moving. And the costs and threats to America and the world keep rising.”

As Biden spoke, a 40-mile (64-kilometer) convoy of hundreds of Russian tanks and other vehicles advanced slowly on Kyiv , the capital city of nearly 3 million people, in what the West feared was a bid by Putin to topple the government and install a Kremlin-friendly regime.

Smoke and flameS are seen inside a damaged gym following shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Russian forces have escalated their attacks on crowded cities in what Ukraine’s leader called a blatant campaign of terror. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

The invading forces also pressed their assault on other towns and cities, including the strategic ports of Odesa and Mariupol in the south.

As the seventh day of the war dawned Wednesday, Russia found itself 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. Leading Russian bank Sberbank announced Wednesday that it is pulling out of European markets amid the tightening Western sanctions.

As fighting raged, the humanitarian situation worsened. Roughly 660,000 people have fled Ukraine , and countless others have taken shelter underground.

The death toll was less clear, with neither Russia nor Ukraine releasing the number of troops lost. The U.N. human rights office said it has recorded 136 civilian deaths, though the actual toll is surely far higher.

One senior Western intelligence official estimated that 5,000 Russian soldiers had been captured or killed in the biggest ground war in Europe since World War II.

Many military experts worry that Russia may be shifting tactics . Moscow’s strategy in Chechnya and Syria was to use artillery and air bombardments to pulverize cities and crush fighters’ resolve.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said it had seen an increase in Russian air and artillery strikes on populated urban areas over the past two days. It also said Kharkiv and Mariupol were encircled by Russian forces and that troops had reportedly moved into the center of a third city, Kherson. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had seized Kherson, though the claim could not be confirmed.

Ukrainian authorities said five people were killed in the attack on the TV tower near central Kyiv. A TV control room and power substation were hit, and at least some Ukrainian channels briefly stopped broadcasting, officials said.

Zelenskyy’s office reported that the site of the Babi Yar Holocaust memorial, which is adjacent to the TV tower, was also hit. 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.

Zelenskyy expressed outrage Wednesday at the attack on Babi Yar and concern that other historically significant and religious sites, such as St. Sophia’s Cathedral, could be targeted.

“This is beyond humanity. Such missile strike means that for many Russians our Kyiv is absolutely foreign,” Zelenskyy said in a speech posted on Facebook. “They have orders to erase our history, our country and all of us.”

Russia previously told people living near transmission facilities used by Ukraine’s intelligence agency to leave their homes. But Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed Wednesday that the airstrike on the TV tower did not hit any residential buildings. He did not address the reported deaths or the damage to Babi Yar.

In Kharkiv, with a population of about 1.5 million, at least six people were killed when the region’s administrative building on Freedom Square was hit with what was believed to be a missile. The Slovenian Foreign Ministry said its consulate in Kharkiv, located in another large building on the square, was destroyed.

The attack on the square — the nucleus of public life in the city — was seen by many Ukrainians as brazen evidence that the Russian invasion wasn’t just about hitting military targets but also about breaking their spirit.

The bombardment blew out windows and walls of buildings that ring the square, which was piled high with debris and dust. Inside one building, chunks of plaster were scattered, and doors lay across hallways.

Another Russian airstrike hit a residential area in the city of Zhytomyr. Ukraine’s emergency services said Tuesday’s strike killed at least two people, burned three homes and broke the windows in a nearby hospital. About 85 miles (140 kilometers) west of Kyiv, Zhytomyr is the home of the elite 95th Air Assault Brigade, which may have been the intended target.

In the southern port city of Mariupol, the mayor said the attacks were relentless.

“They have been flattening us non-stop for 12 hours now,” Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. “We cannot even take the wounded from the streets, from houses and apartments today, since the shelling does not stop.”

A girl from Ukraine holds a dog as she arrives with another woman to the border crossing in Medyka, southeastern Poland, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday that about 660,000 people have fled Ukraine for neighboring countries since the invasion began. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Boychenko referred to Russia’s actions as a “genocide” — using the same word that Putin has used to justify the invasion.

Zelenskyy has mocked Russia’s claim that it is going after only military targets, noting that 16 children were killed on Monday.

“Where are the children? What kind of military factories do they work at?” Zelenskyy said.

Human Rights Watch said it documented a cluster bomb attack outside a hospital in Ukraine’s east in recent days. Residents also reported the use of such weapons in Kharkiv and Kiyanka village. The Kremlin denied using cluster bombs.

Cluster bombs shoot smaller “bomblets” over a large area, many of which fail to explode until long after they’ve been dropped. If their use is confirmed, that would represent a new level of brutality in the war.

As the fighting raged, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a Russian would be ready to resume talks Wednesday evening with Ukrainian officials, a day after Zelenskyy said Russia should stop bombing first.

The first talks between Russia and Ukraine since the invasion were held Monday, but ended with only an agreement to talk again.

Moscow made new threats of escalation Tuesday, days after raising the specter of nuclear war. A top Kremlin official warned that the West’s “economic war” against Russia could turn into a “real one.”

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 “invasion” or “war.”

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said it had evidence that Belarus, a Russian ally, is preparing to send troops into Ukraine. A ministry statement posted early Wednesday on Facebook said the Belarusian troops have been brought into combat readiness and are concentrated close to Ukraine’s northern border. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said his country has no plans to join the fight.

A senior U.S. defense official said that Russia’s military progress — including by the massive convoy — has slowed, plagued by logistical and supply problems. Some Russian military columns have run out of gas and food, the official said, and morale has suffered as a result.

Overall, the Russian military has been stalled by fierce resistance on the ground and a surprising inability to completely dominate Ukraine’s airspace.

The immense convoy, with vehicles packed together along narrow roads, would seemingly be “a big fat target” for Ukrainian forces, the senior Western intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. But it also showed Russia was comfortable that they wouldn’t come attack by air, rocket or missile, the official said.

联合国表示，周三因俄罗斯入侵乌克兰而逃离家园的人数超过100万，这是本世纪以来最快的难民潮。与此同时，俄罗斯军队继续炮击乌克兰第二大城市哈尔科夫，并围困了两个战略海港。

联合国难民署向美联社公布的统计数据显示，不到一周的时间里，超过2%的乌克兰人口被迫离开家园。在哈尔科夫，大规模撤离的景象触目惊心：居民们为了躲避炮火和炸弹，挤满了火车站，争先恐后地登上火车，却往往不知道火车开往何方。

乌克兰总统泽连斯基在一段录像讲话中呼吁乌克兰人民继续抵抗。他誓言侵略者“一刻也休想安宁”，并将俄罗斯士兵形容为“被利用的糊涂孩子”。

与此同时，莫斯科的孤立程度进一步加深，因为世界大多数国家在联合国联合起来要求其从乌克兰撤军。此外，国际刑事法院检察官也对可能存在的战争罪行展开了调查。

由于全国各地多条战线同时开战，英国国防部表示，亚速海沿岸的大城市马里乌波尔已被俄罗斯军队包围，而另一个重要港口城市赫尔松（黑海造船城市，人口 28 万）的状况仍然不明朗。

马里乌波尔市长瓦迪姆·博伊琴科表示，当地遭受的袭击从未停止过。

据国际文传电讯社报道，他说：“由于炮击没有停止，我们今天甚至无法将伤员从街道、房屋和公寓中转移出来。”

俄罗斯自上周入侵开始以来首次公布了军事伤亡情况，称近500名士兵阵亡，近1600人受伤。乌克兰没有公布自身的军事损失，但表示已有超过2000名平民丧生，这一说法无法得到独立核实。

泽连斯基周四早些时候发表全国视频讲话，赞扬了本国的抵抗运动。

“我们这个民族在短短一周内就粉碎了敌人的计划，”他说。“他们在这里不会有和平，不会有食物，不会有片刻安宁。”

他说，战斗对俄罗斯士兵的士气造成了打击，他们“走进杂货店，想找点吃的”。

“他们不是超级大国的战士，”他说。“他们是被利用的迷茫孩子。”

——美联社记者尤拉斯·卡尔马瑙、吉姆·海因茨、弗拉基米尔·伊萨琴科夫和达莎·利特维诺娃。

乌克兰总统泽连斯基的办公室表示，赫尔松港口城市附近仍在发生战斗，而俄罗斯官员则表示该市已完全被他们“控制”。

泽连斯基的办公室告诉美联社，由于战斗仍在进行中，他们无法对当地局势发表评论。

但赫尔松市市长伊戈尔·科雷哈耶夫表示，俄罗斯士兵已进入该市，并来到市政厅。他说，他要求士兵不要向平民开枪，并允许他们从街上收殓尸体。

市长伊戈尔·科利哈耶夫在一份声明中说：“我只是要求他们不要向民众开枪。我们城市里没有任何乌克兰军队，只有平民和只想活下去的人。”

赫尔松是一座拥有30万人口的城市，地理位置优越，坐落在第聂伯河畔，靠近黑海入海口。如果俄军攻占该市，他们就能疏通一条输水渠，恢复克里米亚半岛的水源供应。

赫尔松地区的战斗始于上周四，也就是入侵的第一天，到第二天，俄军就攻占了连接该市与西岸地区的桥梁。

美联社

据五角大楼评估，绵延数英里的俄罗斯军队和装备纵队原本预计前往基辅，但目前仍处于停滞状态。

一位高级国防官员周三告诉记者：“他们目前的进展速度丝毫没有让人相信他们已经解决了问题。”

多份报告显示，俄罗斯军队的燃料和口粮都已告罄，自一周前入侵开始以来，已有超过 15 万名俄罗斯士兵进入乌克兰。

这位官员表示，种种迹象表明，乌克兰已借此机会袭击了这支车队。他的这番话与乌克兰准将基里洛·布达诺夫周三接受《军事时报》采访时的说法相呼应，意在阻止官员们认为的俄罗斯的最终目标：占领基辅并扶植傀儡政权。这位官员在匿名的情况下向记者发表了上述言论。

“我们看到一些迹象表明，在某些时候和某些地点，车队可能遭到乌克兰军队的抵抗，我想我只能说到这里了，”这位官员说。“但我们也看到一些迹象表明，我们无法反驳（乌克兰方面关于他们袭击车队的说法）。”

关于俄罗斯的整体行动，“我们认为，由于乌克兰方面的抵抗，其进展缓慢。乌克兰的抵抗卓有成效，而且颇具创造性，”这位美国官员表示。“这主要是由于俄罗斯自身后勤和保障方面的问题。正如我之前所说，我们尚不清楚这是计划不周还是执行不力，抑或两者兼而有之。我们也认为，他们的士气低落导致了在基辅以北的行动收效甚微。”

但这位官员补充说，俄罗斯拥有足够的兵力和资源来应对计划的调整。这位官员特别指出，俄罗斯似乎出于某种原因没有协调一致地运用其炮兵、步兵、作战航空兵、特种作战部队和其他作战能力，这可能阻碍了其行动的进展。

“我们希望俄罗斯人能从这些失误中吸取教训，并努力克服困难，”这位官员说，并补充说，车队可能还包括向已经在基辅郊外的部队运送的物资。

——梅根·迈尔斯，《军事时报》

乌克兰领导人谴责俄罗斯升级对人口稠密城市的袭击，称其为公然的恐怖主义行动；美国总统乔·拜登警告说，如果俄罗斯领导人不为入侵“付出代价”，侵略行为就不会止步于一个国家。

“没有人会原谅，没有人会忘记，”乌克兰总统泽连斯基在周二哈尔科夫市中心广场发生流血事件以及首都一座电视塔遭到致命炸弹袭击后誓言。哈尔科夫是乌克兰第二大城市。他称对哈尔科夫市中心广场的袭击是“赤裸裸的恐怖主义”，是战争罪行。

周三，对哈尔科夫的袭击仍在继续，尽管俄罗斯方面表示准备在当晚恢复与乌克兰方面的谈判。据乌克兰国家紧急情况部门称，俄罗斯袭击了该地区的警察和情报总部，造成三人受伤。

据紧急服务部门发布的视频和照片显示，爆炸掀翻了警察局的屋顶，并引燃了顶层，这座五层建筑的碎片散落在附近的街道上。

拜登利用他的首次国情咨文强调了重振旗鼓的西方联盟的决心，该联盟致力于重新武装乌克兰军队并采取严厉制裁，他表示，这些制裁使俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京“比以往任何时候都更加孤立于世界之外”。

拜登说：“纵观历史，我们已经吸取了这样的教训——独裁者如果不为他们的侵略行为付出代价，就会造成更大的混乱。他们会继续扩张，而美国和世界面临的代价和威胁也会不断上升。”

拜登发表讲话的同时，一支由数百辆俄罗斯坦克和其他车辆组成的 40 英里（64 公里）长的车队缓缓向拥有近 300 万人口的首都基辅推进。西方担心这是普京试图推翻政府并建立一个亲克里姆林宫的政权。

2022年3月2日星期三，乌克兰基辅，炮击过后，一处受损的体育馆内浓烟滚滚，火光冲天。俄罗斯军队加大了对人口密集城市的袭击力度，乌克兰领导人称之为一场公然的恐怖主义行动。（美联社照片/埃弗雷姆·卢卡茨基）

入侵部队还继续进攻其他城镇，包括南部的战略港口敖德萨和马里乌波尔。

战争进入第七天，周三，俄罗斯发现自己日益孤立，受到制裁的重创，经济陷入混乱，除了中国、白俄罗斯和朝鲜等少数几个国家外，几乎失去了所有盟友。俄罗斯主要银行俄罗斯联邦储蓄银行（Sberbank）周三宣布，鉴于西方制裁的不断收紧，该行将退出欧洲市场。

随着战火蔓延，人道主义局势日益恶化。约有66万人逃离乌克兰，另有无数人躲藏在地下。

死亡人数尚不明确，俄罗斯和乌克兰均未公布阵亡士兵人数。联合国人权事务高级专员办事处称已记录到136名平民死亡，但实际死亡人数肯定远高于此。

一位西方高级情报官员估计，在二战以来欧洲规模最大的地面战争中，有 5000 名俄罗斯士兵被俘或阵亡。

许多军事专家担心俄罗斯可能正在改变策略。莫斯科在车臣和叙利亚的战略是使用炮火和空袭摧毁城市，瓦解武装分子的意志。

英国国防部表示，过去两天，俄军对人口稠密的城市地区发动的空袭和炮击有所增加。英国国防部还称，哈尔科夫和马里乌波尔已被俄军包围，据报道，俄军已进入第三座城市赫尔松市中心。俄罗斯国防部则声称已占领赫尔松，但这一说法尚未得到证实。

乌克兰当局称，基辅市中心附近一座电视塔遭到袭击，造成五人死亡。官员表示，电视控制室和变电站遭到袭击，至少部分乌克兰电视频道短暂停止播出。

泽连斯基办公室报告称，毗邻电视塔的巴比雅尔大屠杀纪念馆也遭到袭击。纪念馆发言人表示，位于该地的犹太公墓遭到破坏，但具体受损程度要到天亮后才能确定。1941年，纳粹占领者在两天内于此屠杀了超过33000名犹太人。

泽连斯基周三对巴比雅尔袭击事件表示愤慨，并担心其他具有重要历史意义和宗教意义的场所，如圣索菲亚大教堂，可能会成为袭击目标。

“这简直丧尽天良。这样的导弹袭击意味着，对许多俄罗斯人来说，我们的基辅已经完全成了外国，”泽连斯基在脸书上发表的讲话中说道。“他们奉命抹杀我们的历史、我们的国家和我们所有人。”

俄罗斯此前曾要求居住在乌克兰情报机构使用的传输设施附近的居民撤离家园。但俄罗斯国防部发言人伊戈尔·科纳申科夫周三声称，对电视塔的空袭并未击中任何居民楼。他没有提及已报道的人员伤亡或巴比雅尔的损失。

在哈尔科夫这座拥有约150万人口的城市，位于自由广场的地区行政大楼遭到疑似导弹袭击，造成至少6人死亡。斯洛文尼亚外交部表示，其位于广场上另一栋大型建筑内的驻哈尔科夫领事馆也被摧毁。

广场是这座城市公共生活的中心，许多乌克兰人认为，这次袭击公然证明，俄罗斯的入侵不仅仅是为了打击军事目标，也是为了摧毁他们的精神。

炮火震碎了广场周围建筑物的窗户和墙壁，广场上堆满了瓦砾和尘土。在一栋建筑物内，石膏碎片散落一地，门板横七竖八地横在走廊上。

俄罗斯空袭再次袭击了日托米尔市的一处居民区。乌克兰紧急救援部门周二表示，此次空袭造成至少两人死亡，三栋房屋被烧毁，附近一家医院的窗户也被震碎。日托米尔位于基辅以西约140公里（85英里）处，是精锐的第95空中突击旅的驻地，该旅可能正是此次空袭的目标。

在南部港口城市马里乌波尔，市长表示袭击事件层出不穷。

据国际文传电讯社报道，马里乌波尔市长瓦迪姆·博伊琴科表示：“他们已经连续12个小时不间断地轰炸我们了。由于炮击没有停止，我们今天甚至无法将伤员从街道、房屋和公寓中转移出来。”

2022年3月2日星期三，在波兰东南部梅迪卡边境口岸，一名乌克兰女孩抱着一只狗，与另一名女子一同抵达。联合国难民署周二表示，自入侵开始以来，已有约66万人逃离乌克兰前往邻国。（美联社照片/维萨尔·克列齐乌）

博伊琴科称俄罗斯的行为是“种族灭绝”——他使用的正是普京用来为入侵辩护的同一个词。

泽连斯基嘲讽俄罗斯声称只针对军事目标的说法，并指出周一有 16 名儿童丧生。

泽连斯基问道：“孩子们在哪里？他们在什么样的军工厂工作？”

人权观察组织称，近日在乌克兰东部一家医院外记录到一起集束炸弹袭击事件。居民还报告称，哈尔科夫和基扬卡村也遭到了此类武器袭击。克里姆林宫否认使用集束炸弹。

集束炸弹会向大片区域发射许多小型“子炸弹”，其中许多子炸弹在投放后很久才会爆炸。如果集束炸弹的使用得到证实，那将代表战争残酷程度的新高度。

在战斗愈演愈烈之际，克里姆林宫发言人德米特里·佩斯科夫表示，一名俄罗斯官员准备于周三晚间与乌克兰官员恢复会谈。此前一天，泽连斯基曾表示，俄罗斯应该首先停止轰炸。

自入侵乌克兰以来，俄罗斯和乌克兰周一举行了首次会谈，但最终只达成了再次会谈的协议。

莫斯科周二再次发出升级冲突的威胁，此前几天，莫斯科还曾扬言要发动核战争。一位克里姆林宫高级官员警告说，西方对俄罗斯发起的“经济战”可能会演变成“真正的战争”。

在俄罗斯国内，一家批评克里姆林宫的知名电台因报道入侵事件而遭到当局威胁，被迫停播。克里姆林宫还禁止将此次冲突称为“入侵”或“战争”。

乌克兰国防部表示，有证据表明俄罗斯盟友白俄罗斯正准备向乌克兰派遣军队。该部周三早些时候在脸书上发表声明称，白俄罗斯军队已进入战备状态，并集中在乌克兰北部边境附近。白俄罗斯总统亚历山大·卢卡申科表示，白俄罗斯没有参战计划。

一位美国高级国防官员表示，俄罗斯的军事行动——包括大规模车队的行动——已经放缓，受到后勤和补给问题的困扰。这位官员说，一些俄罗斯军事纵队已经耗尽了燃料和食物，士气也因此受到打击。

总体而言，俄罗斯军队由于地面上的顽强抵抗以及出人意料地无法完全控制乌克兰领空而陷入停滞。

一位不愿透露姓名的西方高级情报官员表示，这支庞大的车队沿着狭窄的道路密集排列，对乌克兰军队来说似乎是一个“巨大的目标”。但这位官员也指出，这也表明俄罗斯相信他们不会发动空袭、火箭弹袭击或导弹袭击。