RUSSIA-UKRAINE LIVE: Tank convoy near Kyiv raises fears of imminent attack on capital, and Vladimir Putin “throws thermobaric vacuum bomb” over Kharkov after peace talks end with agreement for more dialogue
A 40-kilometer column of tanks and other vehicles threatened Ukraine’s capital Kyiv today on the sixth day of the conflict, as its president accused Russia of war crimes.
Vladimir PutinUkrainian forces have launched, according to Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, vacuum bombings, while Russia has stepped up shelling of the city of Kharkiv.
Putin launched an indiscriminate bombing of Kharkiv just 24 hours after local resistance sent troops to pack from its streets.
Bombs, shells and rockets, which began falling yesterday, killed at least 11 people, including three children, and destroyed homes and even a school.
Russian artillery also struck a military base in the town of Okhtyrka, killing more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers, said District Governor Dmitry Zhivitsky.
After the first five-hour session of “peace talks” between Ukraine and Russia did not lead to a cessation of hostilities, the two sides agreed to meet again in the coming days.
But incumbent Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he believed the intensified shelling was intended to force him to make concessions.
And the Kremlin is finding itself increasingly isolated from economic sanctions, which have led to a sharp fall in its currency and ousted it from the World Cup.
Meanwhile, Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations warned at an emergency meeting of the Security Council that Ukraine was on the brink of a “humanitarian catastrophe.”
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