Men remove debris from a building at a military base hit by a Russian airstrike — more than 70 troops were killed in the attack in Sumy Oblast in northern Ukraine, March 1, 2022

See also EA on BBC, ANews, and The Pat Kenny Show: Russia Runs Into Trouble Over Ukraine Invasion

EA on Radio Islam: Do Russians Support Putin’s War on Ukraine?

Monday’s Coverage: Putin’s “Nuclear Alert” as Offensive Wobbles and Sanctions Hit Russia

UPDATE, 1645 GMT:

At least 10 people have been killed and 35 wounded today in Kharkiv by Russian strikes, according to Ukraine Interior Ministry advisor Anton Herashchenko.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry confirmed that Russia attacked Kyiv’s TV tower. Five people were killed. Some channels were briefly off air.

The strike came as the Russian Defense Ministry warned Kyiv residents to leave their home because “high-precision strikes” are imminent against the “Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the 72nd Center for Information and Psychological Operations (PSO)“ in Kyiv.

We urge Ukrainian citizens involved by Ukrainian nationalists in provocations against Russia, as well as Kiev residents living near relay stations, to leave their homes

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeated his call for a no-fly zone to prevent civilian casualties.

UPDATE 1625 GMT:

The European Union will block the Russian State outlet Russia Today from all platforms including satellite and the Internet.

French commissioner Thierry Breton said there was “no place for Russian war propaganda in our information space”.

UPDATE 1620 GMT:

Diplomats have walked out of an address by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the UN Human Rights Council.

Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s Representative to the UN, posted video of the walkout:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Council that Russian “crimes” are “mounting by the hour”, including strikes on hospitals, schools, and residential buildings: “We must send a resolute and unified message that President Putin should unconditionally stop this.”

UPDATE 1555 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has addressed the European Parliament by video link. He began, “I cannot say good morning, or good afternoon or good evening. Because every day for some people, this day is not good. For some people this day is the last one. We are giving away our best people. Our strongest ones. The most value-based ones.”

But the President assured that Ukrainians would resist the Russian assault:

Ukrainians are incredible….

Nobody is going to enter and intervene with our freedom and country.

Nobody is going to break us. We are strong. We are Ukrainians.

He concluded:

We have a desire to see our children alive, I think it is a fair one. We are fighting for survival. We are fighting to be equal members of Europe.

We are exactly the same as you are. So do prove that you are with us. Do prove that you are indeed Europeans and then life will win over death and light will win over darkness. Glory be to Ukraine.

UPDATE 1355 GMT:

One of this morning’s victims of Russian attack on Kharkiv is an Indian student.

The young man, from Karnataka State in southwest India, was killed as he and fellow students were preparing to take a train out of Ukraine.

Almost 20,000 Indians, most of them students, have been trapped in Ukraine since the invasion began.

See also “We Feel Stranded” — India’s Students in Ukraine

UPDATE 1345 GMT:

The UN human rights office has raised Ukraine’s civilian toll from the Russian invasion to at least 136 killed, including 13 children, and 400 wounded.

UPDATE 0925 GMT:

The mayor of Mariupol, the port city in southern Ukraine, is also reporting constant Russian shelling of civilian areas.

Vadym Boichenko said:

We have had residential quarters shelled for five days. They are pounding us with artillery, they are shelling us with GRADS, they are hitting us with air forces

We have civilian infrastructure damaged — schools, houses. There are many injured. There are women, children killed.

UPDATE 0920 GMT:

YouTube has tightened its restrictions on Russian State outlets.

UPDATE 0905 GMT:

US intelligence agencies have briefed legislators about Vladimir Putin’s “frustration” over the slow pace of the Russian offensive, and warned that Putin is likely to lash out with more intense attacks.

US Senator Chris Murphy posted a Twitter thread summarizing the assessment:

Murphy added, “The ability to keep supply lines running to Ukraine remains alive, but Russia will try to encircle and cut off Kiev in the next several weeks. The fight for Kiev will be long and bloody and Ukrainians are rapidly preparing for street to street combat.”

UPDATE 0900 GMT:

Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba calls for more international sanctions against Russia’s “barbaric” attacks killing civilians in Kharkiv.

UPDATE 0855 GMT:

Russia is continuing its aerial assault on the second city of Kharkiv, including an attempt to kill the regional Governor and his staff.

The regional administration building was struck by a rocket just after 8 a.m., setting off a large explosion. Another video showed the strike’s damage of an apartment across the road.

The governor, Oleg Synegubov, responded to the assassination attempt in a video on social media: “Such attacks are genocide of the Ukrainian people, a war crime against the civilian population.”

He said it was too early to know the number of casualties.

Ukrainian Presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak summarized:

The veil has come down. Russia is actively shelling city centres, launching direct missile and artillery strikes on residential areas and administration sites.

Russia’s goal is clear – mass panic, civilian casualties and damaged infrastructure. Ukraine is fighting honorably.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Facing international isolation and sanctions, Vladimir Putin steps up Russia’s war on Ukraine on Day 6 of the invasion.

Frustrated in his initial plan to seize the capital Kyiv and other cities, detaining and killing leaders such as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Putin has ordered an escalation in the Russian assault.

Satellite images confirmed movements of a 49-mile Russian convoy of armored vehicles towards Kyiv, about 17 miles from the capital.

Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv is under attack by Grad rockets and cruise missiles after a failed Russian entry on Sunday. Kherson in southern Ukraine is surrounded, according to the city’s mayor and a Ukrainian journalist.

A Russian strike on a military base in Okhtyrka, between Kharkiv and Kyiv, killed more than 70 troops. The Russians also struck fuel tanks.

Mayor Pavlo Kuzmenko claimed a fuel-air “vacuum” bomb was dropped — a claim supported by Ukraine’s Ambassador to the US. The thermobaric weapon, used extensively by Russia in its attacks in Syria, ignites a fireball that sucks in all surrounding oxygen to create intense heat.

With his first attempt to topple the Zelenskiy Government foiled, Putin now faces a decision: does he continue with shelling and attempted sieges? Or does he order all-out use of bombs and missiles — and in Russia’s war on Chechnya more than 20 years ago or in Syria recently —- on the cities, with high civilian casualties and the cost of occupying damaged and destroyed Ukrainian territory?

Killing Civilians

Russian officials went through the pretense of diplomacy on Monday, meeting Ukrainian representatives on the Ukraine-Belarus border. However, Ukrainian Presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said the discussions were “very difficult” with the “extremely biased” Russian delegation over “the destructive processes it launched”.

As the UN confirmed Russia’s killing of at least Ukrainian 102 civilians and injuring of 304, President Zelenskiy accused Moscow of war crimes with attacks on “peaceful” cities.

These talks [with Russia] took place while our territory, our cities were being bombed and shelled. We could see the synchronization of the shelling with the negotiating process.

At least nine people, including three children, were killed and 37 injured in rocket strikes on Kharkiv on Monday. Four civilians were slain when they left a shelter to find water, and a family of two adults and three children were burned alive in their car.

Mayor Ihor Terekhov said, “Today we had a very difficult day. It showed us that it’s not just a war, this is a massacre of Ukrainian people.”

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor said he is launching an investigation into possible war crimes or crimes against humanity.

The attacks buried the assurance of French President Emmanuel Macron, after a call with Putin, that the Russian leader “confirmed his willingness” to halt attacks on civilians and infrastructure while negotiations were ongoing.

Zelenskiy called for a no-fly zone over Kharkiv, but White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki rejected US involvement: “It would essentially mean the US military would be shooting down planes, Russian planes. That is definitely escalatory….That is not something the president wants to do.”

Lining Up Alongside Ukraine

The US did expel 12 Russian diplomats on a Monday when most countries took political, economic, and military steps to support Ukraine against the invasion.

More states sent military assistance, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, to Kyiv. They included Finland, sending aid to a country under attack for the first time, and Belgium. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada will supply upgraded ammunition and anti-tank weapons.

The European Union, which confirmed last weekend that it is sending military assistance for the first time in its history, said it is providing satellite intelligence to Ukraine to monitor Russian troop movements.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan indicated that Ankara will invoke a 1936 treaty to limit the passage of Russian warships through the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits linking the Black Sea with the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean. The step could hinder Russia’s supply efforts and naval attacks on Ukrainian territory.

Veterans, including Americans and Canadians, are forming an international force to fight alongside the Ukrainians. An Alabama veteran of the US Army’s 82nd Airborne infantry division said simply, “I feel guilty to not go.”

The UK followed the US and European Union in asset freezes and blocks on Russians banks from carrying out transactions, including movement of foreign currency and access to debt and capital markets.

Switzerland, where many Russians hold their bank accounts, said it will adopt any sanctions imposed by the EU.

The Russian rouble, which fell more than 30% on Monday morning, official settled later in the day. However, the stock market is closed on Tuesday for the second straight day.

In the day’s most significant political step, the European Parliament quickly adopted Ukraine’s request — formally issued hours earlier by Zelenskiy — for candidacy for European Union membership. A “senior EU official” said Europe’s leaders may discuss Ukrainian membership at an informal summit this month.

On the cultural front, the associations for international and European football, FIFA and UEFA, suspended Russian clubs and the national team from tournaments. International rugby has also barred Russian involvement.