Ukrainian civilians under increasing attacks

Babies in Kharkiv are being born in an underground shelter near the hospital as bombs continue to rain down on the city. A blast on Tuesday night hit an apartment complex across the street from a hospital hours after a missile demolished Freedom Square, Ukraine’s largest plaza. Bombardments on neighborhoods in Kharkiv killed nine civilians—including three children—and wounded dozens. An airstrike hit Kyiv’s TV tower and a nearby Holocuast memorial on Tuesday, killing five and injuring five more. In a speech to the European Parliament, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said 16 children died in his country on Monday alone.

How many civilians have died overall? The UN human rights office has recorded nearly 140 civilian deaths so far but said the real toll is likely much higher. A 40-mile convoy of Russian tanks and vehicles is possibly attempting to encircle Kyiv, where residents are forming road blockades and preparing for battle. Amnesty International accused Russia of using vacuum bombs to attack a preschool where civilians sheltered on Saturday. Use of the fuel-air explosives would constitute a war crime. Russia was suspected of using these weapons in Chechnya in 2000. The International Atomic Energy Agency on Wednesday said it received a letter from Russia saying its military has taken control of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a Russian delegation will be ready to resume talks with Ukrainian officials on Wednesday evening.

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