Refugees reach 2.8 mln as Russia strikes hit west Ukraine
STORY: The Ukrainian military on Monday released video of what it said were its soldiers battling Russian troops on the outskirts of Kyiv as the Russian invasion creeped closer to the country's capital.
Monday morning, residents were stunned when a Russian bombardment shattered an apartment block and demolished buses, killing at least two.
WITNESS, YUVGENY GUZENKO, SAYING: “One person was gone. It was an old man, around seventy. Then emergency services arrived, they tried to save another injured female, but she was also dead.”
Ukraine reported more air strikes on an airport in the west, in addition to heavy shelling on the outskirts of Kyiv and attacks in the southern town of Mykolayiv, where Ukraine’s forces have mounted a counterattack.
In this Kyiv auto-repair shop, the mechanics are repairing and refitting weapons captured from Russian vehicles, so that they can be turned against the invaders.
AUTO REPAIR SHOP WORKER, OLEKSANDR FEDCHENKO: “We collected a team of welders, engineers. We gave them drafts, we familiarized ourselves with the drafts. We made a prototype model and it worked."
The embattled nation's president Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted to social media that one of Russia's war aims was to destroy Ukraine's economy.
“Economic suppression against Ukraine is one of the war’s goals against us today. We have to resist this as well. Save our economy, save our people. That is why the government has been asked to work out details on how to restore small and medium business…”
But in the midst of the conflict, both sides on Monday participated in what the Ukrainian representative called "hard" negotiations.
The Russian invasion, which Moscow calls a "special military operation,” is the largest ground war in Europe since 1945 and has created some 2.8 million refugees.
Russia continues to deny targeting civilians, saying its mission is to demilitarize and “deNazify” Ukraine, which Ukraine and Western allies call a baseless pretext for war.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya accused Russia of war crimes Monday, comparing the Kremlin to the Nazis they have said they seek to eradicate.
“Russian troops continue to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine, erasing any difference with their Nazi predecessors 80 years ago: cities and villages destroyed to the ground, mass graves, terror against civilians in the occupied territories, abduction and killing of representatives of local authorities, activists, and journalists.”
Talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials will continue on Tuesday.
