Russia Bombs Kharkiv and Encircles Kyiv

Russia pounded Ukraine’s second largest city with airstrikes and indiscriminate bombings as a Russian convoy moved on Kyiv.

Russia pounded Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, with airstrikes and indiscriminate bombings as a massive Russian convoy advanced on Kyiv.

Russian missile strikes hit cultural and administrative buildings in Kharkiv’s Freedom Square, killing at least 10 people. Russian forces purposefully shelled residential areas, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called a war crime.
A 40-mile tank and vehicle convoy encroached on Kyiv, putting the city of 3 million under threat of a devastating all-out assault.
Zelensky addressed the European Parliament, appealing to its members for assistance and requesting they accept Ukraine’s application for admission into the geopolitical bloc.
Governments and private actors continued to cut Russia out of the global economy. Russia’s ability to bank overseas was severely limited and its planes can’t fly over much of Europe. US states have banned its vodka, and the governing bodies of international soccer and hockey punished Russian teams.
The Russian economy is in freefall. The Russian ruble collapsed against the US dollar and the Russian stock market remains closed to avoid a massive sell-off.

Politico interviewed Trump administration Russia expert Fiona Hill, who described the current moment as full of danger and warned of Putin’s desire to reestablish a Russian “imperium” over what he sees as the “Russian world” – not merely the former Soviet Union.
The New York Times profiled the Biden-Putin faceoff through the prism of the Cold War, the defining conflict of both leaders’ early careers. Putin served in the KGB while Biden was in the Senate for the last two decades of the Cold War.
The Intercept wrote on Ukraine’s lesson for small countries: never give up your nuclear weapons. Ukraine gave up its Soviet-inherited nuclear arsenal in 1994 after the US and Russia promised to protect its sovereignty. No country will ever trust the world powers like that again.

Commentary asks a question with a dangerous answer – what if Russia loses? It’s unclear how Putin can deescalate the conflict. Instead, Russia may be tempted to escalate the conflict or strike NATO assets supplying Ukraine.
Fox News put Biden’s State of the Union address in the context of a “world on edge,” calling this “the most consequential moment of his life.”
National Review called Ukraine’s defiance “nationalism’s finest hour” representing a “righteous nationalism” of a people defending their land, birthright and self-determination.

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