Natalia Zinets and Pavel Polityuk

LVIV (Ukraine) – Ukraine is at a crucial turning point in war, with Russian forces looking to regroup for an assault on Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that the United States imposed additional sanctions on Russian oligarchs and senior Kremlin officials.

Zelenskiy rallied his troops with several addresses from Kyiv as the Russians attacked Ukraine’s third week.

“It’s impossible to know how many days are left before we can free Ukraine. He said, “But we can promise we will,” We are moving toward our goal of victory.

In the latest punishment against Russia’s February 24th invasion, the United States imposed sanctions Friday on Viktor Vekselberg (a Russian billionaire), three relatives of Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson as well as lawmakers.

Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary, stated that the Treasury will continue to hold Russian officials accountable for enabling Putin’s war of aggression.

On Friday, Russian forces continued their assault of the cities in Ukraine. This was the largest attack on an European country since World War Two. As they moved on Kyiv, satellite photos showed that they were firing artillery.

More than 2,000,000 refugees have fled the fighting, while thousands of Ukrainians remain trapped in their cities.

Many people were sheltering in Kharkiv’s metro stations. Nastya was a young girl who was lying on a bed made from a railway carriage floor. She said that she was unable to move and had been there over a week.

She said, “I am scared for my house, my friends’ homes, I’m very scared for this country and for me.”

Putin refers to the invasion as a special operation in order to destroy Ukraine’s leaders and disarm them. This is a pretext to wage a war against the West, which Ukraine and its allies claim is baseless. It has raised concerns about wider European conflict.

PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL

According to the governor of Kharkiv, Russia’s border region, a psychiatric facility was damaged. The mayor of Kharkiv stated that about 50 schools were also destroyed.

The Mariupol city council stated that at least 1,582 civilians were killed in the Russian bombardment and 12-day blockade. This has resulted in hundreds of thousands of people being unable to access food, water or heat.

Moscow denied targeting civilians.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed that the Black Sea port had been surrounded. Ukrainian officials, however, accused Russia of intentionally preventing humanitarian convoys and civilians from entering.

According to Iryna Veselchuk (Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine), Russian bombardment prevented civilians from fleeing the area.

Vadym Denysenko, a Ukrainian interior ministry advisor said that “the situation is critical.”

The West took economic steps in an effort to stop Putin’s assault.

Joe Biden said this week that the United States would ban imports from Russia of oil. He also stated that G7 industrial powers will revoke Russia’s status as a “most preferred nation”.

Biden prohibited the import of U.S. seafood, alcohol, and diamonds from Russia. Washington sanctioned more elites and oligarchs including members of Russian banking boards and twelve lawmakers.

Leaders of the European Union said that they are ready to impose tougher sanctions against Russia, and may give Ukraine additional funds for weapons. However, they refused to accept Ukraine’s request that it join the bloc.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stated that Saturday’s suspension of Moscow’s privileged trading and economic treatment would be followed by a crackdown on the use of crypto-assets and a ban on imports of iron and steel products from Russia.

IMAGING A STAR

Russia’s major force was unable to move north of Kyiv due to its failure in an attempt at a lightning strike, according Western analysts.

The British defense ministry claimed that Russia seemed to be preparing for an offensive, which would likely include Kyiv.

According to company analysis, images taken Friday by Maxar, a private U.S. satellite agency, showed that Russian forces continued to move closer to Kyiv. They also fired artillery at residential areas.

Maxar reported that several homes and buildings had been set on fire. The damage spread to the entire town of Moschun (northwest of Kyiv). Reuters couldn’t independently verify these images.

However, Britain’s intelligence updates indicated that Russian ground forces are still slowing down due to logistical issues and resistance from Ukraine.

After suffering heavy losses, the Ukrainian general staff stated that Russian forces were starting to regroup. It stated that some Ukrainian troops were pushing back others to more favorable positions near the Belarus border.

Vitali Klitschko was a former heavyweight boxing champion and Kyiv’s mayor. He said that there were enough supplies in the capital to last for two weeks. Supplies were still available.

BELARUS

Putin spoke at a meeting in Belarus with President Alexander Lukashenko. He said that there had been “certain positive shifts,” but didn’t elaborate.

Ukraine raised the possibility of Moscow’s ally Belarus joining the war. Russia was accused of staging false flag air attacks against Belarus, which it claimed were an excuse.

Before and after the invasion, Belarus was used as a base camp for Russian troops. A request to comment was not received by the Kremlin.

According to the Belarus Belta news agency, Putin and Lukashenko had agreed that Moscow would provide its small neighbor with modern military equipment.

Mathieu Boullegue from London’s Chatham House think-tank, suggested that Moscow might not have the right troops to accomplish its objectives.

Boulegue said to Reuters, “You cannot invade a nation on a one-1 ratio” of troops. Boulegue said that nobody has ever done it. It means someone either had wrong assumptions or something is wrong.