While Zelenskyy pleaded for US aid, the pounding of Ukraine continued unabated
A powerful bomb rocked a shelter in Mariupol. Ten died in a bread line in Chernihiv. A high-rise apartment building was shattered in Kyiv.
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was urging Congress to replenish his fast-depleting military stocks Wednesday, the unrelenting battery of his country by Russian military firepower continued unabated.
"I'm proud to greet you from Ukraine, from our capital city of Kyiv," Zelenskyy said. "A city that is under missile and airstrikes from Russian troops every day, but it doesn't give up. And we have not even thought about it for a second."
Meanwhile, residents of his nation's proud capital huddled in basements and shelters. The sprawling city, home to almost 3 million people, is a one of many battered remnants of Russia's brutal invasion. On Wednesday, a citywide curfew meant to keep rattled Kyivans off the streets provided no protection from Russian missiles that blasted neighborhoods, homes and businesses.
In central Kyiv, shrapnel from an artillery shell slammed into a 12-story apartment building, causing a partial collapse and igniting a fire, according to the Kyiv emergency agency. A nearby nine-story building was also damaged. At least two people were known to be injured, but rescuers were searching the rubble for victims.
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Dozens of residents were left homeless to face the Russian aerial assault and freezing temperatures. Russian forces also intensified fighting Wednesday in the Kyiv suburbs and a highway leading west – a route that could take fleeing families away from the fiercest fighting, said Kyiv regional leader Oleksiy Kuleba.
Russian troops have seized many outlying suburban towns, setting up checkpoints and in some cases cutting off access to food and utilities.
"Kindergartens, museums, churches, residential blocks and engineering infrastructure are suffering from the endless firing," Kuleba said.
In the northern city of Chernihiv, home to almost 300,000 people, Russian troops killed at least 10 civilians queueing for bread. That drew an angry response from the U.S. embassy in Kyiv.
"Such horrific attacks must stop. We are considering all available options to ensure accountability for any atrocity crimes in Ukraine,” the embassy posted on Twitter.
The embassy also urged U.S. citizens to leave Ukraine immediately "if it is safe using ground transportation.”
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To the south, Russian forces also continued pounding beleaguered Mariupol, a seaport city of 430,000 nearly broken by three weeks of siege. Serhiy Taruta, a member of the Parliament, said a powerful bomb rocked the Mariupol Drama Theatre, where hundreds of women and children were taking refuge. Information on casualties was not available, and constant Russian artillery strikes made a rescue operation nearly impossible, Taruta said.
"We don't know if there are survivors. And the worst thing is that we can't get them out of the rubble," Taruta said.
Mariupol residents picked through trash cans for food. Some were drinking water from puddles, according to Ukraine TV. Amid a struggle for essentials including food, water and heat, the dead are so numerous they are buried in mass graves.
Across Ukraine, the United Nations Development Program estimates that 90% of the population could face poverty and extreme economic vulnerability if the war escalates.
The was some hope Wednesday. Both Russia and Ukraine said some progress had been made as talks reconvened Wednesday. Zelenskyy spoke of "more realistic" Russian demands. And he is fully aware that the fate of his country was at stake.
"Right now, the destiny of our country is being decided," he told Congress. "The destiny of our people, whether Ukrainians will be free, whether they will be able to preserve their democracy."
Contributing: The Associated Press
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