Summary of the Events of the Day
The fighting has died down in most regions of Ukraine, but in the Donbas, it continues to escalate. Russia seems to have given up on taking all of Ukraine and is settling on taking all the Eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Putin needs a victory if he is to survive this.
Battle for the Donbas (Donetsk & Luhansk regions)
The Mariupol City Council reported that citizens of their city have now gone 2-3 days without food, and some have begun to die of starvation. They call on Russia to allow humanitarian aid to come to the city as some citizens are too week to even get to evacuation points.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov claimed that his forces had taken Mariupol City Hall and hoisted the Russian flag. There is no confirmation that this indeed happened.
Fighting has been lower in most regions of Ukraine except around Luhansk. Overnight the cities of Severodonetsk, Lysychansk, Rubezhnoe, Kremenny, Novodruzhesky, and Voevodovka continued to come under heavy fire. 30 buildings were damaged including 10 apartment buildings, 13 private homes, a manufacturing business, and a school. Two churches being used as field hospitals were also attacked.
Ukraine has reported that at least 300 civilians were killed in Russia’s bombing of the theater in Mariupol earlier in the week.
International Support
The UN General Assembly voted 140-5, with 38 abstentions, for a non-binding resolution that demands Russia end its war against Ukraine.
NATO completed their conference and promised to send more weapons to Ukraine.