Kyiv: Reports have suggested that Russian forces were making progress from the northeast as they inch toward Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, ABC news reported on Saturday. It further said that Russian tanks and artillery pounded places which were already under siege, adding that the shelling was so heavy that residents of one city were unable to bury the growing number of dead and people were also prevented from leaving the city. The port city of Mariupol, has been under an unceasing barrages of shelling that has thwarted repeated attempts to bring in food and water and evacuate trapped civilians. Reports said that on Friday, a tank appeared to fire directly on an apartment building, enveloping one side in a billowing orange fireball. A deadly strike on a maternity hospital there earlier this week sparked international outrage and further intensified war-crime allegations. According to reports Mariupol’s death toll has crossed 1,500 in 12 days of attack. Despite an continuing flow of weapons and other assistance from the West for Ukraine which have somewhat slowed the invading Russian forces, Russia’s stronger military and enormous resources threatens to grind down Ukrainian forces, The conflict has already forced 2.5 million people to flee the country. UNI ACL1207
