Today, Russia reminded Ukrainians and their western allies that the whole country remains under threat. Its forces pounded multiple targets across Ukraine, new strikes also shook the cities of Kiev and Lviv, both in the West. In the Northeast, missiles rained down on the city of Kharkiv. Once again, civilians and neighborhoods were hit. And in the Southeast, Russia today claims its forces now control urban area of Mariupol, already the strategic city has largely been reduced to rubbles and ruins. Today, President V.Z praised the courage of Ukrainian and despite of Russian invasion as absurd and suicidal. All of these as Russian forces pivot to a new battlefield in a now eight-week war.

President Z said in a video message last night that the length of this war and how many Ukrainians killed will be decided in part by how quickly Ukraine’s friends supply with weapons. It’s not just Ukrainian civilians in the firing line, but their children. Russian forces didn’t capture capital Kiev, plagued by military failures and the Ukrainian resistance much tougher than many expected. But in Eastern Ukraine, there still being pummeled from the air and bracing for a fresh assault as Russian forces regroup. In the Southern city of Kryvy Rih, officials say they managed to stop Russian forces seizing control of this strategically important airport at the start of the war. Their plan was low-tech but ingenious, parking trucks and construction vehicles on the runway. On a second day of war, a cargo plane and three fighter jets tried to land, they descended to about two hundred meters, made a few circles. And once they realized they couldn’t land, they left. With Ukrainian forces massively outgunned by Russia, they’ve made up for it with smarts and creativity. But they believe they cannot win the war without more weapons from the west. When the invasion first began, there was a sense of shock here, martial law was implemented. Suddenly there were checkpoints all over the country, people were every jumpy, very anxious and people began to flee the country. More than four million Ukrainians have now fled the country. But for those people who have stayed in areas that are not under Russian occupation, we’ve seen shops reopening, restaurants reopening, and people taking their children to playgrounds. It’s as if they want to live normal life as possible almost as a point of pride.

:::tip pummel

• : POUND, BEAT. 打，揍

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