Keys to the war in Russia and Ukraine

The Russian offensive was approaching Ukrainian government headquarters on Wednesday with missile and artillery attacks on apartment towers in Kiev, which left burning buildings and smokes over the capital and its suburbs.

Russian forces stepped up their bombardment on Ukrainian cities such as the besieged Kharkiv and the enclosed port of Mariupol, exacerbating the humanitarian cost of the war.

But diplomatic activity also gained momentum.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators agreed to meet again on Wednesday after a fourth round of talks that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described as “more realistic” than previous meetings. He asked for patience as officials prepared to return to the negotiating table.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy hoped to make an unusual direct request to the members of the United States Congress, an attempt to garner more Western support against the devastating Russian invasion.

Here are some keys to the conflict:

WHAT IS HAPPENING ON THE GROUND?

A cloud of smoke was rising over western Kiev after shrapnel from an artillery shell hit a 12-story apartment building in the center of the Ukrainian capital, destroying the top floor and causing a fire, according to a statement and images distributed by the city's emergency agency.

The agency reported two victims, without indicating whether they were killed or injured.

The large flames and clouds of smoke that have enveloped several apartment towers in Kiev in recent days pointed to a possible new phase in the war and put an end to the sense of calm that had returned to the capital after the initial Russian breakthrough.

Fighting continued in the suburbs of Kiev and deprived thousands of people of safe drinking water and heating. Russian troops were trying to cut off supply routes to the city before a wider assault, according to a local official.

A Russian airstrike on the town of Markhalivka, southwest of the capital, destroyed residential apartments, according to authorities. The extent of the damage remained unclear.

Russia now occupies the city of Ivankiv, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Kiev, and controls the surrounding region on the border with Belarus, according to local authorities.

A relentless barrage hit the north-eastern region of Kharkiv, close to the Russian border, which has suffered repeated shelling. Ukrainian forces continued to thwart the Russian incursion into the heart of the city, authorities said.

Meanwhile, thunderous explosions resounded around Kherson, a strategic port on the Black Sea, and near a train station in the Zaporiyia region.

The region “is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe,” Zelenskyy's office warned.

CAN THE UKRAINIANS EVACUATE?

In the south-east, some 28,800 civilians escaped from the fenced port of Mariupol via several humanitarian corridors, municipal officials said Tuesday night.

The successful evacuation of thousands of vehicles occurred despite Russian forces stepping up their attacks on the coastal city, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have struggled to survive without food, water or heat. Russian troops took the largest hospital in the city on Tuesday night and held hundreds of people hostage in the building, according to a regional official.

Again, humanitarian caravans were unable to reach Mariupol due to Russian attacks, although they managed to deliver aid and set up evacuation corridors from the north-eastern region of Sumy.

In total, more than 3 million refugees have fled Ukraine, according to the United Nations, in the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

WHAT HAVE YOU WITNESSED DIRECTLY OR CONFIRMED AP?

In the chaos and destruction of besieged Kharkiv, doctors struggle to care for COVID-19 patients as bombs continue to fall.

Aircraft sirens are heard several times a day at the Regional Clinical Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Kharkiv, forcing fragile patients, some connected to respirators, to go to the makeshift bomb shelter.

“The bombings take place from morning till night. Thank God, no bomb has yet hit our hospital. But it could happen at any time,” its director, Dr. Pavel Nartov, told The Associated Press.

HOW IS THE WORLD RESPONDING TO WAR?

The leaders of three European countries, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, took a risk on Tuesday on a train trip to the besieged Ukrainian capital to express their support for the country. They met with Zelenskyy and expressed their hope that Ukraine would one day join the European Union, while the rubble caused by Russian attacks burned abroad.

After Zelenskyy's remote intervention in the US Congress, President Joe Biden was expected to announce that the United States would send $800 million worth of new military assistance to Ukraine, according to a White House official. The sum included money for anti-armor weapons and air defense, and would bring the total announced in the last week alone to $1 billion.

Biden also planned to travel to Europe next week to meet in person with European leaders and discuss the Russian invasion, and will attend an extraordinary NATO summit in Brussels. NATO has reinforced its eastern flank with troops and equipment to deter Russia from invading any of its members.

Around the world, different governments continued to retaliate against Moscow for its invasion. The United States was pursuing assets of Russian military officers in a new round of sanctions. The EU sanctioned Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich and announced new measures to ban luxury goods from Russian oligarchs.