AP

Ukraine thwarts Russian advances; fight rages for Mariupol

Mar 21, 2022, 10:06 AM | Updated: Mar 22, 2022, 6:40 pm

A volunteer bakes bread for Ukrainian servicemen in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP ...

A volunteer bakes bread for Ukrainian servicemen in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)

(AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)


              A volunteer bakes bread for Ukrainian servicemen in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              Refugees with children at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              Refugees from Lviv, Ukraine, sit in a Red Cross headquarters in Rome, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. A convoy of Red Cross vehicles carrying 80 people, mostly elderly and sick arrived Tuesday in Rome. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
            
              A car destroyed by shelling is seen in a street in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              People roam around a used-books street market in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              A woman waits for a transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              An elderly woman walks pass concrete blocks topped with sandbags at a street in Odesa, southern Ukraine, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              Refugee children from Ukraine lie on their cots in the emergency shelter and pass the time in Bad Kreuznach, Germany, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP)
            
              Displaced Ukrainians on a Poland-bound train bid farewell in Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Refugees from Lviv, Ukraine, sit in a Red Cross headquarters in Rome, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. A convoy of Red Cross vehicles carrying 80 people, mostly elderly and sick arrived Tuesday in Rome. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
            
              An elderly woman walks pass concrete blocks topped with sandbags at a street in Odesa, southern Ukraine, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A woman waits for a transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              Sandbags protect a building entrance in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Ukrainian forces fought off continuing Russian efforts to occupy Mariupol and claimed to have retaken a strategic suburb of Kyiv on Tuesday, mounting a defense so dogged that it is stoking fears Russia's Vladimir Putin will escalate the war to new heights. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              A boxing punch ball with a drawing of Russian President Vladimir Putin's face hangs inside a bar in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Ukrainian forces fought off continuing Russian efforts to occupy Mariupol and claimed to have retaken a strategic suburb of Kyiv on Tuesday, mounting a defense so dogged that it is stoking fears Russia's Vladimir Putin will escalate the war to new heights. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Refugee children from Ukraine lie on their cots in the emergency shelter and pass the time in Bad Kreuznach, Germany, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP)
            
              Displaced Ukrainians on a Poland-bound train bid farewell in Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Refugees from Lviv, Ukraine, sit in a Red Cross headquarters in Rome, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. A convoy of Red Cross vehicles carrying 80 people, mostly elderly and sick arrived Tuesday in Rome. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
            
              An elderly woman walks pass concrete blocks topped with sandbags at a street in Odesa, southern Ukraine, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A woman waits for a transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              Sandbags protect a building entrance in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Ukrainian forces fought off continuing Russian efforts to occupy Mariupol and claimed to have retaken a strategic suburb of Kyiv on Tuesday, mounting a defense so dogged that it is stoking fears Russia's Vladimir Putin will escalate the war to new heights. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              A boxing punch ball with a drawing of Russian President Vladimir Putin's face hangs inside a bar in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Ukrainian forces fought off continuing Russian efforts to occupy Mariupol and claimed to have retaken a strategic suburb of Kyiv on Tuesday, mounting a defense so dogged that it is stoking fears Russia's Vladimir Putin will escalate the war to new heights. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Refugee children from Ukraine lie on their cots in the emergency shelter and pass the time in Bad Kreuznach, Germany, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP)
            
              Displaced Ukrainians on a Poland-bound train bid farewell in Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Refugees from Lviv, Ukraine, sit in a Red Cross headquarters in Rome, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. A convoy of Red Cross vehicles carrying 80 people, mostly elderly and sick arrived Tuesday in Rome. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
            
              An elderly woman walks pass concrete blocks topped with sandbags at a street in Odesa, southern Ukraine, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              A woman waits for a transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              Sandbags protect a building entrance in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Ukrainian forces fought off continuing Russian efforts to occupy Mariupol and claimed to have retaken a strategic suburb of Kyiv on Tuesday, mounting a defense so dogged that it is stoking fears Russia's Vladimir Putin will escalate the war to new heights. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              A boxing ball with a drawing of Russian President Vladimir Putin's face hangs inside a bar in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Ukrainian forces fought off continuing Russian efforts to occupy Mariupol and claimed to have retaken a strategic suburb of Kyiv on Tuesday, mounting a defense so dogged that it is stoking fears Russia's Vladimir Putin will escalate the war to new heights. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Refugees with children wait for a transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              Sandbags protect a building entrance in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Ukrainian forces fought off continuing Russian efforts to occupy Mariupol and claimed to have retaken a strategic suburb of Kyiv on Tuesday, mounting a defense so dogged that it is stoking fears Russia's Vladimir Putin will escalate the war to new heights. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              A woman waits for a transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the Italian parliament via video link, in Rome, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via AP)
            
              A volunteer cooks food for Ukrainian servicemen in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              Displaced Ukrainians on a Poland-bound train bid farewell in Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears on the television inside a bar in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Ukrainian forces fought off continuing Russian efforts to occupy Mariupol and claimed to have retaken a strategic suburb of Kyiv on Tuesday, mounting a defense so dogged that it is stoking fears Russia's Vladimir Putin will escalate the war to new heights. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              An elderly woman walks pass concrete blocks topped with sandbags at a street in Odesa, southern Ukraine, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              Ukrainian serviceman has a rest on his position in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              A boxing ball with a drawing of Russian President Vladimir Putin's face hangs inside a bar in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Ukrainian forces fought off continuing Russian efforts to occupy Mariupol and claimed to have retaken a strategic suburb of Kyiv on Tuesday, mounting a defense so dogged that it is stoking fears Russia's Vladimir Putin will escalate the war to new heights. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Refugees with children wait for a transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              A couple kisses in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Sandbags protect a building entrance in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Ukrainian forces fought off continuing Russian efforts to occupy Mariupol and claimed to have retaken a strategic suburb of Kyiv on Tuesday, mounting a defense so dogged that it is stoking fears Russia's Vladimir Putin will escalate the war to new heights. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              A woman waits for a transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the Italian parliament via video link, in Rome, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via AP)
            
              A volunteer cooks food for Ukrainian servicemen in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              Displaced Ukrainians on a Poland-bound train bid farewell in Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears on the television inside a bar in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Ukrainian forces fought off continuing Russian efforts to occupy Mariupol and claimed to have retaken a strategic suburb of Kyiv on Tuesday, mounting a defense so dogged that it is stoking fears Russia's Vladimir Putin will escalate the war to new heights. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Ukrainian serviceman checks documents of a driver in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              A car destroyed by shelling is seen in a street in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              Ukrainian servicemen have a rest in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              An elderly woman walks pass concrete blocks topped with sandbags at a street in Odesa, southern Ukraine, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
            
              Ukrainian serviceman has a rest on his position in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              Firefighters extinguish a fire in a shopping center after shelling, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Ukrainian serviceman has a rest on his position in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              Refugees with children wait for a transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              A couple kisses in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              A woman waits for a transport after fleeing the war from neighbouring Ukraine at a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              A car destroyed by shelling is seen in a street in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the Italian parliament via video link, in Rome, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via AP)
            
              A volunteer cooks food for Ukrainian servicemen in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              Displaced Ukrainians on a Poland-bound train bid farewell in Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Ukrainian serviceman checks documents of a driver in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              Ukrainian servicemen have a rest in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              A car destroyed by shelling is seen in a street in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Marienko)
            
              A ribbon in the colours of the Ukrainian flag fixes hair of a girl as Ukrainian refugees with children wait to board a bus at a square next to a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              A couple kisses in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Displaced Ukrainians on a Poland-bound train bid farewell in Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              A ribbon in the colours of the Ukrainian flag fixes hair of a girl as Ukrainian refugees with children wait to board a bus at a square next to a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              A couple kisses in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Displaced Ukrainians on a Poland-bound train bid farewell in Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              A ribbon in the colours of the Ukrainian flag fixes hair of a girl as Ukrainian refugees with children wait to board a bus at a square next to a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              A couple kisses in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Displaced Ukrainians on a Poland-bound train bid farewell in Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              A ribbon in the colours of the Ukrainian flag fixes hair of a girl as Ukrainian refugees with children wait to board a bus at a square next to a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              A couple kisses in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Displaced Ukrainians on a Poland-bound train bid farewell in Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              A ribbon in the colours of the Ukrainian flag fixes hair of a girl as Ukrainian refugees with children wait to board a bus at a square next to a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              A couple kisses in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Displaced Ukrainians on a Poland-bound train bid farewell in Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Ukrainian refugees with children board transport at a square next to a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              A ribbon in the colours of the Ukrainian flag fixes hair of a girl as Ukrainian refugees with children wait to board a bus at a square next to a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              A couple kisses in downtown Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Ukrainian refugees with children board transport at a square next to a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              Displaced Ukrainians on a Poland-bound train bid farewell in Lviv, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The U.N. refugee agency says more than 3.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion, passing another milestone in an exodus that has led to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Ukrainian refugees with children board transport at a square next to a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              A ribbon in the colours of the Ukrainian flag fixes hair of a girl as Ukrainian refugees with children wait to board a bus at a square next to a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              Ukrainian refugees with children board transport at a square next to a railway station in Przemysl, Poland, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
            
              Ukrainian soldiers and firefighters search for people under debris inside a shopping center after shelling, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Ukrainian soldiers and firefighters search for people under debris inside a shopping center after shelling, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Ukrainian soldiers and firefighters search for people under debris inside a shopping center after shelling, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A woman walks on a deserted street in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. As Russia intensified its effort to pound Mariupol into submission, its ground offensive in other parts of Ukraine has become bogged down. Western officials and analysts say the conflict is turning into a grinding war of attrition, with Russia bombarding cities. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
            
              Serhii Volosovets, a commander in the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces, fires a pistol during a training camp for volunteers in Brovary, northeast of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Ukrainian firefighters and servicemen search for people under debris inside a shopping center after bombing in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              Worker Ruslan Trishchuk, 40, smokes a cigarette while taking a break outside the crematorium of Baikave cemetery in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
            
              Civilian volunteers attend a training camp of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces in Brovary, northeast of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A priest prays by the ruins of a destroyed shopping center after shelling, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              People examine the damage after shelling of a shopping center, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. Eight people were killed in the attack. (AP Photo/ (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              People carry wooden boards to cover the windows of a building damaged by a bombing the previous day in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. As Russia intensified its effort to pound Mariupol into submission, its ground offensive in other parts of Ukraine has become bogged down. Western officials and analysts say the conflict is turning into a grinding war of attrition, with Russia bombarding cities.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
            
              In this image from video provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, March 21, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)
            
              A woman measures a window before covering it with plastic sheets in a building damaged by a bombing the previous day in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. As Russia intensified its effort to pound Mariupol into submission, its ground offensive in other parts of Ukraine has become bogged down. Western officials and analysts say the conflict is turning into a grinding war of attrition, with Russia bombarding cities.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
            
              Civilian volunteers attend a training camp of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces in Brovary, northeast of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
            
              A man reacts standing near his house ruined after Russian shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. At least eight people were killed in the attack. (AP Photo/ (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
            
              A firefighter looks at the destruction caused after shelling of a shopping center, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/ (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
            
              Firefighters extinguish a fire near a shopping center after shelling, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, March 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces battled continuing Russian efforts to occupy Mariupol and claimed to have retaken a strategic suburb of Kyiv on Tuesday, mounting a defense so dogged that it is stoking fears Russia’s Vladimir Putin will escalate the war to new heights.

“Putin’s back is against the wall,” said U.S. President Joe Biden, who is heading to Europe this week to meet with allies. “And the more his back is against the wall, the greater the severity of the tactics he may employ.”

Biden reiterated accusations that Putin is considering resorting to using chemical or biological weapons, though Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. has seen no evidence to suggest that such an escalation is imminent.

The warnings came as attacks continued in and around Kyiv and Mariupol, and people escaped the battered and besieged port city. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian forces of not only blocking a humanitarian convoy trying to take desperately needed aid to Mariupol but seizing what another Ukrainian official said were 15 of the bus drivers and rescue workers on the aid mission, along with their vehicles.

Zelenskyy said the Russians had agreed to the route ahead of time.

“We are trying to organize stable humanitarian corridors for Mariupol residents, but almost all of our attempts, unfortunately, are foiled by the Russian occupiers, by shelling or deliberate terror,” he said in his nightly video address to the nation.

The hands of one exhausted Mariupol survivor were shaking as she arrived by train in the western city of Lviv.

“There’s no connection with the world. We couldn’t ask for help,” said Julia Krytska, who was helped by volunteers to make it out with her husband and son. “People don’t even have water there.”

Explosions and bursts of gunfire shook Kyiv, and heavy artillery fire could be heard from the northwest, where Russia has sought to encircle and capture several of the capital’s suburban areas.

Early Tuesday, Ukrainian troops drove Russian forces from the Kyiv suburb of Makariv after a fierce battle, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said. The regained territory allowed Ukrainian forces to retake control of a key highway and block Russian troops from surrounding Kyiv from the northwest.

A video posted by Ukrainian police showed them surveying damage in Makariv, including to the town’s police station, which an officer says took a direct hit to its roof. The police drove by destroyed residential buildings and along a road pocked by shelling. The town appeared all but deserted.

Still, the Defense Ministry said Russian forces partially took other northwest suburbs, Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin, some of which have been under attack almost since Russia invaded nearly a month ago.

A Western official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss military assessments, said Ukrainian resistance has brought much of Russia’s advance to a halt but has not sent Moscow’s forces into retreat.

“We have seen indications that the Ukrainians are going a bit more on the offensive now,” Kirby told reporters separately in Washington. He said that was particularly true in southern Ukraine, including near Kherson, where “they have tried to regain territory.”

Asked on CNN what Russian President Vladimir Putin had achieved in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Well, first of all, not yet. He hasn’t achieved yet.” But he insisted that the military operation was going “strictly in accordance with the plans and purposes that were established beforehand.”

Putin’s aims remain to “get rid of the military potential of Ukraine” and to “ensure that Ukraine changes from an anti-Russian center to a neutral country,” Peskov said.

Russia’s far stronger, bigger military has many Western military experts warning against overconfidence in Ukraine’s long-term odds. Russia’s practice in past wars in Chechnya and Syria was to grind down resistance with strikes that flattened cities, killed countless civilians and sent millions fleeing.

But Russian forces appeared unprepared and have often performed badly against Ukrainian resistance. The U.S. estimates Russia has lost a bit more than 10 percent of the overall combat capability it had at the start of the fight, including troops and tanks and other materiel.

Western officials say Russian forces are facing serious shortages of food, fuel and cold weather gear, leaving some soldiers suffering from frostbite.

The invasion has driven more than 10 million people from their homes, almost a quarter of Ukraine’s population, according to the United Nations.

Thousands of civilians are believed to have died. Estimates of Russian military casualties vary widely, but even conservative figures by Western officials are in the low thousands.

On Monday, Russia’s pro-Kremlin Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, citing the Defense Ministry, reported that almost 10,000 Russian soldiers had been killed. The report was quickly removed, and the newspaper blamed hackers. The Kremlin refused to comment. The Western official said the figure is “a reasonable estimate.”

Putin’s troops are facing unexpectedly stiff resistance that has left the bulk of Moscow’s ground forces miles from the center of Kyiv, and they are making slow progress on apparent efforts to cut off fighters in eastern Ukraine. The Russians are increasingly concentrating their air power and artillery on Ukraine’s cities and civilians.

Talks to end the fighting have continued by video. Zelenskyy said negotiations with Russia are going “step by step, but they are going forward.”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he saw progress in the talks.

“From my outreach with various actors, elements of diplomatic progress are coming into view on several key issues,” and the gains are enough to end hostilities now, he said. He gave no details.

The Western official, though, said that there were no signs Moscow was ready to compromise.

In the last update from Mariupol officials, they said March 15 that at least 2,300 people had died in the siege. Accounts from the city suggest the true toll is much higher, with bodies lying uncollected. Airstrikes over the past week destroyed a theater and an art school where many civilians were taking shelter.

Zelenskyy, in his address, said more than 7,000 people were evacuated from Mariupol on Tuesday. But about 100,000 remain in the city “in inhuman conditions, under a full blockade, without food, without water, without medicine and under constant shelling, under constant bombardment,” he said.

Before the war, 430,000 people lived in Mariupol.

Like Zelenskyy, the Red Cross said a humanitarian aid convoy trying to reach the city with desperately needed supplies had not been able to enter.

Perched on the Sea of Azov, Mariupol is a crucial port for Ukraine and lies along a stretch of territory between Russia and Crimea. The siege has cut the city off from the sea and allowed Russia to establish a land corridor to Crimea.

But it’s not clear how much of the city Russia holds, with fleeing residents saying fighting continues street by street.

A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to give the Pentagon’s assessment, said Russian ships in the Sea of Azov have now joined in the shelling of Mariupol. The official said there were about seven Russian ships in that area, including a minesweeper and a couple of landing vessels.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said that troops defending the city had destroyed a Russian patrol boat and electronic warfare complex.

Those who have made it out of Mariupol told of a devastated city.

“They bombed us for the past 20 days,” said 39-year-old Viktoria Totsen, who fled into Poland. “During the last five days the planes were flying over us every five seconds and dropped bombs everywhere — on residential buildings, kindergartens, art schools, everywhere.”

Beyond the terrible human toll, the war has shaken the post-Cold War global security consensus, imperiled the world supply of key crops and raised worries it could set off a nuclear accident.

As part of a series of addresses to foreign legislatures, Zelenskyy urged Italian lawmakers to strengthen sanctions against Moscow, noting many wealthy Russians have homes in the country.

“Don’t be a resort for murderers,” he said from Kyiv.

___

Anna reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Associated Press writer Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, and other AP journalists around the world contributed to this report.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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