Almost a week into the campaign to "demilitarize" Ukraine, Russia gave official figures for the first time on its casualties on Wednesday, while the UN issued a historic condemnation of Moscow's military incursions. A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said 498 Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine and 1,597 wounded.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov rejected reports about "incalculable losses" of the Russians as "disinformation" on Wednesday and reported Moscow's casualties for the first time since the start of the attack last Thursday.
Konashenkov also said more than 2,870 Ukrainian troops have been killed and about 3,700 wounded, while 572 others have been captured.
Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the figures, and they could not be immediately verified.
Meanwhile, the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday overwhelmingly voted to reprimand Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and demanded that Moscow stop fighting and withdraw its military forces, an action that aims to diplomatically isolate Russia at the world body.
The resolution, supported by 141 of the assembly's 193 members, ended a rare emergency session called by the UN Security Council and as Ukrainian forces battled on in the port of Kherson in the face of airstrikes and a devastating bombardment that forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee.
The text of the resolution "deplores" Russia's "aggression against Ukraine." The last time Security Council convened an emergency session of the General Assembly was in 1982, according to UN website.
Russia renewed its bombardment of Ukraine's second-biggest city Wednesday, pounding Kharkiv with attacks that shattered buildings and lit up the skyline with balls of fire. At least 21 people were reported killed. US officials also told Reuters that there has been an increase in the attack on the capital Kyiv with missiles and artillery.
But both sides said they were ready to resume talks aimed at stopping the fighting, which had Ukraine under threat on multiple fronts. A huge, 40-mile-long column of Russian tanks and other military vehicles stood outside Kyiv, and Russian invaders pressed their assault on the strategic port cities of Kherson and Mariupol.
"Kharkiv today is the Stalingrad of the 21st century," said Oleksiy Arestovich, a top presidential adviser, invoking what is considered one of the most heroic moments in Russian history, the five-month defense of the city from the Nazis during World War II.
Russian attacks, many with missiles, blew the roof off Kharkiv's five-story regional police building and set the top floor on fire, and also hit the intelligence headquarters and a university building, according to officials and videos and photos released by Ukraine's State Emergency Service. Officials' residential buildings were also hit, but did not provide details.
Oleg Sinehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration, said 21 people were killed and at least 112 injured over the past day. The city has a population of about 1.5 million
Arestovich said that several Russian planes were shot down over Kharkiv, though that could not be confirmed.
Seven days into Russia's invasion, a refugee crisis unfolded on the European continent, with the United Nations saying that more than 870,000 people have fled Ukraine and that the number could soon hit 1 million.
The State Emergency Service reported that more than 2,000 civilians have been killed, but that could not immediately be independently verified, and neither side has disclosed its military casualties.
The two sides held talks Monday, agreeing only to keep talking. It was not immediately clear when new talks might take place or what they would yield. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Russia should stop bombing before another meeting.
Zelenskyy has decried Russia's attacks on civilian targets as a blatant terror campaign, while US President Joe Biden warned Tuesday that if Russian leader Vladimir Putin is not made to "pay a price" for the invasion, the aggression won't stop with one country.
Russia, too, ramped up its rhetoric, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reminding the world about the country's vast nuclear arsenal. In an interview with Al-Jazeera, he said: "A third world war will be nuclear, and devastating," according to Russian news sites.
In the northern city of Chernihiv, two cruise missiles hit a hospital, according to the Ukrainian UNIAN news agency, which quoted the health administration chief, Serhiy Pivovar, as saying authorities were working to determine the casualty toll.
In besieged Mariupol, at least one teenager died and two more were wounded by apparent Russian shelling.
The three boys were rushed to a regional hospital. One had lost his legs in the attack and died soon after arriving, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene. Family members told the AP the three had been playing soccer near a school when the shelling hit.
Even as Russia's invasion continued on multiple fronts, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a delegation would be ready later in the day to meet Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also said his country was ready but noted that Russia's demands have not changed and that he wouldn't accept any ultimatums. Neither side said where the talks might take place.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
