An apartment building in Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, targeted by the Russians forces on March 12, 2022. (Evgeniy Maloletka)
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It is widely believed that Russian leadership expected its all-out invasion of Ukraine to succeed within days.
Twenty days later, Ukraine still stands, and Russia has no major victories to claim. It seized only one large city and regional center, Kherson in southern Ukraine.
To force Ukraine to surrender, Russia has shelled civilians in residential areas and attacked military and civilian infrastructure, including schools, kindergartens, and hospitals all across the country. Photos of Kharkiv's wrecked downtown and a destroyed maternity hospital in Mariupol have appeared on the front pages of newspapers all over the world.
Since Feb. 24, Russia's aggression has killed thousands of Ukrainians, forced some three million to flee, and left cities and villages in ruins.
Ukrainian emergency workers carry an injured pregnant woman after Russian troops shelled a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast on March 9, 2022. The woman and her unborn baby have died. (Evgeniy Maloletka)A mass grave in Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, on March 9, 2022. According to local authorities, over 2,000 residents have been killed in the city since Feb. 24, 2022. (Mstyslav Chernov)Firefighters rescue people from an apartment building in Kyiv that was shelled on March 14, 2022. At least one person was killed and dozens were injured. (Getty Images)A woman in despair after an apartment building was destroyed by shelling in the northwestern Obolon district of Kyiv on March 14, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)Firefighters extinguish fire at a destroyed shoe factory following an airstrike in Dnipro on March 11, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)A burned tank and a damaged building in Volnovakha, Donetsk Oblast on March 12, 2022. The city was occupied by Russian forces after 16 days of heavy fighting. (Getty Images)Funeral ceremony held for three Ukrainian servicemen Taras Didukh, 25, Andrii Stefanyshyn, 39, and Dmytro Kabakov, 58, in Lviv on March 11, 2022. (Getty Images)A resident prays by a candle while sheltering in the basement as Russian forces move through the city on March 7, 2022 in Irpin, Kyiv Oblast. (Getty Images)Andriy says goodbye to his partner Yarina before boarding a train to Dnipro on March 9, 2022 in Lviv. As civilian Ukrainians flee to western Ukraine and abroad to escape Russia's assault, military personnel are heading east to fight. (Getty Images)Firefighters put out the fire after a Russian missile hit downtown Kharkiv on March 14, 2022. (Getty Images)The bodies of two civilians killed by Russian shelling are seen in the central park of Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, on March 10, 2022. Irpin, a suburb northwest of Kyiv, had experienced days of sustained shelling by Russian forces advancing toward the capital. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)A family walks down a stairwell pocked with shrapnel from an earlier rocket strike in Mykolayiv. The regional capital in southern Ukraine has been under frequent bombardment by Russian forces trying to advance along the Black Sea coast. (Getty Images)People walk amid destruction as they evacuate from Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, on March 10, 2022. A body of a civilian man killed by Russian forces is seen nearby. (Getty Images)A rescuer pushes a trolley with an elderly woman during an evacuation in Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, on March 8, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)A Ukrainian soldier stands near the blown-up bridge in Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, as Territorial Defense volunteers help civilians cross the river and flee on March 7, 2022. (Volodymyr Petrov)A man stands inside his house wrecked by Russian shelling in Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast. The city has been under Russian siege for over two weeks. (Evgeniy Maloletka)
Russian soldiers executed two captured Ukrainian soldiers near Selydove in Donetsk Oblast, the Donetsk regional prosecutor's office reported on Oct.21.
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) claimed to have shot down a cargo plane in Darfur, with speculation that Russian nationals may have been on board.
"Every meeting with our partners involves discussions about the defense-industrial complex," Zelensky said in his evening address. "We need Ukraine to be able to defend its sovereignty and independence regardless of any political threats in the world."
"The people of Moldova have spoken: our EU future will now be anchored in the constitution," Sandu said on X. "We fought fairly in an unfair fight—and we won. But the fight isn’t over. We will keep pushing for peace, prosperity, and the freedom to build our own future."
"Your unwavering support is not just a gesture of friendship. It's a powerful symbol of the shared values that bind our nations together," Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said alongside U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Russia attacked the towns of Kurakhove and Myrnohrad in the Pokrovsk district of Donetsk Oblast on Oct. 21, killing three and injuring two people, local authorities reported.
"I will participate in the elections… as a candidate" when the time is right, Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny told the BBC in an interview published on Oct. 21.
Moldova's referendum on joining the EU, which took place alongside elections in the country, occurred under "unprecedented interference" by Russia and its proxies, European Commission spokesperson Peter Stano said.
"North Korea sending troops to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine would mark a significant escalation," NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on social media following a conversation with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
General Major Oleh Huliak replaced Herman Smetanin, who became the head of the Strategic Industries Ministry as part of the biggest wartime government reshuffle in September.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down 59 of the 116 Shahed-type attack drones launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force said. Forty-five drones were reportedly "lost" on Ukrainian territory, and 10 more are still present in the Ukrainain airspace at the time of the publication.
South Korea on Oct. 21 summoned the Russian ambassador in Seoul, Georgy Zinoviev, to protest the dispatch of North Korean troops to assist Moscow's war against Ukraine, the Yonhap news agency reported.
According to the agency's internal documents, the IAEA signed at least two agreements with Russian research institutes to conduct research that included fieldwork in Crimea. The deals were signed between 2016 and 2019, and the first was reportedly extended in the summer of 2019.
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