Russia intensifies offensive against Ukraine 8:49
(CNN) --
Russia's brutal onslaught against Ukraine unfolds on multiple fronts Wednesday, but despite desperate pleas for more international help, the country faces Moscow's offensive largely alone.
Russia-Ukraine War: Breaking News and Negotiations and Invasion
Key cities in Ukraine are under attack from multiple sides, with Russia launching attacks on buildings in the center of the capital Kyiv and its second-largest city, Kharkiv, as its troops battle Ukrainian forces for control of the southern city of Kherson. .
In other developments:
Fighting continues in the southern city of Mariupol, with residents reporting heavy shelling overnight.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for more help to deal with the Russian assault as a 64km (40 mile) Russian convoy of tanks, armored vehicles and artillery continues to advance on Kyiv from the city.
US President Joe Biden condemned Russia in his first State of the Union address, saying he would not send US troops to Ukraine, but those in Europe are there to "defend our NATO allies." in case Putin decides to continue moving west".
At least 136 people, including 13 children, were killed during the Russian invasion and another 400 civilians were injured, according to the United Nations, but the real death toll is likely much higher.
Efforts to isolate Russia continue: The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is set to make a decision on whether to ban Russian athletes from participating in the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing.
A Russian delegation will meet with its Ukrainian counterparts on Wednesday afternoon for a new round of talks, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed its troops had taken full control of the southern city of Kherson, Russia's state news agency TASS reported, though Ukraine denied the city had fallen and said parts remained under Ukrainian control.
CNN could not immediately verify Russia's claims, although videos and social media posts verified by CNN provided new evidence that the Russians are moving through the city seemingly unhindered.
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In Kharkiv, a Wednesday morning strike at the regional police department and Kharkiv National University left buildings engulfed in flames, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service and videos geolocated by CNN.
As the attacks continue, Russia faces growing criticism for its invasion of Ukraine, with Biden slamming his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in his State of the Union address on Tuesday for "premeditated and unprovoked war."
“Putin is now more isolated from the world than ever before,” Biden said, announcing a ban on Russian planes and airlines from entering US airspace.
But while US and NATO allies have helped Ukraine by sharing weapons, military equipment and intelligence while imposing drastic sanctions on Russia, the alliance has so far made it clear that it has no plans to send troops to Ukraine.
Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, has mounted a fierce resistance, but in a rare interview from a Kyiv bunker on Tuesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that his country, which has a much smaller military than Russia, needs more help to prevent the crisis from spreading across Europe.
"I've talked to Biden many times," Zelensky told CNN's Matthew Chance.
"And I have told you many times that Ukraine will resist and fight harder than anyone, but on our own against Russia we will not make it."
Onslaught in Ukraine
As Russia launched attacks on key cities on Tuesday, Zelensky warned that Russia was indiscriminately targeting Ukrainian citizens and historical monuments.
"As you can see, nobody is being very careful with the targets. We see that children are being killed," he said.
“We are defending our right to life.”
The UK Ministry of Defense said in its latest intelligence update on Wednesday that Russia's overall gains have been limited in the past 24 hours, adding this is likely due to "ongoing logistical difficulties and strong Ukrainian resistance." .
Russia has continued to target built-up areas with airstrikes and heavy artillery, he added, targeting mainly Kharkiv, Kyiv, Mariupol and Chernihiv.
A 64 km Russian convoy of tanks, armored vehicles and towed artillery continues to advance towards the Ukrainian capital, according to satellite images from Maxar Technologies.
A US official said the convoy had stalled due to fuel supply problems, while the UK said in an intelligence update on Tuesday that the column continued to make slow progress towards Kyiv.
In Kyiv, sick children are being treated in the underground bomb shelters of a hospital.
A missile hit a private maternity clinic near the capital Kyiv on Tuesday, leaving the clinic damaged but still standing, according to the Facebook post of the head of the Adonis maternity clinic, Vitaliy Gyrin.
Separately, a military attack destroyed two apartment blocks in a city west of Kyiv.
Russian forces also fired rockets that struck near a television tower.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged carrying out long-range attacks on communications infrastructure in Ukraine.
Kharkiv was rocked by at least two large explosions Tuesday night in the north of the city, a resident said.
New videos posted on social media early Wednesday and verified by CNN showed badly damaged buildings in western Kharkiv in an area with markets, shops and residential buildings.
The damage is not related to a large explosion that took place in the northern part of the city.
Missiles leave damage and deaths in the streets of Irpin, Ukraine 0:47
And overnight fighting broke out in the city between Russian and Ukrainian forces near a Kharkiv military hospital, the local police chief told Ukraine's public broadcaster Suspilne News.
It is not clear if the explosion and the reported fighting are related.
The Russian and Ukrainian delegations will meet on Wednesday afternoon for a new round of talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a call with foreign journalists.
He did not provide additional details about the location or format of the discussions.
Talks between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations took place on Monday in Belarus, not far from the border with Ukraine.
The two sides discussed a possible ceasefire, according to a Ukrainian presidential adviser, but the talks yielded no concrete results.
Peskov also acknowledged on the call that the Russian economy was taking "serious hits" as a result of Western-imposed sanctions, but said there was "a certain margin of safety" and the economy "will remain on its feet."
These are the images of the destruction in Kharkiv, Ukraine 3:20
international response
As the number of civilian deaths mounts, the international community is mounting pressure on Putin, leaving Russia increasingly isolated.
Biden said the United States stands with Ukraine, adding that "let us continue to be inspired by the iron will of the Ukrainian people."
US oil and gas company ExxonMobil pledged on Tuesday to ditch its last remaining oil and gas project in Russia, while a spokesman for US multinational Boeing confirmed in a statement to CNN that the company has suspended major operations in Moscow and closed temporarily its office in Kyiv.
But Zelensky has urged the international community to do more, calling on the US and NATO to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine or put their troops on the ground.
"If someone wants to help us, everyone must act quickly," Zelensky added.
"This is the moment".
Zelensky also predicted problems in NATO member states if Russia takes control of his country.
"If Ukraine fails, then all those militaries will be on their borders, Poland, Lithuania ... and they will face bigger problems. There will be other provocations there," he said.
In his speech on Tuesday, Biden reiterated that the United States would not deploy the military to Ukraine, which is not a member of NATO.
Instead, US troops were in Europe to "defend our NATO allies in case Putin decides to push further west."
"As I have made abundantly clear, the United States and our allies will defend every inch of NATO country territory with the full force of our collective power," he said.
"When the history of this era is written, Putin's war against Ukraine will have left Russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger."
The UN launched emergency appeals on Tuesday to support Ukrainian refugees after saying some 677,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries in "less than a week".
"We are looking at what could become Europe's biggest refugee crisis this century," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a statement.
Paul P. Murphy, Jake Tapper, Sharon Braithwaite, DJ Judd, Tim Lister, Kyle Almond, Hadas Gold, Olya Voitovych, Vasco Cotovio, Betsy Klein, and CNN's Adam Pourahmadi contributed to this report.
Vladimir Putin Volodymyr Zelensky
