Russian forces aim to cut off Ukraine’s coastal cities
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces bombarded and besieged a swath of southern Ukrainian cities Thursday, seeking to sever access to the country’s crucial seacoasts even as the invaders appeared stalled in a bid to knock out Ukraine’s leadership by capturing or subduing the capital, Kyiv.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine shuddered into a second week, the full extent of a European refugee crisis on a scale not seen since World War II was coming into focus. An estimated 1 million Ukrainians — half of them children — have sought refuge outside the country, the United Nations and humanitarian organizations say.
The total number of those displaced internally and externally could swell to a staggering 10 million, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Despite a tentative agreement Thursday by Ukrainian and Russian negotiators to set up
