Alarm at civilian toll on Russian assault’s ‘cruellest day’

KYIV : The United States raised the alarm Wednesday over the “staggering” human cost of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, as the apparent deployment of cluster bombs and other treaty-violating weapons raised fears of a brutal escalation in the week-old conflict. The American warnings came as Russia revealed 498 of its troops had been killed in the assault on ex-Soviet Ukraine — the first official death toll it has given and one Kyiv says is by far an undercount.

A militiaman carries a child as he helps a fleeing family across a damaged bridge on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine.

And they came on the eve of the resumption of cease-fire talks after a first round Monday failed to produce a breakthrough.

On the ground in Ukraine, Russia appeared despite determined resistance to be intensifying the offensive ordered seven days earlier by President Vladimir Putin — in defiance of almost the entire international community.

“Today was the hardest, cruellest of the seven days of this war,” said Vadym Boychenko, the mayor of the key southeastern port of Mariupol who said Russian forces pummelled the city for hours and were attempting to block civilians from leaving.

“Today they just wanted to destroy us all,” he said in a video on Telegram, accusing Russian forces of shooting at residential buildings. Boychenko said more of the city’s vital infrastructure was damaged in the assault, leaving people without light, water or heating.

In Washington, top US diplomat Antony Blinken warned the human costs were already “staggering,” accusing Russia of attacking places that “aren’t military targets.”

“Hundreds if not thousands of civilians have been killed or wounded,” said the secretary of state, who will travel to eastern Europe next week to shore up support for Ukraine — and for efforts to secure a cease-fire.

Kyiv is sending a delegation to the Thursday cease-fire talks, at an undisclosed location on the Belarus-Poland border, but has warned it would not accept “ultimatums.” At the United Nations, the General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution Wednesday that “demands” Russia “immediately” withdraw from Ukraine, in a powerful rebuke of Moscow by a vast majority of the world’s nations.

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