Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russian invasion escalates as massive convoy threatens Kyiv, Kharkiv ‘surrounded’

When he returns to Earth on March 30 aboard a Russian spacecraft alongside two Russian cosmonauts, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei will have spent more time in space on a single mission than any other American, 355 consecutive days. That’s more than Christina Koch’s 328-day mission and more than Scott Kelly’s 340 days.

Inside the space agency, it is being celebrated as another milestone for one of NASA’s most successful programs, the International Space Station, which for more than two decades has been a symbol of exploration and international collaboration.

But now, as Russia continues its bloody invasion of Ukraine, the partnership has come under more strain than it has endured in years, and it is unclear how the countries will continue to work together in space, as tensions between the Cold War adversaries mount on the ground.

Last week, after President Biden said sanctions against Russia would “degrade” its space program, Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, fired off tweets asking whether the United States wanted to ruin the cooperation between the countries in running the space station. He reminded Biden that Russia is responsible for firing the thrusters that keep the station in the correct orbit and threatened that without Russia, the station could come crashing down. NASA’s response has been far less incendiary.

KYIV, Ukraine — As a convoy of Russian tanks, armored vehicle and other weaponry and troops stretching nearly 40 miles long neared the capital on Tuesday, Ukrainians were bracing for an all- out Russian assault on their capital.

Long lines of cars snaked outside gas stations. Residents scoured the city for grocery stores and bread to stock up on food for what could be days or even weeks of being trapped inside homes should an all-out urban war start — much like what is unfolding in Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city.

Ukrainian forces, both the regular army and civilian volunteers in the Territorial Defense Force, patrolled the streets and took positions on strategic bridges, roads and highways. Several key highways and roads used to enter the city, particularly from the north, were being fortified with heavy weaponry, antitank rockets, artillery and heavy machine guns. Fighters were building trenches and placing barricades made of tires.

On Monday evening, Ukrainian armored personal carriers moved through one fortified patch of highway while convoy of trucks was moving from the city’s center toward the northern area, their beds carrying several armored vehicles.

The Russian convoy, according to satellite imagery from Mazar Technologies released on Monday, was around 17 miles north of Kyiv’s center, and appeared to be edging toward the Antonov military airport in the town of Hostomel, which Russian forces now control.

Ukraine’s Interior Ministry on Tuesday said the Territorial Defense units in the Obolon district in the capital’s north had captured 30 “saboteurs” or Russian infiltrators, who the Ukrainian government say have been deployed by Moscow to sow chaos and mayhem in the city. The report could not be independently confirmed.

On Monday night, there appeared to be less bombing than previous days, though air raid sirens went off several times on Monday and at least once Tuesday morning. President Volodymyr Zelensky said the capital was hit by three missile strikes on Monday.

DNIPRO, Ukraine — Kharkiv remains under the control of Ukrainian government authorities, but the city is being “surrounded” by Russian troops, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Tuesday.

“Military equipment and armored vehicles are coming from different directions,” he told The Washington Post in a phone interview shortly after the main city government building was hit by a projectile, causing a massive explosion.

Terekhov said other structures downtown, including the Opera and Ballet Theatre, were also hit. On Monday, civilian neighborhoods were heavily shelled with suspected cluster munitions, causing at least 11 casualties, local officials said.

“There are casualties, and by now, there are certainly a lot more of them, after the night and morning shelling,” he said. “The situation is pretty grave.”

Terekhov said the city’s top priority is getting food and medical supplies to residents, but the continued shelling is preventing that. He added that transformer stations were also struck by artillery, cutting off power to much of the city.

In an interview with The Post in January, Terekhov said people in the predominantly Russian-speaking city of Kharkiv, just 25 miles from the border and Ukraine’s second largest with a population of about 1.5 million, preferred good relations with Moscow but didn’t want to be under Russian occupation. Before the Kremlin’s invasion of Crimea in 2014, people often traveled to and from Russia for business.

“No one could have believed that the residential buildings would be shelled, civilians would be shelled, the city infrastructure would be destroyed,” Terekhov said Tuesday. “This is very serious, and people are in a state of shock because they could have never thought this would happen.”

Why Kharkiv, a city known for its poets, has become a key battleground in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree Monday temporarily lifting visa requirements for foreign volunteers who wish to enter Ukraine and join the fight against Russian forces. The move is part of a broader push to galvanize foreigners into joining what Zelensky has characterized as a battle to defend “security in Europe.”

The Associated Press reported that the decree will take effect Tuesday and last through the 30-day imposition of martial law, which Zelensky announced Thursday.

The same day that the visa-free policy was unveiled, Ukrainian cities weathered another cycle of intense shelling, and talks between Kyiv and Moscow did not produce any breakthroughs. At least 11 people were killed in the eastern city of Kharkiv, and more were injured, Ukrainian officials said. Suspected cluster munitions struck buildings in residential parts of the city.

But as the fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces intensifies, some experts have expressed concerns that calls for non-Ukrainians to join the war ignore the dangerous reality on the ground.

At least 70 Ukrainian military personnel are missing, many presumed killed, after Russian forces shelled a military base in the area of Okhtyrka in the country’s northeast, according to its regional governor, Dmytro Zhyvytskyy.

“Yesterday, enemy artillery covered a military unit [with strikes],” he wrote in a post on his Telegram page on Monday. “Currently, 70 of our fighters are missing.”

The Washington Post could not independently verify the attack or death toll.

The regional governor shared images of the aftermath on his Telegram page showing charred buildings, debris and rescue crews digging for survivors. He said bodies were still being pulled out of the rubble by emergency workers and volunteers.

“The enemy also gets what he deserves. There were a lot of bodies of Russians in the city. We are collecting them,” he added, detailing his claims of losses on the Russian side.

Okhtyrka is in the Sumy region of Ukraine not far from Kharkiv, the nation’s second-largest city about 25 miles from the Russian border, which was breached by Russian troops on Sunday and heavily shelled Monday.

Finland’s Parliament is meeting Tuesday to discuss a petition calling for a vote on NATO membership, a move that comes amid a dramatic shift in public sentiment.

Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, is a close NATO partner but not a member. Support for formally joining the military alliance has been low — until now.

A poll conducted last week by public broadcaster Yle found that 53 percent of Finns would support joining NATO, a dramatic change since a 2017 survey, when 19 percent were in favor of the move.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin tweeted Monday that the debate is not intended as a “broader” discussion of NATO or the country’s nonalignment. But, she said, because a citizens’ petition had reached the necessary threshold of 50,000 signatures, it “makes sense” to hear views on the issue.

Her careful words reflect how closely Russia is watching. With the mere question of NATO’s expansion in the news, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova last week warned of “repercussions” if Finland or Sweden change their postures.

“Finland and Sweden should not base their security on damaging the security of other countries, and their accession to NATO can have detrimental consequences and face some military and political consequences,” Zakharova said during a news conference.

Britain will not seek to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine because that could involve “shooting down Russian planes,” British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said Tuesday.

His comment echoed White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s response to whether Washington was considering a no-fly zone. “It would require deploying U.S. military to enforce, which would be a direct conflict — potentially a direct conflict and potentially war with Russia, which is something we are not planning to be a part of.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a no-fly zone for Russian missiles, planes and helicopters, amid air raids and shelling of the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv. While many of Ukraine’s allies have banned Russian flights from their skies and introduced a slew of sanctions on Moscow, U.S. and British officials have indicated little appetite in recent days for imposing a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said last week that enforcing a no-fly zone would mean putting British pilots in the line of fire and could amount to a declaration of war. “I would have to put British fighter jets directly against Russian fighter jets,” Wallace told the BBC.

Russia’s advance on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv has made little progress over the past 24 hours, probably because of logistical difficulties, according to Britain’s Defense Ministry.

In its latest intelligence update, the ministry noted that Russian forces had shifted to night operations in an effort to “reduce their losses.” It said the change was prompted after Russia failed to gain control of Ukraine’s airspace.

It added that Russian forces had increased their use of artillery north of the capital and in the areas of Kharkiv and Chernihiv, raising the risk of civilian casualties.

The Defense Ministry’s official Twitter account started sharing regular “intelligence updates” on the crisis in Ukraine last month.