{O/C} In the latest concatenation of events in Ukraine, Russian troops allegedly took away 15 rescuers and drivers from a humanitarian convoy.
Russia also destroyed a new laboratory at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Ukraine's leader again accused Russia of reneging on its promise.
Now, 10 million have been displaced and thousands have died.
{SOT}
In the bomb-ravaged city of Mariupol, Russian forces extorted desperately-needed humanitarian aid from a humanitarian convoy, seizing 15 rescuers and drivers.
This as the Red Cross confirmed reports that a convoy trying to reach Mariupol's residents who are literally in their death throes had been unable to enter.
Gunshots and explosions rang out near the northwest, where Russia has sought to besiege and capture the suburban areas.
But Ukrainian forces appear to be punching above their weight in a morale-boosting effort to successfully retake a strategic Kiev suburb of Makariv.
Yet, this stoked fears Putin will escalate the war.
Ukrainian forces have now regained control of a key highway that can be used to block Russian troops from surrounding Kiev from the northwest.
Ukrainian police were quick to survey the extent of damage in Makariv.
In spite of stiff Ukrainian resistance, Russian forces are not retreating just yet.
Nevertheless, Ukraine let the genie out of the bottle as Russian forces intensified their offensive.
They went on to wallop a new laboratory at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant which, together with other works underway, improve management of radioactive waste.
The Russian military had seized the decommissioned plant, which is located near the site where the notorious 1986 Chernobyl nuclear meltdown took place, at the outset.
Equally disconcerting is the failure of radiation monitors operated by Ukraine's nuclear regulatory agency around the destroyed plant.
Russian President Vladimir Putin portrayed the war as a long-overdue effort to rid Ukraine of its military potential, in addition to neutralising the country.
7,000 more were evacuated from Mariupol. But some are still suffering in heart-rending, vexing and inhuman living conditions, shorn of food, medicine and water.
In the thick of the war, more than 3 million Ukrainians have fled, with the bulk of them forming a diaspora in Poland.
The United Nations said more than 10 million people have been displaced, with thousands of civilians perished.
But when push comes to shove, impotent civilians remain united as artists hunkering down in an underground bunker in Kharkiv held a concert to raise funds to fight the unrelenting aggressor.
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