First Lady Jill Biden urged anyone whose mental health was suffering due to the conflict in Ukraine to reach out for help.
‘I imagine many of us are feeling the weight of what is happening in Ukraine over recent days,’ she said in the tweet thread. ‘Parents are sitting in front of the television with their children, explaining reports from thousands of miles away.
‘Teachers are standing in front of classrooms, answering questions of ‘why’ and ‘what is going to happen next?’
The first lady went on to say that, ‘our military families are acutely aware that events taking place in Europe may have a rippling effect on the future of their loved ones in uniform.’
‘In this difficult time there are no easy answers, and that may cause a feeling of uncertainty,’ she wrote. ‘It is okay to ask for help.’
She encouraged people to reach out to MentalHealth.gov and told military service members and their families to seek counseling at Military OneSource and Veteran Affairs.
The first lady added that she and President Joe Biden were praying for ‘the brave and proud people of Ukraine.’
‘Our hearts are with our troops and our military families, including those who are stationed throughout Europe demonstrating solidarity with our Allies. We are profoundly grateful for your service,’ she wrote.
US first lady Jill Biden expressed concern in a series of tweets Sunday for the mental health of those who are feeling distressed about the conflict in Ukraine
She expressed concern and offered comforting words regarding the mental health of those who are worried about the conflict in Ukraine
The first lady encouraged people to reach out for help
She linked to resources for mental health and added that US President Joe Biden were praying for ‘the brave and proud people of Ukraine’
The first lady’s tweets came just a couple of hours before blasts were heard both in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the country’s second biggest city of Kharkiv early Monday morning after a mainly quiet night, according to information provided by Ukrainian officials who released a brief statement on the Telegram messaging app.
On video footage shot in the darkness in Kharkiv posted to Twitter in the early hours of the morning, several rounds of gunfire can be heard.
‘Kharkiv airport and residential areas are under heavy shelling,’ read the message posted to social media.
An air raid alert sounded in the city at about4.30am local time with residents urged to head to the nearest shelter.
A missile also hit a residential building in the center of Chernihiv, a city about 100 miles north of Kyiv. It saw a fire break out on the lower floors of the building.
‘A rocket hit a residential building in the centre of Chernihiv. A fire broke out, two lower floors are on fire. The number of injured is currently unknown,’ a statement on Twitter read.
Public Chernihiv reports that a rocket hit a residential building in the center of Chernihiv, north of Kyiv. A fire broke out with two lower floors ablaze. The number of injured is currently unknown
Early on Monday morning, the Mayor of Kharkiv issued a message to residents of the city of 1.4million people where he described how he was attempting to keep the city functioning while holding off Russian forces.
‘Starting from this morning multiple units of Russian Army made a breakthrough into Kharkiv. You saw them into residential areas of the city. Yesterday night there was an enormous artillery bombardment. But we have held the line. And we will forever,’ wrote Mayor Igor Terekhov.
‘Dear Inhabitants of Kharkiv. My dears. We must stick together. Me and our utility service are doing all what we can: we reconnect central heating. This morning, we reinitiated garbage collection. But were had to stop because we were under gunfire.
‘Bread. We do our best. Unfortunately, the bakery was not working because it was also coming under shelling. We maintain water supply in the city.
‘I beg you to take care of yourself. We are doing everything possible and sometimes — have to admit it — that it is impossible together with our utilities service to ensure the functioning of the city of Kharkiv.
‘We will withstand. We are Kharkovites.’
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has warned the country faces a ‘crucial’ 24 hours as Russia throws even more ground forces at Kyiv.
Satellite images overnight showed a three mile-long convoy heading towards the capital, after Vladimir Putin put his nuclear deterrent forces on ‘alert’.
Russian military vehicles were pictured moving in despite officials agreeing to hold peace talks at the border with Belarus later today.
The images, released by Maxar Technologies, showed a deployment of hundreds of military vehicles moving in the direction of the Ukrainian capital from approximately 40 miles away.
The images showed a massive convoy of Russian troops heading toward the Ukraine capital Kyiv today
Citizens of Kyiv have resorted to arming themselves amid fears of an imminent invasion by Russian troops. (Pictured: satellite image showing Russian army heading to the captial of Ukraine)
Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Ukraine faces a ‘crucial’ 24 hours as Russia throws even more ground forces at Kyiv
When Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Thursday, the city of 2.8 million people initially reacted with concern but also a measure of self-possession.
However, nerves started fraying when grocery stores began closing and the city’s famously deep subway system turned its stations into bomb shelters.
Ukraine’s health ministry said on Sunday that 352 civilians, including 14 children, had been killed since the beginning of Russia’s invasion. It also said that 1,684 people, including 116 children, had been wounded.
At least 200,000 people have fled Ukraine to three countries, with 150,000 said to have crossed into Poland alone.
On Sunday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order forbidding state agencies from doing business with Russia, said Ukrainian refugees are welcome in New York, which is home to the largest Ukrainian population in the U.S.
‘We have said we’ll open up our hearts, our homes, our resources to the people of the Ukraine, to say, ‘We stand with you,” Hochul said.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Sunday forbidding New York from doing business with Russia
Mothers fleeing with their children from Ukraine stand at Nyugati station, after Russia launched a massive military operation against Ukraine, in Budapest, Hungary
A mother fleeing with her children from Ukraine stands at Nyugati station, after Russia launched a massive military operation against Ukraine, in Budapest, Hungary
President Zelensky again spoke to Boris Johnson last night, who told him he will do ‘all he could’ to ensure further military aid reaches Ukrainian forces.
The Prime Minister praised the ‘heroic’ resistance of the Ukrainian people in the face of the Russian attack, according to the No 10 readout of the call.
Zelensky said, in turn, that the next 24 hours will be ‘a crucial period’ for his country.
‘The Prime Minister lauded the bravery of the Ukrainian people following the Russian invasion and praised the leadership of President Zelensky in the face of such adversity,’ a No 10 spokesman said. ‘The resistance of the Ukrainian people was heroic, the Prime Minister added.
‘President Zelensky said he believed the next 24 hours was a crucial period for Ukraine, and the Prime Minister said he would do all he could to help ensure defensive aid from the UK and allies reached Ukraine.
‘The leaders agreed to continue to stay in close contact and the Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s staunch support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.’
It came as Ursula von der Leyen last night insisted Ukraine is ‘one of us’ as she led calls for the war-torn nation to join the European Union – which unveiled a fresh package of sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s regime, including closing off its airspace to all Russian planes and banning Kremlin propaganda outlets Russia Today and Sputnik.
Earlier on Sunday, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko issued a chilling threat that the West’s sanctions on Russia are pushing the Kremlin into a Third World War.
‘Now there is a lot of talk against the banking sector, gas, oil, SWIFT,’ Lukashenko said. ‘It’s worse than war. This is pushing Russia into a Third World War. We need to be restrained here so as not to get into trouble. Because nuclear war is the end of everything.’
Ukraine’s health ministry said on Sunday that 352 civilians, including 14 children, had been killed since the beginning of Russia’s invasion. It also said that 1,684 people, including 116 children, had been wounded
President Zelensky’s office had earlier said the two delegations will meet ‘without preconditions’ near the Pripyat River, to the north of Chernobyl, in a deal brokered in a phone call with Lukashenko himself.
A spokesperson added that Lukashenko has taken responsibility for ensuring that all planes, helicopters and missiles stationed on Belarusian territory remain on the ground during the Ukrainian delegation’s travel, talks and return.
Zelensky described his discussion with Lukashenko as ‘very substantive’, adding that he had made it clear he did not want troops to move from Belarus to Ukraine and Lukashenko ‘assured him of this’.
He added: ‘I do not really believe in the outcome of this meeting, but let them try, so that later not a single citizen of Ukraine has any doubt that I, as president, tried to stop the war.’
It came as Putin declared, in his own televised address, that he had ordered troops operating the nuclear deterrent onto a ‘special regime of duty’ in light of ‘aggressive statements’ from NATO leaders and ‘unfriendly economic actions’. Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg responded: ‘This is dangerous rhetoric’.
Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Russia at the Hague, with Zelensky requesting that the UN International Court of Justice orders Russia to stop its attack against Ukraine and starts trials soon.
Russian forces were filmed advancing through Kharkiv on Sunday morning – moments before gunfire rang out, sending some soldiers running while others returned fire
Plumes of smoke rise from a building, which was caused by a cruise missile according to local media, in Kyiv, Ukraine
The United States condemned Putin’s order to put his nuclear forces on high alert as dangerous and ‘unacceptable.’
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield also said nothing was ‘off the table’ when asked about the possibility of Putin being tried in international court as a war criminal.
Boris Johnson, meanwhile, dismissed Putin’s announcement as a ‘distraction’ from the struggle his troops are facing in Ukraine. The Prime Minister also cast doubt on possible negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations to try to resolve the crisis.
‘There’s nothing I’ve seen so far in his behaviour that leads me to think that he could possibly be sincere,’ he said.
Earlier Russian television footage showed Mr Putin meeting with his defense minister and the chief of the general staff, and instructing them to put the nuclear deterrent on a ‘special regime of combat duty’.
‘Western countries aren’t only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading Nato members made aggressive statements regarding our country,’ he said.
But on a day when the expected assault on Kyiv again failed to materialise and the Ukrainians claimed to have driven Russian forces out of the country’s second city Kharkiv, Mr Johnson said his words were ‘a distraction from the reality of what’s going on’.
‘This is an innocent people who are facing a totally unprovoked act of aggression against them, and what’s actually happening is that they are fighting back perhaps with more effect, with more resistance, than the Kremlin had bargained for,’ he said.
‘You can see some of the logistical difficulties that the Russian forces are experiencing. The Russian defence ministry have themselves conceded that they’re having casualties. This is a disastrous misbegotten venture by President Putin.’
Elsewhere, oil giant BP announced on Sunday it is ditching its controversial 20 per cent stake in the Russian energy group Rosneft ‘with immediate effect’.
Chief executive Bernard Looney revealed the move today, saying he was ‘saddened’ and ‘shocked’ by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It comes after he was summoned to a meeting with Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday amid growing unease about the BP’s Russian dealings.
As Russian troops draw closer to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv’s mayor is filled with pride over his citizens’ spirit but remains anxious about how long they can hold out.
After a grueling night of Russian attacks on the outskirts of the city, mayor Vitali Klitschko was silent for several seconds when asked if there were plans to evacuate civilians if Russian troops managed to take Kyiv.
‘We can’t do that, because all ways are blocked,’ he finally said. ‘Right now we are encircled.’
This map shows the strikes Russia is so-far known to have carried out against Ukraine, with more explosions rocking the country in the early hours of Sunday morning
Russian forces stormed Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv on Sunday after failing in their overnight efforts to seize control of the capital city of Kyiv.
However reports in Ukraine suggest troops have managed to successfully repel the Russian advance on Kharkiv, which is close to the Russian border, with one British reporter on the ground confirming that the city remains under Ukrainian control despite this morning’s attack.
Oleh Sinehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration, said Ukrainian troops had managed to reclaim the city. In a post on Telegram, he said: ‘Control over Kharkiv is completely ours!
‘The armed forces, the national police, and the defence forces are working and the city is being completely cleansed of the enemy.’
Kharkiv’s defence came as Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence claimed Ukrainian troops had killed or injured more than 4,300 Russian soldiers in the first three days of fighting. Russia has not released an updates on its military losses.
The Kremlin accepted it had lost troops in the conflict for the first time yesterday, but did not provide a number. ‘There have been killed and wounded among the Russian military during the course of the special military operation,’ the defence ministry in Moscow said in a statement quoted by TASS news agency
A US official told Reuters that Russia had committed around two-thirds of its combat power inside Ukraine and launched more than 320 missiles over the course of the conflict.
In an article yesterday, UK Armed Forces minister James Heappey has insisted Putin’s ‘days are numbered’ if he fails in Ukraine, with his campaign falling ‘well behind’ its planned timeline.
Heappey, a former major in the Rifles, said Putin’s forces had been unable to capture key cities in the first few days of fighting as intended and had left pockets of ‘well-armed’ Ukrainians to the rear of their front line.
The convoy of thousands of Russian troops heading to Kyiv is three and a quarter miles long and is believed to be carrying fuel, logistics and armored vehicles. (Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin)
Russian troops entered Ukraine on February 24 prompting the country’s president to declare martial law and triggering a series of announcements by Western countries to impose severe economic sanctions on Russia
A picture is emerging of a haphazard and disorganized invasion effort, with armored columns running out of fuel or getting lost, and some having to advance without air cover.
Heappey wrote in the Telegraph: ‘After three days of intense fighting, spurred by dogged Ukrainian resistance, Russia is well behind its planned timeline.
‘Progress to Kyiv has been much slower than they’d expected, they were unable to take key cities early and now must try to bypass them.
‘This leaves pockets of well-armed and well-trained Ukrainians to the rear of the Russian front line, exposing a vulnerable logistics tail – an omen for what awaits Putin.’
At the same time, Ukrainians are volunteering in their droves, with ‘long queues’ at recruitment centers, the minister wrote.
Meanwhile, footage from the town of Koryukivka, near the Russian border, showed hundreds of locals massing on a road to block the advance of a Russian tank column.
Heappey believes that if Putin fails and ordinary Russians realize ‘how little he cares for them … [his] days as president will surely be numbered and so too will those of the kleptocratic elite that surround him,’ he wrote.
‘He’ll lose power and he won’t get to choose his successor.’
There have been fresh questions raised about Putin’s mental state, including whether Covid-19 has fueled his paranoia after claims emerged the isolated president spent time ‘stewing in his own fears’ after ‘withdrawing into himself’ during the pandemic.
A total of 4,000 Russians have now been arrested at anti-war protests in recent days, according to independent monitoring group OVD-Info, with a demonstration outside the Kremlin near the site where opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down.
