Kyiv is facing a potential attack as a massive Russian column approaches the Ukrainian capital

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The 40-mile (64-kilometer) Russian military convoy, consisting of armored vehicles, tanks, towed artillery and other logistics vehicles, reached the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, according to satellite images from Maxar Technologies. Maxar said he had seen streams of smoke rising from a number of homes and buildings near the roads the convoy was traveling on, although it was unclear what the reason was.

The new images come when U.S. officials told lawmakers at secret briefings Monday that a second wave of Russian troops is likely to consolidate the country’s position in Ukraine and a huge number may be able to overcome Ukrainian resistance, according to two people familiar with the case. briefing.

“This part was discouraging,” an MP told CNN.

More than 400 civilians have been killed or injured since Moscow’s unprovoked attack on its neighbor began on Thursday, according to the United Nations, and Ukraine’s leader has accused Russia of committing war crimes by targeting civilians.

But US officials fear the worst is yet to come. U.S. officials, previously surprised by fierce Ukrainian resistance who saw ordinary citizens take up arms, now fear the situation is becoming “much more challenging” for Ukrainians.

U.S. officials said at a briefing Monday that Russia is likely to begin a siege of Kyiv, leading to ugly scenes of urban warfare, said one person familiar with the matter.

In Kherson, where the Ukrainian military has resisted the Russian attack for days, Ukrainian defense lines appear to have fallen and Russian military vehicles have already been spotted driving in the city.

After a meeting on Capitol Hill on Monday, at which Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States requested more weapons, senior US Republican Sen. Jim Rich said Ukraine was in trouble.

“This is David vs. Goliath,” he said.

War crimes charges

Russia’s attack also raises concerns about the safety of civilians who have already been targeted by Russian forces, according to Ukraine.

Ukraine has accused Russia of committing war crimes by targeting civilians, and the International Criminal Court said Monday it would launch an investigation into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a move welcomed by Kyiv.

ICC Prosecutor Karim AA Khan said in a statement that after a preliminary investigation into the situation, there is a reasonable basis to believe that both the alleged war crimes and the crimes against humanity were committed in Ukraine.

Russia says it is not targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and that there is no evidence of civilian deaths caused by the Russian military. The outgoing chairman of the UN Security Council, Vasily Nebenzia, reiterated these allegations on Monday, saying that “the influx of dirty lies circulating in the Western media has unfortunately become a dangerous sign of our time.”

But there is growing evidence that civilians are under attack, and the United Nations said Monday that 406 civilian casualties have been reported in Ukraine.

Russian forces bombed a residential area in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, on Monday, killing nine civilians, including three children, and wounding 37 others, the city’s mayor Igor Terekhov said. CNN asked Russian authorities to comment on the attack.

In a speech late Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack on Kharkiv was an “obvious war crime”.

“Kharkov is a quiet city, there are quiet residential areas, no military sites. Dozens of eyewitness accounts prove that this is not a fake volley, but a deliberate destruction of people. The Russians knew where they were shooting.

“No one in the world will forgive you for killing the peaceful Ukrainian people,” he added.

Russia’s shelling of Ukraine continued during talks between the two countries on Monday, with Zelensky saying the attacks were “synchronized” with the five-hour talks.

“There can be fair negotiations if one side does not hit the other side with missile artillery during the talks,” he said in a Facebook statement. “I think that with this simple-minded method Russia is trying to put pressure.

Both sides discussed a potential “ceasefire and cessation of hostilities on Ukrainian territory,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak told reporters. Without going into details, he said both sides would return to their capitals for consultations on whether to implement a number of “decisions”.

A country in crisis

As fierce battles are fought across the country, many Ukrainians are fleeing to safety.

There are already 520,000 refugees from Ukraine in neighboring counties, a figure growing “exponentially, hour after hour,” Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told the UN Security Council on Monday.

Many of them are women who have had to make difficult decisions to abandon their fathers and husbands – men between the ages of 18 and 60 are barred from leaving Ukraine.

Foreigners are also desperately trying to leave the country. In the Ukrainian village of Shehini on the border with Poland, foreigners have to wait in the cold for hours to get out, with some even lighting a fire to keep warm.

Some foreign students trying to leave told CNN they had faced racist treatment from Ukrainian security forces and border guards.

“Ukrainians have given priority to Africans – men and women – everywhere,” said Rachel Onegbule, a Nigerian medical student in Lviv, in a phone call Sunday as she waited in line at the border to cross into Poland. .

Some Ukrainians chose to stay and join the resistance. Volunteers flock to the capital, where many feel disobedience. Some collect bottles to make Molotov cocktails.

The newlyweds Yarina Arieva and Svyatoslav Fursin spent their honeymoon in battles to defend their country.

“Nobody here says we’re going to lose or cry,” Arieva, of Kyiv, told CNN. “Everyone here believes we will win. It’s only a matter of time. So I’m very happy to see this huge number of people really ready to fight. They are ready to kill for their land. No doubt in our victory in this war. “

However, the picture for those in Ukraine is “bleak” – and could get worse, said Martin Griffiths of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Monday.

“Airstrikes and fighting in urban areas damage critical civilian facilities and disrupt basic services such as health, electricity, water and sanitation, effectively leaving civilians without a basis for daily life,” said Griffiths, OCHA’s deputy secretary. – General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Coordinator.

He said the actual number of civilian casualties “could be significantly higher, as many reported casualties have not yet been confirmed”.

Request for support

As Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine continues, Kyiv desperately wants additional support from international forces.

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, told a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Capitol Hill on Monday that her country needed more weapons and other assistance in its existential struggle against Russia.

“We are not asking anyone to fight for us, we are defending our country. But we need all the support that the whole civilized world can give us to continue to fight effectively, and also sanctions,” she said. after the meeting.

In recent days, US President Joe Biden has instructed Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to provide up to $ 350 million in immediate support for Ukraine’s defense – but officials have also admitted privately that it will be harder to get new aid to Ukraine than before. when you can fly directly to Kyiv.

Australia will send missiles as part of a $ 50 million package of deadly and non-lethal aid to help Ukraine repel Russian forces, Prime Minister Scott Morrison told a news conference on Tuesday.

CNN’s Jeremy Herb, Lauren Fox, Ted Barrett, Claire Foran, Caitlan Collins, Ali Zaslav, Liam Reilly and Puja Salhotra, Paul P. Murphy, Morgan Reamer, Richard Roth, Nick Peyton Walsh, Alexandra Ochman, Tim Lister, Stephanie Boose Nimi Princeville and Shama Nasinde, Arva Damon and Clarissa Ward contributed to this report.