Russia takes aim at urban areas; Biden vows Putin will ‘pay.’

March 1, 2022 9:30 PM

Associated Press

Posted: March 1, 2022 9:30 PM

Updated: March 9, 2022 7:26 PM

Russia’s escalating attacks on populated urban areas of Ukraine left rubble and wreckage in streets and plazas as the invasion claimed new victims across the country. The central square in Ukraine’s second-biggest city was hit with what was believed to be a missile, leaving the massive area piled high with debris.

Hospitals raced to treat victims of the bombardment even as mothers and children sheltered in their basements. While the fighting in Ukraine raged, the death toll remained unclear.

At the border, anguished families said goodbye as women and children fled while many men returned to fight. More than 675,000 people have escaped to neighboring countries since the Russian invasion began — a number that will only grow, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

Note: Photos below include some images that may disturb viewers.

Evgeniy Maloletka
A nurse shows a newborn baby to a woman who gave birth at a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Emilio Morenatti
People walk along an empty road during curfew, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Serhii Nuzhnenko
An armed man stands by the remains of a Russian military vehicle in Bucha, close to the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko)
Emilio Morenatti
People arrive at a train station as they try to leave Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Pavel Dorogoy
Ukrainian emergency service personnel carry a body of a victim out of the damaged City Hall building following shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy)
Emilio Morenatti
Animal keeper Kirilo Trantin comforts an elephant at the Kiev Zoo in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1. 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Bernat Armangue
Ukrainians prepare to board a bus to Poland at Lviv bus main station, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Bernat Armangue
Ukrainian families say goodbye as they prepare to board a bus to Poland at Lviv bus main station, western Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Emilio Morenatti
A woman speaks by phone holding her sick baby in a basement used as a bomb shelter at the Okhmadet children's hospital in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1. 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Pavel Dorogoy
A damaged car sits at the central square following shelling of the City Hall building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022.(AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy)
Efrem Lukatsky
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Morgue workers look at the body of a killed volunteer of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces at a hospital in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Evgeniy Maloletka
Oleksandr Konovalov, an ambulance paramedic, center, pushes a stretcher with a woman injured by shelling in a residential area at a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Vadim Ghirda
Ukrainian servicemen ride on top of an armored personnel carrier speeding down a deserted boulevard during an air raid alarm, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Serhii Nuzhnenko
People look at the gutted remains of Russian military vehicles on a road in the town of Bucha, close to the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Serhii Nuzhnenko)
Emilio Morenatti
People crowd on a platform as they wait to board a Lviv-bound train in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1. 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Markus Schreiber
A man sits by the remains of a bonfire after fleeing from the Ukraine near the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Emilio Morenatti
Plastic sheeting wraps shelves with alcoholic beverages banned for sale in a supermarket in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Evgeniy Maloletka
Ambulance paramedics move an injured man on a stretcher, wounded by shelling in a residential area, at a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward and used as a bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Ricrad Garcia Vilanova
A car driving along a road is visible from a Ukrainian army position through the viewfinder of a Dragunov sniper rifle in the northern part of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Ricard Garcia Vilanova)
Markus Schreiber
A women with a child who fled from the war in Ukraine reacts as they reunite with their family after crossing the border in Medyka, Poland, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Evgeniy Maloletka
The dead body of a victim from shelling in a residential area lies on a stretcher in a corridor in a maternity hospital converted into a medical ward in Mariupol, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Pavel Dorogoy
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Dead bodies lie in the central square following shelling of the City Hall building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy)
Pavel Dorogoy
A member of the Ukrainian Emergency Service looks at the City Hall building in the central square following shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy)