UKRAINE UPDATESHeavy Shelling in Kharkiv on 6th Day of War

Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, faced increased Russian shelling Tuesday, while a column of Russian forces stretched out along a road north of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on the sixth day of Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry shared a video of one strike at the Kharkiv Regional State Administration building in the center of the city that created a huge ball of fire and smoke as several cars passed through.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described Russia’s missile attack on Kharkiv’s main square Tuesday as “frank, undisguised terror” as well as a war crime. “Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget. …This is state terrorism of the Russian Federation.”

An emergency services official said the strike killed at least six people and injured 20 others.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Tuesday that Russian shelling of civilian infrastructure that took place Monday in Kharkiv “violates the laws of war.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed allegations of war crimes and told reporters that “Russian troops don’t conduct any strikes against civilian infrastructure and residential areas,” despite evidence of Kremlin attacks on homes, schools and hospitals, which reporters for The Associated Press have documented.

Ukraine also reported Tuesday that troops from Russian ally Belarus had entered Ukraine’s Chernihiv region.

In Poland, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO will hold both Russia and Belarus accountable for what is happening in Ukraine.

“President Putin has shattered peace in Europe. Allies condemn the unjust and brutal invasion of Ukraine. The Russian assault is totally unacceptable, and it is enabled by Belarus,” he said.

Stoltenberg reiterated that NATO will not be sending troops to fight in Ukraine, nor will it be patrolling Ukrainian airspace, while calling on Russia to immediately “stop the war” and withdraw its forces. Speaking alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda, Stoltenberg thanked Poland for opening its borders to refugees fleeing the fighting in Ukraine.

Speaking virtually Tuesday to the European Parliament, Zelenskyy issued an emotional appeal for more support, declaring that Ukraine’s fight for democracy deems the country worthy.

“We are fighting also to be equal members of Europe. I believe that today we are showing everybody that is what we are. … We have proven that as a minimum, we are the same as you.”

The U.N. Refugee Agency said Tuesday that more than 660,000 people, most of them women and children, had fled Ukraine to neighboring countries since Thursday.