Russia Continues Attacks In Ukraine, NATO Agrees To Increase Military And Humanitarian Aid

Power and heat plants in Ukraine were destroyed by the Russian attack. (Wikimedia Commons/dsns.gov.ua/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - Western leaders agreed to increase military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, condemning the Moscow invasion as barbarism that has left thousands of people in besieged cities sheltering from the bombings.

At an unprecedented three-round summit in Brussels, the transatlantic NATO alliance, G7 rich nations, and European leaders discussed the continent's worst conflict since the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

NATO announced plans for new combat units in four eastern European countries near Ukraine, while Washington and London stepped up aid and extended sanctions to new targets, including a woman London says is the stepdaughter of Russia's foreign minister.

"The single most important thing is for us to stick together and the world to continue to focus, on how cruel this person was and all the innocent lives that were lost and destroyed," Biden told reporters in Brussels, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as reported by Reuters March 25.

"Putin has crossed the red line towards barbarism," added British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Responding to the coalition's stance Thursday in Brussels, Moscow said the West itself was to blame for the war by arming the 'Kyiv regime'.

Russia's invasion launched on February 24 has killed thousands, sent 3.6 million abroad, destroyed cities, and driven more than half of Ukraine's children from their homes, according to the United Nations.

Separately, in Mariupol, which lies between Russia's annexed Crimea and the east held by Russian-backed separatists, thousands of people are in basements with little water, food, medicine, or electricity, seeking shelter from heavy Russian bombardment.

"Mariupol used to be beautiful and suddenly turned to dust," laments Raisa Kairat, 83, in the besieged southern port that has turned to desert.

In one section controlled by Russian troops, a patch of grass between the blown-up buildings has become a makeshift graveyard. The newly excavated mound is marked with a plastic flower and a cross made of broken window frames.

"It could have been me," Viktoria sobbed as she buried her 73-year-old stepfather, Leonid, who died when the car that took him to hospital exploded.

Within a month of fighting, Ukraine had fended off what many analysts had anticipated was a swift Russian victory.

So far, Moscow has failed to capture any major cities. Despite relentless shelling by Russia, its armored columns have barely moved in weeks, stalling near the capital Kyiv and laying siege to towns to the east.

They had suffered heavy casualties and a shortage of supplies. Ukraine says it is now turning to the offensive and has pushed back Russian troops, including northern Kyiv.

Ukrainian armed forces said they repelled five Russian strikes in the east of the country on Thursday, destroying vehicles including tanks and killing up to 130 soldiers. Reuters was unable to substantiate the claim.

Ukraine also said its forces had destroyed the Russian landing craft 'Orsk' in the Russian-occupied port of Berdyansk.

Video footage, confirmed by Reuters from Berdyansk, shows smoke rising from the blaze at the jetty and flashes of explosions. Russian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As President Biden gathered allies on his first trip abroad since the war began, Washington announced more than $1 billion in humanitarian aid to Ukraine and an offer to take in 100,000 refugees.