© Serhii Nuzhnenko/AP A local resident looks at the remains of a Russian military vehicle in Bucha, Ukraine, March 1, not far from Kyiv. Russian and Ukrainian officials failed to make any progress in initial peace talks at the Belarusian border on Monday. Local authorities were hanging on, he said, but were surrounded by Russian forces. In southern Ukraine, Russia has occupied Berdyansk and taken possession of Melitopol, a city of about 150,000. Russian forces have poured into Ukraine from Belarus, which hosted joint military exercises with Russia in the weeks before Putin’s assault.
