Russia warns Kyiv residents to flee homes

Russia warned Kyiv residents to flee their homes on Tuesday and rained rockets down on Kharkiv, as Russian commanders who have failed to achieve a quick victory shifted their tactics to intensify the bombardment of 
Ukrainian cities.  

With an armoured column miles long bearing down on the capital, Russia’s defence ministry said it was planning to strike targets in Kyiv used by Ukraine’s security service. Residents near such sites should evacuate their homes, it warned, while giving no information about where in the city of 3 million people those targets were located.  
Rocket strikes on Kharkiv killed at least 10 people and wounded 35, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said. Similar strikes had killed and wounded dozens in the city the 
previous day.  

“The rubble is being cleared and there will be even more victims and wounded,” he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the artillery barrages on Kharkiv amounted to state terrorism.  

Nearly a week since Russian troops poured over the border, they have failed to capture a single major Ukrainian city after running into far fiercer resistance than they expected.  
“The Russian army is an artillery army primarily, and it looks like they are shifting into war-fighting mode,” said Nick Reynolds, a land warfare analyst at RUSI in London.  

Russia’s TASS news agency reported new peace talks would be held on Wednesday. Talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials held on Monday at the Belarus border failed to reach a breakthrough. Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv was ready to talk but would not just follow Russian ultimatums.   

Zelenskiy’s government remained in control of Kyiv with soldiers and civilians ready to fight invaders street by street.
KYIV, March 1 
(Reuters)