Russian Invasion 'Stalled on All Fronts'

Russian forces are continuing to bombard Ukrainian cities, killing civilians and wrecking infrastructure, but the invasion has "largely stalled on all fronts," according to Britain's defense ministry. An intelligence assessment released Thursday says Russians "have made minimal progress on land, sea, or air in recent days and they continue to suffer heavy losses," the Guardian reports. Ukrainian resistance remains "staunch and well-coordinated," and while Russia controls some areas, especially in the east and the south, the "vast majority of Ukrainian territory, including all major cities," remains in Ukrainian hands, the report says. American intelligence agencies have made similar findings.

The Pentagon estimates that 7,000 Russian troops have been killed in the three weeks since the invasion, more than the US death toll in 20 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the New York Times reports. But the war has also taken a heavy toll on Ukrainian troops and civilians. In Mariupol, officials say rescuers are searching the wreckage of a theater hit by a Russian attack on Wednesday. Officials say hundreds of women and children had been sheltering in the building. "The bomb shelter held. Now the rubble is being cleared," mayoral adviser Petro Andrushchenko tells Reuters. "There are survivors. We don’t know about the victims yet."

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed Wednesday that the invasion was going to plan and denounced the "scum and traitors" who don't support what the Kremlin calls a "special military operation." Talks are expected to continue Thursday and there are signs that progress is being made. An official in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office tells the AP that one of the main subjects now being discussed is where Ukraine's borders will be after the war and whether Russian troops will be stationed in occupied territories. The official says Ukraine is ready to discuss neutral status if at least one Western nuclear power is included in the talks and security guarantees for Ukraine are provided. (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)