Russia-Ukraine live updates: Biden will go to Europe next week for NATO summit; European leaders travel to Kyiv

PRZEMYSL, Poland — The wave of refugees flooding through Europe is striking not just for its historic scale and speed but also because half of the 3 million people who have fled the war in Ukraine are children.

That means one child has become a refugee nearly every second since the start of the war, said James Elder, a spokesperson for UNICEF.

Many have had to say goodbye to their fathers before undertaking difficult and disorienting journeys with mothers and siblings, sometimes waiting more than a dozen hours in the cold before being allowed to cross into safer countries. Parents have agonized over how to explain what was happening. Some kids heard they were going on vacation. Others were told directly: Our homes are not safe, and Dad must stay behind to defend our country.

The Russian military is likely unable to completely encircle Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in the near future. There were no major offensive operations toward northeastern Kyiv reported for 24 hours. The Russian forces are also attempting to encircle Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, but are affected by supply and ammunition shortages.

Continuous Russian attacks on Mariupol from the east and west have been reported, while no major operations were conducted toward Zaporizhzhia or Mykolaiv.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin intensifies his war in Ukraine, the 69-year-old leader has become increasingly isolated, according to U.S. and European intelligence officials, including from some of his closest advisers.

Most people, including business leaders and politicians, who were once part of Putin’s inner circle now appear unwilling or unable to pressure him to reverse course, even as global sanctions send Russia’s economy into a tailspin.

Several prominent Russian businessmen, including industrialist Oleg Deripaska and billionaire banker Mikhail Fridman, have called publicly for peace. But, as the economic noose tightens around Putin and his associates, Western policymakers say they hope that more aides and former confidants will step up and challenge the president.

The Washington Post has identified some key players in the wider network of political and economic elites that surrounds the Russian leader, including oil executives, steel tycoons, media moguls and spy chiefs. Some have a net worth of at least $1 billion, according to Forbes.

The Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution condemning alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine and calling for an international investigation into the matter.

The resolution, which was introduced by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), states that the Senate “strongly condemns the ongoing violence, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and systematic human rights abuses being carried out by the Russian Armed Forces and their proxies and President Putin’s military commanders, at the direction of President Vladimir Putin.”

It expresses the support of the Senate for “any investigation into war crimes, crimes against humanity, and systematic human rights abuses levied by” Putin and other Russian political and military figures.

And it states that the Senate “encourages the United States Government and partner nations to use their voice, vote, and influence in international institutions in which they are members” to hold accountable Putin and other top figures in Russia.

In remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday night, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the resolution “sends an unmistakable message that the United States stands with Ukraine, stands against Putin and stands with all efforts to hold Putin accountable for the atrocities levied upon the Ukrainian people.”

“Putin is not winning militarily. So now, this evil man is trying to win by massacring civilians. … But in his monomaniacal hubris, Putin has severely — severely — underestimated the Ukrainian people,” Schumer said.

President Biden has repeatedly rejected the idea of more air cover for Ukraine in its war with Russia, warning that sending Polish fighter jets to Ukraine — or enforcing a no-fly zone above it — could lead to a global conflagration with a nuclear-armed foe.

“That’s called ‘World War Three,’” Biden told Democratic lawmakers Friday.

Biden’s reluctance to provide Ukraine with some kinds of military assistance that the Eastern European country has requested will face its biggest and most emotional test Wednesday morning, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses Congress as part of a virtual tour of Western capitals this month.

Zelensky’s speech to U.S. lawmakers is expected to be equal parts beseeching and defiant, asking the Biden administration — as he has other Western allies — to “please close the sky” above Ukraine. The speech is also likely to provide an opening for Republicans, who have already begun criticizing Biden for being too cautious and weak in his handling of Russia’s aggression.

Nearly three weeks into their invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces are fighting to press forward in a number of cities across the country. Here are updates on some Ukrainian cities:

After nearly two weeks spent in a city surrounded by Russian forces and cut off from water and electricity, Mariupol residents have at last begun to be evacuated in greater numbers, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday.

Of the 29,000 people rescued through humanitarian corridors from cities across the country, about 20,000 came from the besieged port of Mariupol on the southeast coast, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a video address.

The Washington Post could not independently verify those numbers, and many thousands more remain trapped — before the invasion, roughly 400,000 people lived there — but the figure Vereshchuk cited would represent a significant increase over prior days, when there were few, if any, safe routes in and out of the city. She said residents were spirited out in more than 4,000 private cars. On Monday, Vereshchuk said 160 vehicles had managed to make it out.

Even though seven of the day’s nine designated humanitarian corridors operated successfully, she said, the caravan of vehicles packed with food and medicine for Mariupol’s struggling residents was again denied entry and remained stalled about 50 miles southeast, near Berdyansk. Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of violating a cease-fire and not allowing entry into the city.

Mariupol, a strategically important city, has been the site of some of Russia’s most brutal shelling since the invasion began. Images from the city, which has been cut off from water and electricity for days, show bombed-out homes, burning apartment buildings and destroyed hospitals.

Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine will continue Wednesday, and officials on both sides have projected optimism in recent days that a compromise may emerge.

But a news release from the Kremlin on Tuesday suggested any breakthrough is far off, with Russia President Vladimir Putin declaring Kyiv “is not showing a serious commitment to finding mutually acceptable solutions.”

The Kremlin said Putin made the comment in a call with European Council President Charles Michel in which the two leaders also discussed “humanitarian issues, including measures to evacuate civilians.” Evacuations have proceeded unevenly around Ukraine as officials repeatedly accuse Russia of violating cease-fires meant to allow safe passage.

Michel said Tuesday he advocated “an immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of Russia’s military” in his call with Putin. He confirmed that they discussed Russia and Ukraine’s ongoing negotiations and tweeted, “Protection of civilian lives is an absolute priority.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Tuesday the “difficult” negotiation process would continue Wednesday.

“There are fundamental contradictions,” he tweeted. “But there is certainly room for compromise.”