The War Room:  Eleven days into the Russian invasion, Ukraine is still hanging on while conditions turn grimmer. Food and water is growing scarce in some areas while an uncertain number of civilians have been killed. The city of Mariupol has been without water and power for days.

  Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky is warning of a renewed bombardment of major cities. Today, the Russians let a furious artillery and rocket assault on the southern city of Mykolaiv. 

  For now, the Russians are bogged down in many areas with their own logistical problems while the Ukrainians fight back in small units, well-armed with American anti-tank weapons that have devastated whole columns of Russian armor.

  Video released over the weekend showed a Russian helicopter gunship shot down in flames, and a fighter jet spinning to earth. 

  The NY Times spoke to a Russian prisoner identified as Pvt. Dmitry Gagarin, who said, “Near the end of the day’s movement on Feb. 27, our column was attacked. My commander burned and died. I ran into the forest and later surrendered to local people.”

  Ukraine Zelensky has been pressing his call for the West to establish a “no-fly” zone over Ukraine to even the fight on the ground. So far, the West says no. Over the weekend Russian President Vladimir Putin said that any effort by the West to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine would be “participating in the armed conflict.”   

   Putin also declared that the crippling economic sanctions imposed by the West were “akin to a declaration of war” even while his forces continued pounding and destroying residential areas in Ukraine. A team of journalists caught video and photos of an explosion hitting and killing eight civilians, including a mother and her two children, attempting to escape through a humanitarian corridor.

  Mysteriously contradicting himself, Putin said, “The current leadership needs to understand that if they continue doing what they are doing, they risk the future of Ukrainian statehood.” He has previously said Ukraine has no history of being an independent state, one of his reasons for invading. Just last month he said, “Modern Ukraine was entirely and fully created by Russia, more specifically the Bolshevik, communist Russia.”

  An estimated 1.5 million Ukrainians have fled the country and the United nations estimates that could grow to 10 million, nearly a quarter of Ukraine’s population.

The Body Count: The United Nations says that as many as 360 Ukrainian civilians have died so far in the invasion. The Russians have been firing artillery at recognized civilian escape routes, but the Russians now say they recognize humanitarian corridors that feed only into Russian-held territory. 

  The Ukrainian military claims to have killed 11,000 Russian soldiers, although the government puts it at 6,000. The last figure given by the Russian military was 498 Russian troops killed and 1,597 wounded. 

  The Russians claim to have killed 2,870 Ukrainian soldiers.

Economic War: American companies are bailing out of Russia to make the country hurt while it wages war on Ukraine. American Express announced that it is ceasing operations in Russia and Belarus. Ford is suspending operations in Russia. Toyota and Volkswagen stopped production in Russia and General Motors will cease its import of about 3,000 vehicles a year. 

  Boeing said it will stop supporting Russian airlines with “parts, maintenance and technical support services.” 

  The tech companies are tapping the escape button. Apple has stopped selling its stuff there while Microsoft said it will stop selling all new products in Russia. Intel has stopped shipments to Russia and Belarus.

  Two major American accounting firms, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers, announced that they will stop doing business in Russia.

 And for Russian binge watchers, Netflix is going to hash.

The Spin Rack: The worldwide death toll from Covid-19 has surpassed six million. — The average price for a gallon of regular gas in the US hit $4 yesterday, its highest since 2008. San Francisco reached $5 a gallon. The average price across the country is up 47 cents – 13 percent – since before Russia invaded Ukraine. — A tornado outside Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday killed seven people. Among the dead are two children and the father in a family of five. 

Keep on Truckin’: Just when Covid mandates and restrictions are relaxing, a convoy of truckers and other vehicles lapped the Washington, DC, beltway yesterday morning to demand an end to Covid mandates and restrictions.

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