The War Room: Russian invaders have taken the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson just northwest of the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea. It’s the first major city to fall. 

  Ukrainian forces retreated west toward Mykolaiv, the mayor of Kherson told reporters. The Russians appear to be moving west to take Odessa, also on the Black Sea, fully taking control of that body of water and Ukraine’s direct link to the world economy.

  Russia continues to wage war directly on civilian targets in Kharkiv and the capital Kyiv, committing war crimes as they go. They’ve been using thermobaric bombs that suck the oxygen out of the air. 

  The Russians have hit multiple residential and commercial buildings in Kharkiv with air, missile and artillery strikes in an attempt to  soften and demoralize the city before a ground offensive. Just one strike destroyed the economics building at Kharkiv National University while damaging the police headquarters and an office of the National Security Service. 

  The United Nations says at least 227 civilians have been killed. As the invasion continues, more than a million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries, most of them to Poland. All passenger trains in Ukraine moving from east to west are now being used only for evacuating civilians, the Ukrainian railway company said today.

 The worst is probably yet to come. A 40-mile convoy of Russian armor, troop transports, and support vehicles is still stalled outside Kyiv. The Russians are believed to be having support and supply problems preventing them from encircling and taking Kyiv. A British intelligence statement said the convoy “has made little discernible progress in over three days.” 

  But if and when that convoy gets moving, things will get much worse.

The Body Count: Pictures and videos from Ukraine reveal that Russian forces have paid a heavy price. In an unusual announcement for the Russian government, they said yesterday that 498 Russian soldiers have been killed and 1,597 more have been injured in the invasion. That’s a lot for a powerful ground and air force facing an opponent mostly on foot.

  The trouble  with the Russian numbers is you can’t believe them. Russia has notoriously hidden its combat casualties in previous conflicts even to the extent of stopping news organizations from counting the funerals.

  A Western intelligence estimate this week says that as many as 5,000 Russians have been killed so far. Estimates also say that Russia has lost roughly 3% to 5% of its tanks, aircraft, artillery, and other military assets inside Ukraine and the Ukrainians have lost roughly 10% of theirs.

  An unknown number of Russians have been captured. There are reports of bewildered soldiers not knowing why they are in Ukraine giving up to the defenders. Some have been allowed to call their mothers on the phone. The Moscow Times, an independent paper, reports that the Ukraine defense ministry says, “A decision has been taken to hand over captured Russian troops to their mothers if they come to collect them in Ukraine, in Kyiv.” 

Economic War: Allied western countries have formed an alliance to seize the yachts, luxury properties and private jets of Russian tycoons who support Vladimir Putin’s government.

  Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan said that his country also will freeze the assets of Russian oligarchs with ties to Putin.

  France has already seized a yacht in the Mediterranean belonging to Igor Sechin, a close associate of Putin’s who runs Rosneft, the Russian state oil giant. 

  In one act of dissent though, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich announced that he is selling the Chelsea soccer club in England and that the net proceeds will go to victims of his country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Information War: The Kremlin forced Echo of Moscow, Russia’s flagship liberal radio station, to shut down its broadcast and website, closing a voice of freedom established after the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

  Aleksei Venediktov, the radio station’s longtime editor, said the station’s board of directors had “made the decision to liquidate the radio channel and website Echo of Moscow.” 

  Russian media outlets currently face fines or blockage for using words like “war” or “invasion.” Some are distributing outright propaganda.  The state-controlled Channel One said in one report that, “Footage continues to be circulated on the internet which cannot be described as anything but fake.” The anchor described pictures of destroyed Russian columns as  “unsophisticated virtual manipulations”.

War and Sports: Reports say China asked Russia to delay its invasion of Ukraine until after the Winter Olympics.

  But, joining the international alliance of opposition, the Winter Paralympic Games announced that they are barring Russian and Belarusian athletes.

The Spin Rack: Lawyers for the January 6^th investigating committee say then President Donald Trump and his allies committed potential crimes in their attempt to overturn the election by conspiring to defraud the United States and obstruct the counting of electoral votes. — The Shubert Organization announced it is re-naming its famous Cort Theater after the revered 91-year-old James Earl Jones. — A 52-year-old JetBlue pilot was taken off his plane in Buffalo yesterday when he was suspected of being drunk. His blood alcohol tested at four times the acceptable limit for a pilot.  

On Deadline: Two Danish freelancers working for The Daily Beast were wounded this week in Ukraine. Emil Filtenborg and Stefan Weichert were both hit by gunfire while in their car. Filtenborg posted a picture of his right leg in a cast with the caption, “Shit day at work.”

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