Zelensky said peace talks with Russia are beginning to "sound more realistic" even as explosions rocked the city of Kyiv during dawn.

Russian forces pounded Ukrainian cities and edged closer to the capital, Kyiv, in a relentless bombardment that keeps deepening the humanitarian crisis in this war, now in its third week.

Ukrainian officials say they have killed a fourth Russian general in a sign that Moscow's commanders are increasingly being forced to lead from the front.

Kyiv officials said Russian forces shelled an apartment block on Wednesday morning, as the city imposed a 35-hour curfew during "a dangerous moment". Two people were injured when a 12-storey residential building was hit in the Shevchenko district

The deputy mayor of Mariupol reported that Russian troops are holding 400 people, including doctors and patients, "like hostages" inside a hospital in the city.

NATO, not “any time soon”
Zelenskyy told European leaders gathered in London on Tuesday that he realizes NATO has no intention of accepting Ukraine.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Ukraine is not going to join NATO “any time soon,” after Zelensky acknowledged Ukraine would not become part of the Western military alliance.

On Wednesday, Johnson — one of the most vocal Western supporters of Ukraine — said “the reality of the position” is that “there is no way Ukraine is going to join NATO any time soon.” But he said the decision had to be for Ukraine to make.

U.S. President Joe Biden is due to announce on Wednesday that the U.S. will deliver more military assistance to Ukraine, including anti-armor and air defense weapons. Zelensky is scheduled to speak to Congress Wednesday via video.

Support for Ukraine
The leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia traveled to Kyiv by train Tuesday in a show of support for Ukraine. Janez Jansa of Slovenia described the visit as sending the message that Ukraine is a European country that deserves to be accepted into the European Union one day. The leaders travelled to the embattled Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy even as bombardment by the Russian military edged closer to the center of the city.

The leader of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States appealed on Tuesday for humanitarian aid as well as weapons to help Ukrainians fight Russia’s invasion. The Most Rev. Borys Gudziak asked what good it does to feed the citizens of Ukraine if the people are dead and if their homes are no more.

Journalist killed
A veteran videographer and a 24-year-old Ukrainian journalist working for Fox News were both killed when their vehicle came under fire outside of Kyiv, the network said on Tuesday.

Video journalist Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, died along with Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova, 24, who was helping the Fox crews navigate the country. Another reporter, Benjamin Hall, was injured. Zakrzewski was a veteran war photographer who had covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria for Fox.

Fox News Channel cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski while on assignment with colleagues (Pierre Zakrzewski/Fox News via AP)

On Sunday, documentary filmmaker Brent Renaud, another veteran of covering war zones, died when Russian forces opened fire on his vehicle in Irpin, also outside of Kyiv.

About 20,000 people have managed to escape the besieged port of Mariupol in private cars, the Ukrainian interior ministry said on Wednesday, but hundreds of thousands remain trapped by Russian shelling, many without heating, power or running water.

Ukrainian officials estimate that more than 2,500 residents have been killed in the fighting and at least 200,000 are in urgent need of evacuation.
-Reuters/BBC/AP