Photo by ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images
The assault began on August 6, when thousands of Ukrainian soldiers, accompanied by armored vehicles, poured across the border and advanced several miles into Russia. By Monday, Kyiv said that it had captured some 1,000 square kilometers, and by Tuesday, it said it controlled more than 70 settlements.
The Ukrainian offensive — described as the biggest attack on Russian soil by a foreign enemy since World War II — caught Moscow by surprise, and the intense fighting there has forced more than 100,000 civilians to flee the area.
As Moscow scrambles to respond to the shocking incursion, President Joe Biden told reporters on Tuesday that the attack is “creating a real dilemma” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.