“About 100 diplomats, many from Western countries, walked out of a speech by Russia’s foreign minister at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Tuesday in protest over his country’s invasion of Ukraine,” the New York Times reports.

“Fissures appear to be forming between Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of the oligarch class who made billions of dollars while showing fealty to the autocratic leader but now see their fortunes threatened by Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine,” the Washington Post reports.

“The cracks are faint and fall short of suggesting any groundswell of oligarchic opposition to Putin… But expressions of unease that weeks ago seemed unthinkable have surfaced repeatedly in recent days.”

“The US intelligence community has made evaluating Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state of mind a top priority in recent days as it seeks to establish how that is affecting his handling of the rapidly escalating Ukraine crisis,“ CNN reports.

“The efforts come as longtime Putin-watchers have publicly speculated that his behavior has become increasingly erratic and irrational.”

“Every square today, no matter what it’s called, is going to be called Freedom Square, in every city of our country. No one is going to break us.”

— Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, quoted by Axios, speaking to the European Parliament as his translator began to choke up.

“With Ukraine holding Russia off longer than many U.S. officials had expected, President Biden now faces a great unanswered question — how to give Vladimir Putin an off-ramp to avoid even greater calamity,” Axios reports.

“A cornered, humiliated Putin could unleash untold pain on the world, from cyberattacks to nuclear threats. After enacting brutal sanctions, the White House now must consider how the invasion can end without a new catastrophe.”

“The initial stage of the war in Ukraine has confounded expectations. Russia’s military invasion failed in key objectives, upending predictions of a rout of Ukraine. Then, after years of avoiding direct confrontations with Moscow, Western nations are now directly punishing Russian President Vladimir Putin and his allies with truly devastating economic sanctions while openly supplying arms to Ukraine,” the Washington Post reports.

“But after five days of fighting, there is little sign that this conflict will end soon. Instead, the conflict appears to be moving to another phase, more unpredictable and dangerous than the first. Fighting in Ukraine is escalating, not scaling back, while the rhetoric between Russia and the West has reached levels of aggression not seen since the height of the Cold War.”

Axios: “A miles-long armored Russian military convoy nearing Kyiv and targeting of civilian areas in Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, may herald a new phase of fighting after six days of stiff Ukrainian resistance.”

“Finland’s Parliament is meeting Tuesday to discuss a petition calling for a vote on NATO membership, a move that comes amid a dramatic shift in public sentiment,” the Washington Post reports.

“Finland, which shares a long border with Russia, is a close NATO partner but not a member. Support for formally joining the military alliance has been low — until now.”

Associated Press: “For the second day in a row, the Kremlin raised the specter of nuclear war, announcing that its nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarines and long-range bombers had all been put on high alert, following President Vladimir Putin’s orders over the weekend.”

“Stepping up his rhetoric, Putin denounced the U.S. and its allies as an ‘empire of lies.’”

“A large explosion struck central Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, on Tuesday, directly in front of the city’s administrative building, creating a huge fireball that appeared in a video to engulf several cars driving through an area called Freedom Square,” the New York Times reports.

Washington Post: “Kharkiv remains under the control of Ukrainian government authorities, but the city is being ‘surrounded’ by Russian troops, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said Tuesday.”

After a classified briefing, Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chair Marco Rubio (R-FL) said Russian President Vladimir Putin is laying the groundwork for a “medieval siege” of Kyiv, Politico reports.

New York Times: “The Russian track record in the Syrian civil war, and in its own ruthless efforts to crush separatism in the Russian region of Chechnya, suggest an increasingly brutal campaign ahead.”

Axios: Ukraine war enters new, uglier phase as convoy advances on Kyiv.

“U.S. intelligence agencies have determined that Russian President Vladimir Putin is growing increasingly frustrated by his military struggles in Ukraine, and may see his only option as doubling down on violence,” NBC News reports.

“As the Russian economy teeters under unprecedented global sanctions and his purportedly superior military force appears bogged down, Putin has lashed out in anger at underlings, even as he remains largely isolated from the Kremlin due in part to concerns about Covid.”

“Russian President Vladimir Putin has been stripped of his honorary taekwondo black belt over his country’s invasion of Ukraine, a personal rebuke heaped on top of international economic and sporting sanctions,” Reuters reports.

New satellite images from Maxar Technologies show the Russian military convoy that has reached the outskirts of Kyiv is now more than 40 miles long, CNN reports.

The Economist: “Russia’s biggest problem appears to be logistics. A Western official says that Russia has particular problems with engineering units. Ukraine has blown up many bridges, and Russia has been unable to get bridging units through congested roads. Russian tanks and other vehicles lie abandoned on the roadside, either broken-down or out of fuel, suggesting supply lines are overstretched, and support units are unable to keep up. Marooned units are prime targets for ambushes. Ukrainian forces have no shortage of arms with which to strike them—in recent days, Denmark, Luxembourg and Finland became the latest European countries to say they would supply thousands of anti-tank missiles.”

“Nor has Russia secured the skies. Western officials thought that Russian missiles would wipe out Ukraine’s air defences—a network of radars and surface-to-air missiles—in the first hours of a war. In fact, the strikes were lighter than expected, possibly to conserve low stocks of precision munitions.”

“Russian billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska have broken ranks with the Kremlin and called for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine,” CNN reports.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) tweeted that “history is watching” Donald Trump’s praise of Vladimir Putin.

Said Christie: “No walking that back. History is watching.“

CNN: “Stiffer than expected Ukrainian resistance and Russia’s own logistical missteps have bogged down Russia’s advance, sparking a fragile optimism. The US has also continued sharing downgraded intelligence with the Ukrainians, including about Russian military moves, in an attempt to help Ukraine on the battlefield.”

“But intelligence and defense officials closely tracking the Russian campaign say that Putin still holds a number of moves in reserve that could devastate the Ukrainian resistance.”