RUSSIA has unleashed a devastating assault on Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv after Vladimir Putin reportedly ordered his forces to seize it "at any cost".

The eastern city – which is just 25 miles from the Russian border – has already seen some of the bloodiest fighting of war as Moscow renewed its offensive last night with a barrage of strikes.

It comes as the war has now been raging for seven days and the world's eyes remain on the massed 40-mile long Russian convoy outside of Kyiv.

Ukraine can expect further bloodshed today after Putin warned residents of the capital to leave ahead of "high precision strikes".

Across the wartorn country, defenders continue to mount a staunch resistance to the invader.

But it is feared Russia may soon begin to use even more brutal tactics.

And some of these are already being felt in Kharkiv which has come under missile attack by Russian bombers.

Russia has yet to win a major victory or capture a city – and are believed to be staking their efforts on Kharkiv.

Putin's generals are understood to have been ordered to take the city at all costs.

Footage from this morning showed a massive explosion ripping through the city centre – and buildings including the city's police station on fire.

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Putin's forces also managed to land paratroopers in the city triggered running battles on the city streets.

"Russian airborne troops landed in Kharkiv… and attacked a local hospital," the Ukrainian army said in a statement on messaging app Telegram.

"There is an ongoing fight between the invaders and the Ukrainians."

Ukraine also accused Russia of firing sixteen missiles from bombers at the city, while amateur footage showed massed field guns outside of Kharkiv.

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At least 21 people were killed and 112 wounded in shelling over the last 24 hours, said regional governor Oleg Synegubov .

The siege of Kharkiv has drawn comparisons to the massacres of civilians in Sarajevo in the 1990s and condemnation for what President Volodymyr Zelensky called a "war crime".

Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Minister said: "Practically there are no areas left in Kharkiv where an artillery shell has not yet hit."

It comes as…

• Russia is preparing to unleash a new assault on Kyiv after residents were told to leave
• Joe Biden issued a speech blasting Putin – but also managed to call Ukrainians "Iranians" in yet another blunder
• The dictator of Belarus accidentally revealed that Moldova could be the next country to be invaded.
• Putin's nuclear forces held nuclear drills with subs and land-based missiles, the country's navy said.
• Russian children were arrested at an anti-war demo in as Putin cracks down on dissent
• Russian marines mutinied on a warship as they refused to fight against Ukraine
• A boy is fighting for his life, unaware that his sister and parents were shot dead by Russians.

It came as US President Joe Biden branded Vladimir Putin a "dictator".

In his first State of the Union address, he warned the West's sanction campaign to cripple Russia's economy would escalate and its oligarchs were being targeted.

Biden hailed the resolve of the Western alliance and voiced solidarity with Ukraine as lawmakersgave a standing ovation to the Ukrainian people.

"A Russian dictator, invading a foreign country, has costs around the world," he said.

The president, who had earlier spoken with Zelenskyy on the phone, announced new measures against Russia and its wealthy elite with a new task force to go after the "crimes" of Russian oligarchs.

Biden said Putin's aggression was "premeditated and totally unprovoked" – but hailed the resolve of the Western alliance in responding with brutal sanctions.

He repeated his commitment that no American troops would be sent to Ukraine to confront the invading forces.

However, a lack of will to send foreign troops into battle has given Russia space to press on with its assault on Ukrainian cities.

Elsewhere, four people including a child were killed when homes were hit by a Russian missile in Zhytomyr, which is around 90 mils west of Kyiv.

Anton Gerashchenko said residential buildings were hit near the base of the 95th Airborne Brigade in Zhytomyr.

"So far, four people have died. Including a child," said Gerashchenko, who is an adviser to the interior minister of Ukraine.

Video from the scene showed firefighters picking through the smouldering wreckage of what remained of the homes.

Flames continued to pour from buildings in the aftermath of the missile strike on the city 75 miles west of the capital Kyiv.

Images shared on social media also claim to show damage to a nearby maternity hospital.

Later, the Interior Ministry said the missiles fired at the base were launched from Belarus.

It comes as other harrowing images show the aftermath of a Russian attack on the town of Borodyanka, about 35 miles northwest of Kyiv.

Video shows major damage to two large apartment blocks, which surround a courtyard where the Pinocchio Kindergarten is located.

Buildings are on fire or smouldering after the attack but it's unknown if anyone was killed.

At least 136 people, including 13 children, now have been killed in Ukraine since the invasion began on February 24, the UN has said.

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Meanwhile in Kyiv, at least five people were killed after Russian missiles rained down on the city, hitting a Holocaust memorial and the biggest TV mast in the Ukrainian capital.

As they geared up to try once more to take the city, the Russian issued a chilling warning for Ukrainians to flee parts of Kyiv.

The attack on the Babyn Yar memorial, the site of one of the Nazis' deadliest individual war crimes, sparked outrage across Ukraine.

Between September 29 and 30, 1941, the Nazis and their collaborators murdered more than 33,000 Jews, dumping their bodies in a ravine.

It was the largest single massacre in the history of the Holocaust up to that point.

Decrying Russia's apparent indiscriminate targeting of a non-military site in Kyiv, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted: "To the world: what is the point of saying 'never again' for 80 years, if the world stays silent when a bomb drops on the same site of Babyn Yar?

"At least 5 killed. History repeating…"

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described the strike as "evil and barbaric".

Britain's ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, tweeted: "In case anyone bought Putin's 'denazification' objective, here's the stark staring proof of its sickening hollowness."

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank on Tuesday said it was were racing to provide billions of dollars of additional funding to Ukraine.

Footage showed a fireball erupting next to the TV transmitter tower where the Holocaust memorial is located – temporarily knocking out all broadcasts.

The interior ministry said equipment had been damaged and "channels won't work for a while", but services resumed soon after.

It comes after Vladimir Putin's defence ministry warned targets in the centre of Ukraine's capital will be hit with "high precision weapons".

Still lurking outside the city is a 40-mile column of Russian armour and artillery with fears looming of a new onslaught.

Russian forces are believed to be aiming to seize the capital and topple the government led by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

US defence officials have said morale is flagging in some Russian units, and that some of Putin's forces have surrendered in Ukraine without a fight.

The same official is quoted as saying Russia's onslaught on Kyiv has stalled.

Fears are spreading that Russia will turn to more indiscriminate bombing in a bid to weaken the Ukrainian resolve.

Meanwhile, residents armed themselves with guns and Molotov cocktails as they prepared for what could be a prolonged siege.

Makeshift barricades of tyres, trucks and wheelie bins have been erected ahead of the defence of Kyiv.

Signs also appeared in the capital which read: "Russian soldier, go to f***".

Others read "Putin is lost" and "The entire world is with Ukraine".

Western officials fear Putin could unleash barbaric new attacks as the invasion is not seen as going to plan.

Russian commanders are believed to have thought they could seize Ukraine within 48 hours.

But now the invasion has lasted almost a week and they have so far failed to capture a major city.

Putin's growing frustration could lead to an even more vicious and indiscriminate campaign to break their resistance, analysts fear.

Ukrainian authorities have accused the Russian army of carrying out strikes on residential areas in several cities, including the eastern city of Kharkiv, where fierce fighting is taking place.

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