Trump's Big Night.

Look no further than a beehive.

1. As dawn broke in Ukraine today, blasts were reported across Kyiv and air-raid sirens blared in cities across the country. A vast convoy of Russian tanks and mechanized vehicles continued its slow but steady advance on Kyiv, moving to encircle the capital in advance of what officials fear could be a brutal and prolonged siege of the city of nearly three million. Russian forces may have suffered heavy losses over six days of fighting, and some might be dealing with low morale, Ukrainian and U.S. officials said. Still, the Russian troops are steadily moving to surround other key cities in Ukraine’s south and east, with attacks reported on hospitals, schools and critical infrastructure. They are laying siege to Kharkiv, a city of 1.5 million where families now must cower day and night in bunkers as supplies of food and water run low. (Source: nytimes.com)

2. Vastly outmatched by Russia's military, in terms of raw numbers and firepower, Ukraine's own air force is still flying and its air defenses are still deemed to be viable - a fact that is baffling military experts. After the opening salvos of the war on Feb. 24, analysts expected the Russian military to try to immediately destroy Ukraine's air force and air defenses. That would have been "the logical and widely anticipated next step, as seen in almost every military conflict since 1938," wrote the RUSI think-tank in London, in an article called "The Mysterious Case of the Missing Russian Air Force." Instead, Ukrainian air force fighter jets are still carrying out low-level, defensive counter-air and ground-attack sorties. Russia is still flying through contested airspace. (Sources: reuters.com, rusi.org)

3. When Russia seized Crimea in 2014, President Vladimir V. Putin was so worried about Russian casualty figures coming to light that authorities accosted journalists who tried to cover funerals of some of the 400 troops killed during that one-month campaign. But Moscow may be losing that many soldiers daily in Mr. Putin’s latest invasion of Ukraine, American and European officials said. The mounting toll for Russian troops exposes a potential weakness for the Russian president at a time when he is still claiming, publicly, that he is engaged only in a limited military operation in Ukraine’s separatist east. No one can say with certainty just how many Russian troops have died since last Thursday, when they began what is turning into a long march to Kyiv, the capital. Some Russian units have put down their arms and refused to fight, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Major Ukrainian cities have withstood the onslaught thus far. (via nytimes.com)