Photo: SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP / Getty Images
The battle on the outskirts of Kiev rages on as Russian forces close in on the capital, while defiant Ukrainian soldiers set up traps for tanks in the streets to repel invaders.
Se believes that Vladimir Putin’s troops are only 15 miles from the city, as an air base just miles from Kiev is reported to have been hit by missiles.
The mayor of Vasylkiv said this Saturday that a Russian rocket had destroyed a Ukrainian airbase near the city and the images showed a fierce fire in the place.
According to the mayor of Vasylkiv, Natalia Balasynovych, a ammunition depot was also attacked when images on social networks seem mo show smoke coming out of the scene.
Kiev province police said a fire broke out in the depot after it was hit by six Russian missiles.
Air-raid sirens sounded throughout the capital this morning, as well as in other cities, with reports of explosions in Dnipro, as well as Mykolaiv, Nikolaev and Kropyvnytskyi.
As Putin’s invasion continues to stall, Ukraine’s defense unit has claimed that an enemy checkpoint in the direction of Kiev has been destroyed after being shot down from the air while declaring “our Air Force is working” in a tweet.
It comes as it is feared that Russia is planning another major attack on Kiev, as troops have been photographed moving into the city.
Satellite images show Russian tanks and other vehicles who are heading towards the capital, while other aerial images seem to reveal military equipment stationed outside the city.
Images from Maxar, which has been monitoring the invasion from the beginning, they were taken near the Antonov airport, a few kilometers from the city.
A large military convoy can be seen traveling on the main road.
The images appear to show that the convoy of Russian vehicles from 40 Miles who was detained near Kiev for nearly two weeks has now “dispersed”, as rocket artillery moves into firing positions for an assault on the city.
Meanwhile, Maxar Technologies said Russian troops have been firing artillery into residential areas, as new footage appears to show burning houses and buildings in the village of Moschun, just 17 miles from Kiev.
Ukraine remains defiant as officials say Kiev is “ready to fight”.
Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak described it as a “city under siege” and confirmed checkpoints were prepared.
“Kiev will stand until the end”, he added.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian parliamentarian has said that the fight for Kiev will be Russia’s new “Stalingrad” if they want it to be that way.
Speaking on the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme, Sviatoslav Yurah said: “It’s a huge city of millions and if the Russians try to enter, they will have a big fight on their hands: this will be their Stalingrad if they want to do it that way”.
“No one is going to surrender , I can definitely guarantee that.”
The President of Ukraine The Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky has said that his country has reached a “strategic turning point” in its conflict with Russia and urged the Ukrainians to be patient.
“We hope the invaders will fall faster. But this is life, this is war. This is a fight. Time is still needed. Patience is still needed”.
Zelensky insisted that the country is moving towards “victory” since the troops have reached a “point of inflection”.
“It is impossible to say for how many more days we must liberate our Ukrainian land. But it is possible to say that we will do it”, he added.
It is believed that around 2 million people, more than half of the residents of the city, have been evacuated.
Russian forces attacked from the west and east on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, when it seems that the siege of Kiev is underway.
Meanwhile, at least 1,582 civilians have been massacred in the besieged city of Mariupol, after 12 days of shelling uninterrupted Russians, revealed his advice.
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