WEB DESK
Russian forces are bearing down on the Ukrainian capital after attacks on cities and military bases around the country. Ukraine’s president says his country will continue resisting.
As Russian troops advance on Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he will remain in the city and was not giving up.
“We will not put down weapons; we will defend our state,” he said in a video filmed outside his office Saturday morning.
Zelenskyy had earlier rejected an offer from the US to take him to safety. “The fight is here,” he said. The Ukrainian leader has described himself as a “main target” for Russia.
Away from the capital, Ukrainian officials said Russian cruise missiles fired from the Black Sea had struck the northeastern cities of Sumy, Poltava, and the southern port city of Mariupol, where heavy fighting was reported on its outskirts.
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“Heavy fighting is taking place near Mariupol,” Mykhailo Podolyak, Zelenskyy’s adviser, told a briefing Saturday morning, adding that that Russia considers it a priority to seize the south.
Podolyak said as of Saturday morning, fighting is underway in Kherson, a city located to the north of Crimea, and in the Black Sea ports of Mykolaiv and Odesa.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that Russian armed forces had targeted Ukraine’s military infrastructure with air- and sea-based cruise missiles.
Officials in Kyiv have said that street fighting against Russian forces is underway and urged residents to protect their own safety.
People were advised in a statement to remain in shelters, stay away from windows and balconies and to protect themselves against flying debris or bullets.
Reuters news agency reported witness accounts of shelling in central Kyiv and gunfire heard close to the government headquarters.
The Ukrainian military has also said fighting was taking place near a military unit to the west of the city center.
A missile has hit an apartment block at 6a Lobanovsky Street, Kyiv city.
“A missile hit an apartment block at 6a Lobanovsky Street. Emergency services are going there,” Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko posted on Telegram, Ukrinform reports.
As the State Emergency Service of Ukraine wrote on Telegram, the missile hit a multi-storey apartment block (17-18 floor). No victims have been reported so far. Evacuation is underway.
Twelve members and three units of equipment of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine work on the scene.