according to the BBC news agency
The Russian army is trying to lay siege to Kiev, but is still facing a counterattack by Ukrainian forces.
The latest reports of the twentieth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine:
- Violent explosions have shaken the Ukrainian capital Kiev since yesterday. The Russian bombardment targeted residential buildings and a subway station.
- More than 4,000 people on the front lines of the war were evacuated on Monday, and more civilians are due to leave the war zone through “humanitarian crossings.”
- According to a US defense official, despite heavy bombardment by Russia, the advance of US forces in most parts has stopped.
Russia attacked Ukraine on the morning of Thursday, February 24 (March 5) from three directions: north, south and east, land, sea and air.
The British Defense Department says the Russian navy has cut off Ukraine’s access to maritime trade by controlling the Black Sea coast.
Battle of Kiev
Russian forces are trying to cut off communication with other regions by besieging the Ukrainian capital, and are moving towards it from several fronts.
An airstrike on a residential complex in the Obulon neighborhood has killed at least two people. According to relief workers, several residential buildings in the Svyatoshynsky district were also damaged by the Russian attack.
On Monday, Russian forces launched several attacks in the northwest of the city, around Bucha and Irpin, but according to the Institute for War Studies, their attempts to cross the Irpin River failed.
A long line of Russian armored vehicles is now scattered west of Kiev, with artillery and rocket launchers stationed there, so that the city is within their reach.
Ukrainian forces and volunteers are strengthening their defensive positions in the city.
There has been no attempt from Russia to attack east of Kiev. The Ukrainian generals believe that the rivers and swamps of these areas have made it difficult for them to attack.
Slow advance of Russian forces in the north
Although Russian forces have advanced on Kiev, their overall advance in the north has been slower than in southern Ukraine.
The attack on the capital began on Belarusian soil and continued westward through the Chernobyl, moving west along the Dnieper River.
Many Russian military vehicles are reported to be out of order or running low on fuel.
Clashes continue around the airport in the city of Hostomel, on the outskirts of Kiev, and the airport has been attacked several times.
Night airstrikes and food shortages continue in the third.
The United Nations is investigating the possibility of war crimes in Russian artillery attacks on the city of Kharkiv
Major advance in the south
Russian forces have made rapid advance east and west of the Crimean peninsula in southern Ukraine.
In the southeast, concerns about the plight of hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in the port of Mariupol are growing. Russia controls the east of the city and the west is controlled by Ukrainian forces.
The people of the city have been left without water, electricity, food and medicine for almost two weeks, and the bodies of those killed have been buried in mass graves.
Russian artillery has destroyed large parts of the city, while airstrikes continue. The Chechen leader says 5,000 Chechen troops are fighting alongside Russian forces near the city.
A convoy carrying humanitarian aid is to be sent to deliver “thousands of tons of water, medicine and food” to people trapped in the city in the extreme cold. According to local officials, 160 cars were allowed to leave the city on Monday.
In southern and southwestern Ukraine, Russian forces moved north in the direction of Zaporozhye. But according to the Institute for War Studies, because of the large number of troops involved in Mariol, they may not be able to capture the city.
The BBC’s Frank Gardner says the capture of the southwestern city of Edessa will be a major achievement for the Russians as it blocks Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea.
Russia’s advance in the East
Clashes in the Donetsk region continued. Russian forces are said to have made progress in the area.
The governor of Donetsk says that not much is left of the city of Volunakha as a result of the Russian attacks.
Clashes continue in Luhansk, and the Russian military has reportedly launched several unsuccessful attacks on Sverodontesk.
Dnipro was also the target of the attack. The city is of strategic importance, where, if fully advanced, Russian forces moving north and east will meet.
Millions flee Ukraine
According to the United Nations, nearly three million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the war, the worst and fastest asylum crisis in Europe since World War II.
According to UNICEF, about half of these IDPs are children or adolescents.
Taken from BBC News Agency
