Russian tanks arrived on Thursday in the northeastern outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, which they are threatening to encircle after approaching its northern and western suburbs.
Envoys of the French Agency they saw columns of smoke to rise from the village of Skibin, a few hundred meters from the last dam of Ukrainian forces before the northeastern entrance to Kiev.
Ukrainian troops told AFP they had fought hard overnight to retain control of the last section of the highway before the capital, its main northeastern entrance.
“Military operations are under way in Scibin,” a soldier named Sergii told AFP, adding that a phalanx of Russian tanks had been partially destroyed.
Today at noon, a rain of Russian Grad missiles fell on the desert village of Velika Dimerka, about 5 km from the border with Kiev, some of which landed some twenty meters by the team of the French Agency.
The rockets hit many houses in the village, which has been approached by Russian troops in recent days and where Ukrainian forces have only a small presence.
“The Russians came in today in the morning in the village “, said a 38-year-old resident, Vassil Popov. “It’s scary, but what do you want to do, we live here and there is no place we can go or take refuge.”
After the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, Russian forces advanced on several fronts around Kyiv, causing Ukrainians to fear that sooner or later they would encircle their capital.
From the first days they managed to reach the northeastern outskirts of the capital, mainly near the cities of Irpin and Butsa, which have been intensively bombarded for more than a week and from where the inhabitants left en masse.
Northeast of Kiev, Russian tanks were launched in less than a week at least 80 km to reach the last days in the villages near Kyiv such as Velika Dimerka.
Around the pre-war city of Kiev, which had a population of nearly 3.5 million, Ukrainian authorities now have only roads leading south to evacuate civilians and supply the city.
According to the mayor of the Ukrainian capital Vitali Klitschko, half the population of the Kiev urban complex has left since the Russian invasion began.
“According to our information, one in two residents of Kiev has left the city. “Today, less than two million people are here,” he told Ukrainian television.
“However, Kyiv has been turned into a fortress,” Klitschko said on the 15th day of the Russian invasion. “Every road, every building, every checkpoint has been fortified.”
Russia launched an offensive on Ukrainian territory on February 24, calling it a “special military operation” that forced more than 2.3 million people to flee their homes and become refugees, according to the latest UN report released today. .
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