Russian forces have moved about 5 kilometers (3 miles) closer to Kyiv in the last 24 hours, according to a senior US defense official, as attacks in western Ukraine signaled a new direction in the war.
After days of immobilization, the Russian army could be so close to almost 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the city center, writes Skynews. In addition to advancing on the northwestern route to Kyiv, troops are approaching along two parallel lines east of the capital.
In fact, as stated by the brother of the mayor of Kiev, the attack on the Ukrainian capital can happen “at any moment.”
Vladimir Klitschko, a member of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, a former boxing champion and brother of the mayor of Kiev, told CNN that Russian troops had attacked areas across Ukraine today, targeting the capital, Kiev. .
“In the coming days, we expect a major attack in the capital. They are reconstituted. They try to find different strategies and try to find the right way and the right time. “Every hour counts, and then we expect an attack on the capital at any time, especially, as I said, in the coming days,” he said.
He added that the will of the Ukrainian people remains strong, but needs support.
“We have a lot of equipment, military equipment and we will do everything possible, we try to surpass the Russian army as much as we can. I do not know how long we will endure, but we will endure as long as we can. What is really needed is international support. “You have to isolate Russia and the Russian economy.”
At the same time, US intelligence reports say some troops may have returned to the northeastern city. Samibut it is not clear why.
The Chernigovnortheast of the capital, is now isolated, but the Russian army has not passed through this city, with fierce fighting reported as the Ukrainians counterattack.
At the same time, its mayor Odessa said today that Russian forces may soon encircle the southern Ukrainian port city on three sides.
Mayor Gennady Truchhanov has vowed that Russian forces will seek to advance from occupied territories in Ukraine’s Mykolayev region into the separatist-controlled Transnistrian region of Moldova, where Russian troops are based. Such a move could cut off Odessa from the rest of Ukraine.
“We also believe that while this is happening, Russian amphibious vessels may surround us from the sea,” he added.
Meanwhile, the besieged southern port city Mariupol is surrounded.
The Russian military has launched a high-precision, long-range attack on two military air bases in the Ukrainian cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk, rendering them non-operational, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
He noted that since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine Russian forces have destroyed more than 3,210 military infrastructure and equipment of Ukraine.
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The cities of Dipnro and Lutsk were hit for the first time by the Russians
Cities were targeted for the first time today by Russian raids Dipro and Lutsk in Ukraine.
One person has died in Dipro, according to the Ukrainian Emergency Services (SES).
“At around 6:10 a.m., there were three air raids on the city, hitting a kindergarten and an apartment building,” SES said. A shoe factory was also hit, causing it to be engulfed in flames.
The Institute of Physics and Technology in Kharkov, where an experimental nuclear reactor is located, was targeted by the Russian military late at night.
Pro-Russian separatists occupied the city of Volnovacha
Earlier, Konashenkov said pro-Russian separatist rebels had captured the Ukrainian city of Volnovacha, north of Mariupol, a port city in the Sea of ​​Azov that has been under siege by the Russian military for days.
Volnovacha is considered of strategic importance as it is the northern gateway to Mariupol.
The TASS news agency, citing an anonymous source, reported that about 222,000 people had fled from Ukraine to Russia and the two breakaway provinces in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk.
Pictures of disaster in Mariupol set remains under siege while the explosions are continuous.
At the same time, Russian forces today struck a psychiatric hospital near the city of Izium in eastern Ukraine, as announced by local authorities.
Olek Shinehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said 330 people were in hospital and 73 had been evacuated. The number of victims is being determined, he said, referring to a “brutal attack on civilians”.
“It is a crime against civilians, a genocide against the Ukrainian nation,” Shinehubov wrote in the Telegram.
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