Ukraine: Russians try to take Kiev – attacks repelled

IAccording to presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak, there are fighting with Russian soldiers in the Ukrainian capital Kiev and in the south of the country. The Ukrainian military is successfully fending off the Russian attacks, Podolyak said on Saturday.

Small groups of Russian soldiers tried to enter Kyiv and engaged in skirmishes with Ukrainian troops to gain control of the capital and crush the country’s leadership, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s adviser said. However, the Russian military had not succeeded in gaining ground, and the Ukrainian troops still had control over the situation in Kiev.

Russian troops also targeted southern Ukraine. Intense fighting was reported from Kherson north of Crimea and from the Black Sea ports of Mykolaiv, Odessa and the Mariupol area. Taking the south is a priority for Russia, but has not made any significant gains there. “Ukraine didn’t just resist. Ukraine wins,” said Podolyak.

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President Zelenskyi reaffirmed that the country’s military would withstand the Russian invasion. In a video recorded on the street in central Kiev, Zelenskyy said he had not left the city. He dismissed rumors that the military would lay down arms. “We will protect our country,” he said. “Our weapon is our truth, and our truth is that it is our country, our state, our children. And we will defend all of that.”

The Ukrainian authorities in Kiev warn of street fighting in the capital in view of the Russian invasion. “Combat operations are now raging on the streets of our city. We ask you to keep calm and be as careful as possible!” It said in the message on Saturday. Anyone who is in a bunker should stay there. In the event of an air alert, people should go to the nearest bunker. The city released a map about it.

“If you’re at home, don’t go to the window, don’t go on the balconies.” People should also cover themselves to protect themselves from injuries. In Kiev there is a curfew from 10 p.m. (9 p.m. CET) to 7 a.m. (6 a.m. CET) in the morning.

Shots and fights had previously been reported from the outskirts of the capital on Saturday night. Russian troops attempted to attack thermal power station No. 6, an agency communications office said. The Ukrainian army is defending itself. The power plant is located in the extreme north-east of the metropolis on the right bank of the Dnipro River. There were also reports of explosions and automatic weapon fire from other locations on the right bank.

Airborne action on military airport

According to the Ukrainian military, Russian troops attacked a barracks on the left bank. The attack on the post on the Kiev Victory Street was repulsed. There is no confirmation of this at first. The barracks are about seven kilometers from the center of the metropolis. Photos showed bright firelight over the scene of the fighting. Explosions and gunfire could be heard in videos shared on social networks. An AFP journalist reported loud explosions in central Kiev.

With an airborne operation, Russian troops are apparently also trying to take control of the Wassylkiv military airport south of Kiev. Ukrainian soldiers were killed and injured in the fierce fighting, the mayor of the small town, Nataliya Balasynovych, told Ukrainian media. Many Russian paratroopers had landed. “We have casualties. We have many injuries. It’s 200, unfortunately,” she said. The air base is located about 40 kilometers from the center of Kiev.

On Thursday there was a similar attempt to land at the Hostomel airfield northwest of the Ukrainian capital, but according to the Kiev army it was repelled. During the fighting for Vasylkiv, the Ukrainian army claimed to have shot down a Russian Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft with paratroopers. “Revenge for Luhansk 2014,” Chief of Staff Valeriy Zalushnyi wrote on Twitter.

Moscow: Russian army takes Ukrainian city of Melitopol

According to the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russian troops have taken control of the small Ukrainian town of Melitopol in the south-east of the country. This was announced by Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov on Saturday morning in Moscow. Soldiers therefore took all measures to ensure the safety of the population and “to rule out provocations by the Ukrainian secret services and nationalists”. The city is located near the Sea of ​​Azov.

It was previously said that Russian units had first landed in Azov on the Azov Sea. They then set off and finally occupied Melitopol “without resistance”.

The Ukrainian side said on Friday evening that the city was surrounded and small groups of Russian soldiers had entered the city. There were reports of fighting on the outskirts of Melitopol as early as Friday afternoon.

At the beginning of Saturday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the population to resolutely defend the city of Kiev. “The fate of the country is being decided right now,” he said in a video message on his Telegram channel.

“The enemy will use all their strength to break our resistance,” said Zelenskyy. “Tonight they are preparing to storm Kiev.” He called on all Ukrainians to “stop the enemy wherever possible”. The population should remove all markings that saboteurs put on streets and houses. “Burn the enemy military technology with everything at your disposal!”

Klitschko: Explosions in the evening at the power plant

Kiev’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko had also warned the residents of the Ukrainian capital of a “very difficult night”. “The situation is threatening for Kiev – without exaggeration,” he wrote on Friday evening in the Telegram news channel.

The city’s bridges were secured with soldiers. There are checkpoints not only at the city limits. “I thank the residents of the city for their willingness to defend the capital and the country (…).”

According to Klitschko, there were five explosions three to five minutes apart in the evening near a thermal power plant in the north of the city. Rescue workers are on their way there. A resident of the Troyeschyna district, where this power plant is located, wrote to the German Press Agency in the evening that heavy shelling could be heard. He’s getting more and more intense. “I hear powerful bursts of bursts, and explosions. It’s very close and very scary.”

Odessa under fire

Russia launched a major attack on Ukraine on Thursday morning. Within a few hours, Russian ground troops had then advanced to the greater Kiev area. According to Kiev, 137 people were killed and hundreds more injured on the first day of fighting. According to the Defense Ministry, 2,800 Russian soldiers were killed. Moscow has not yet given any information on the number of victims on the Russian side.

According to Ukrainian information on Friday, Russian soldiers fired rockets at the region around the port city of Odessa on the Black Sea coast. Several rockets were fired from the sea at border protection systems, the Odessa border guard said. Infrastructure in the Mykolaiv region is also affected. Several observation posts were damaged. It is feared that Russian troops could advance to Odessa – a strategically important city.

After heavy fighting, Russian troops crossed the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine on Friday evening. The regional administration announced that this would give them access to the strategically important city of Cherson. The enemy attacked with heavy forces and suffered heavy losses. Eventually, however, the defenders would have lost control. The region’s leadership is making every effort to maintain order and save lives. The city with almost 300,000 inhabitants plays an important role in protecting the port city of Odessa in the southwest of the country.

Ukraine: 3,500 Russian soldiers killed since war began

Ukrainian forces say they have inflicted heavy casualties on Russian troops since the invasion began. 3,500 Russian soldiers were killed and 200 others captured, the Ukrainian military said on Saturday. In addition, 14 aircraft, eight helicopters and 102 tanks and more than 530 other military vehicles were destroyed. The information cannot be independently verified.

Heavy fighting is going on in different parts of the country, the statement said. Russian fighter jets attacked Sumy in the north-east, Mariupol in the south and Poltava in the east. Civilian targets were also targeted in the capital Kiev.