War in Ukraine: Further wave of attacks on Kyiv and other cities expected

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is now in its third week. And the situation keeps getting worse. An adviser to Ukraine’s chief of staff said the country is preparing for a new wave of attacks on Kyiv, Kharkiv and the Donbass regions. According to a media report, a Ukrainian air force base near Kyiv was destroyed by Russian rocket fire on Saturday morning. An ammunition depot in Wassylkiv was also hit, the Ukrainian branch of the Russian news agency Interfax quoted the mayor of the town as saying. Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv, stressed on Friday that the Ukrainian capital was well prepared for an encirclement by the Russian army: “Before the war, 3.5 million people lived in Kyiv. Now that some of Kyiv’s women and children are gone, we estimate that there are still almost 2 million people in Kyiv. And it’s very important to be there for the people. We have electricity, heating, gas. we have water What we will not accept are attacks that destroy logistics.” Ukrainian authorities on Friday released footage from a surveillance camera allegedly showing Russian troops arresting the mayor of Melitopol, a city in south-eastern Ukraine that was under siege during the invasion Russian control fell. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine accused Russia of violating international law by kidnapping Mayor Ivan Fedorov. The authenticity of the video cannot be verified independently. Fighting raged north-west of Kyiv on Saturday, with the bulk of Russian ground forces 25km from the center of the Ukrainian capital, while several other towns were encircled and came under heavy fire, according to the UK Defense Ministry.