Kyiv: On day four after Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine killing over 200 people, multiple Ukrainian cities and villages are being shelled, attacked with missiles, helicopters, tanks and ships, while ground forces invading, as capital Kyiv, and second largest Kharkiv try repelling imminent siege.
The Ukrainian military blew up the bridge between the towns of Bucha and Irpin to slow down Russian troops, in Kyiv Oblast, media reports showed with picture of a large plume of smoke rising out of the area.
Apart from Kyiv, second largest city Kharkiv is under heavy attack. Many Indian students are still there and they have been posting on Facebook to update parents and friends. Mediapersons have been trying to keep speaking to them live, but as shelling continues, they face network problems.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: "Russia should be stripped of its right to vote in UN Security Council. Russia's attacks on civilian population and infrastructure have signs of genocide and merit an international tribunal." Zelensky posted a video address.
At least four explosions were heard near the center of Kyiv. Air raid sirens were activated through the night. Russian troops have been blocked off in Bucha, according to kyivindependent.
The air force has shot down a cruise missile fired at Kyiv from Belarus, Ukraine's top military commander Valerii Zaluzhnyi reported on Facebook. He called it “yet another war crime” by Belarus and Russia.
A 16-story building in Kyiv's outer Troeshchina district has been blasted by an explosion, igniting seven nearby parked cars, according to the Kyiv City State Administration.
Two Danish journalists were shot in the town of Okhtyrka but have been taken to the hospital and are “out of danger,” according to the Daily Beast. Okhtyrka has seen some fierce fighting since the invasion began.
Russian troops have broken through into the center of Kharkiv, Oleh Sinehubov, the head of the regional government, posted on Facebook at 7.35 am (local time).
The Ukrainians are waging street battles with the Russians, civilians have been advised not to leave their homes or shelters.
Several Ukrainian news outlets and Telegram channels posted photos of a burning nine-story residential building in Bucha, Kyiv Oblast. Reports cited sources in the President's Office and among other authorities that the fire was caused by shelling.
Russian forces fired at radioactive waste disposal site in Kyiv. The Radon Association recorded the shelling on its surveillance cameras.
According to the preliminary assessment of the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, there is no threat to people outside the sanitary protection zone.
Column of Russian special forces defeated near Hostomel “Kadyrovites”, named so for the Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov.
According to Channel 24 sources, the Ukrainian military blew up an echelon of 56 tanks that included General Magomed Tushayev, who was killed, as per kyivindependent reports.
Russian TV channel Dozhd reported intense shelling in Kharkiv, which is 33 km outside Kyiv. It is under heavy assault, according to several eyewitnesses who spoke to the Kyiv Independent.
The town's mayor confirmed that Russia has bombed an oil storage depot. One eyewitness described the sound of small explosions, each followed by a plume of flames. The smoke is extreme, the eyewitness said.
A second eyewitness said they heard a roar that sounded like thunder, followed by loud fireworks, leading them to believe that shelling has begun, the report by Kyiv Independent said.
A third eyewitness who lives near Demiivska Street in Kyiv said he could see the explosions in Vasylkiv from their house.
A loud explosion rang out near the Paton Bridge connecting Kyiv's left and right bank, followed by fire, according to the media.
CNN reported that two large explosions lit up the night sky to the southwest of Kyiv with one detonation that appeared to be approximately 20 km from the city center. (UNI)
