Russian military column scattered in front of Kiev
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According to British intelligence, a large Russian military column partially dispersed north of Kiev. This is likely to aid a Russian attempt to encircle the Ukrainian capital, the UK Ministry of Defense said.
It could also be a Russian attempt to reduce its own vulnerability to Ukrainian counterattacks. These would already have exacted a heavy price from the Russians.
According to the British Ministry of Defense, most of the Russian ground forces are located about 25 kilometers from the center of Kiev. The British news service BBC reports that there is shelling and heavy fighting in small towns northwest and northeast of the Ukrainian capital.
According to Russian news agencies, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Saturday morning that it “will continue the offensive in Ukraine on a broad front.” According to the BBC, Ukrainians defend their city with weapons and drones. At the same time, the Russian military faces logistical difficulties and supply bottlenecks. According to CNN, shelling could be heard for “minutes” from a distance in Kiev on Saturday morning.
Ukraine is preparing for a new wave of attacks in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Donbass areas, an adviser to Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff has said. However, Ukraine does not assume that Belarus will join the Russian invasion forces.
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Air base near Kiev apparently destroyed
An air force base in Vasylkiv, near Kiev, and the Ukrainian armed forces’ intelligence center in Brovary were out of action, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow on Saturday.
An ammunition depot was also attacked in Wassylkiv, the city’s mayor was quoted as saying by the Ukrainian branch of the Russian Interfax news agency. This information has not yet been independently verified.
The BBC is also reporting fighting in the city, which is just 13 kilometers from Kiev. Ukrainian forces would attempt to repel the advancing Russian armored column with heavy artillery.
Russian military column scattered in front of Kiev
According to British intelligence, a large Russian military column partially dispersed north of Kiev. This is likely to aid a Russian attempt to encircle the Ukrainian capital, the UK Ministry of Defense said.
It could also be a Russian attempt to reduce its own vulnerability to Ukrainian counterattacks. These would already have exacted a heavy price from the Russians.
[Alle aktuellen Entwicklungen im Ukraine-Krieg können Sie hier in unserem Newsblog verfolgen.]
escape the cities
According to information from Kiev on Saturday morning, more than a dozen escape corridors were planned to rescue civilians from besieged Ukrainian cities. According to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, there should also be corridors to several places northwest of Kiev, including Hostomel, Makariv and Borodyanka. The Russian army has been based there for days and is still trying to blockade the capital from the west.
In addition, there were new evacuation attempts in the northeast of the country, including from the city of Sumy. Vereshchuk said he hopes Russia will respect the promised ceasefire to allow civilians to evacuate. (with Reuters, dpa)
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