Early Saturday, Russian troops seized Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, sparking street fighting as municipal officials warned citizens to seek shelter. The country’s president turned down an American invitation to flee, insisting on staying. “The battle has begun,” he declared.
The skirmishes came after two days of fighting in which hundreds of people were killed and bridges, schools, and apartment buildings were destroyed. Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to US authorities, is hell-bent on overthrowing Ukraine’s government and replacing it with his own administration.
Early Saturday, Russian troops seized Ukraine’s capital, sparking street fighting as municipal officials warned citizens to seek shelter. The country’s president turned down an American invitation to flee, insisting on staying. “The battle has begun,” he declared.
Russian Army entered Kyiv
The skirmishes came after two days of fighting in which hundreds of people were killed and bridges, schools, and apartment buildings were destroyed. Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to US authorities, is hell-bent on overthrowing Ukraine’s government and replacing it with his own administration.
Residents in Kyiv were advised to seek shelter, stay away from windows, and take steps to avoid flying debris or gunfire, according to city officials. The Kremlin agreed to meet with Kyiv, but it appeared to be a ruse to extract concessions from the embattled Zelenskyy rather than a move toward a diplomatic settlement. The Russian military extended its assault on Friday, claiming the city of Melitopol in southern Ukraine. In the haze of conflict, it was still unclear how much of Ukraine is still under Ukrainian control and how much Russian soldiers have taken.
As the combat continued, Ukraine’s military claimed to have shot down a Russian transport jet carrying paratroopers near Vasylkiv, a city 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Kyiv, according to a senior American intelligence officer. There was no way of knowing how many people were on board. Transport planes have the capacity to transport up to 125 paratroopers. According to two American sources with firsthand knowledge of the situation in Ukraine, a second Russian military transport plane was shot down near Bila Tserkva, some 50 miles (85 kilometers) south of Kyiv. The Russian military has been silent on both planes.
As the invasion resonated across the world’s economy and energy sources, the US and other global powers placed ever-tougher sanctions on Russia, threatening to strike ordinary people even harder. According to United Nations officials, millions of people could evacuate Ukraine. Russia has been sanctioned by sports leagues, and the popular Eurovision singing contest has barred it from competing in the finals in Italy in May.
Russia remained unfazed throughout, vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding that it halt fighting Ukraine and evacuate its soldiers immediately. Although the veto was predicted, the US and its backers felt that the endeavor would underscore Moscow’s international isolation. With China, India, and the United Arab Emirates abstaining, Russia’s invasion of its smaller, militarily weaker neighbor was met with substantial but not unanimous criticism.
NATO to safeguard its Members
Meanwhile, NATO has decided to send sections of its response force to the east for the first time to help safeguard its members. NATO did not specify how many troops will be sent, only that land, sea, and air power would be used.
The second day of Russia’s invasion, Europe’s largest ground combat since World War II, focused on Kyiv, where Associated Press correspondents heard explosions beginning before sunrise. Gunshots were heard in many locations. In the evening, a loud boom was heard in Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the central Kyiv area that was the epicenter of protests that led to the 2014 fall of a Kremlin-friendly President. The cause was unknown at the time. According to Mayor Vitaly Klitschko, five explosions occurred near a major power plant in Kyiv’s eastern suburbs. There was no immediate word on what caused them, and no power disruptions were reported.
It was unclear how many people had died in total. On the first full day of fighting, Ukrainian officials reported at least 137 deaths on their side, while Russian officials claimed hundreds. There were no casualty estimates reported by Russian officials. Officials from the United Nations stated 25 civilians had died, largely as a result of shelling and airstrikes, and that 1,00,000 people had fled their homes. If the battle worsens, they anticipate that up to four million people could leave.
Mr. Zelenskyy tweeted that he spoke with US President Joe Biden on the phone about “strengthening sanctions, concrete defense support, and an antiwar coalition.” Mr. Biden signed a document late Friday allowing up to $350 million in extra security aid for Ukraine, increasing the total amount of security assistance approved for Ukraine to $1 billion in the last year. It was unclear how quickly the supplies would be delivered.
After telling European leaders in a phone call on Thursday that he was Russia’s No. 1 target and that they might not see him alive again, Mr. Zelenskyy’s whereabouts were kept a secret. Later, his administration posted a video of him standing outside the Presidential office with senior advisers, stating that he and other government officials will remain in the capital.
Mr. Zelenskyy has previously volunteered to negotiate on one of Putin’s core demands: that Ukraine declare itself neutral and relinquish its NATO ambitions. According to the Kremlin, Kyiv agreed to meet in Minsk at first, but later changed its mind and indicated it preferred Warsaw, after which communication was cut off. Later, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Kyiv will examine Saturday’s prospects for talks.
The US and Western allies had been expecting the assault for weeks, and Mr. Putin had denied it for nearly as long. He claimed that the West had forced him into this position by refusing to negotiate Russia’s security demands.
“We would find it simpler to agree with you than with that gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who have holed up in Kyiv and have taken the entire Ukrainian people prisoner,” Mr. Putin said, giving a glimpse into how the increasingly isolated Mr. Putin perceives Ukraine and its leadership.
The Kremlin connects members of Ukrainian right-wing groups with neo-Nazis, playing on Russian nostalgia for World War II heroes. Mr. Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, scoffs fiercely at such accusations.
Putin has yet to decide the fate of Ukraine
Mr. Putin has been tight-lipped about his long-term objectives for Ukraine. “We want to allow the Ukrainian people to select its own fate,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hinted. Dmitry Peskov, Mr. Putin’s spokesperson, said Russia recognizes Mr. Zelenskyy as President, but he declined to specify how long the Russian military intervention may extend.
After Russian forces invaded Ukraine from three sides and massed an estimated 1,50,000 troops nearby, Ukrainians had to quickly acclimatize to living under fire. Screaming, smoke and flying dust greeted residents of a Kyiv residential complex. Russian shelling, according to the mayor, ripped a section of the building apart and set fire to it.
“Can you tell me what you’re doing?” “What is this?” Yurii Zhyhanov, a local, inquired of Russian servicemen. He grabbed everything he could, took his mother, and escaped, vehicle alarms screeching behind him, just like many other Ukrainians.
A dead soldier’s body was discovered near an underpass in Kyiv. Among the brick dwellings of a residential neighborhood, fragments of a downed airplane blazed. Body parts discovered nearby were shrouded in black plastic. People emerged from bomb shelters, basements, and subway stations to confront yet another day of chaos.
“We’re all terrified and concerned.” Lucy Vashaka, 20, a worker at a small Kyiv hotel, said, “We don’t know what to do then, what’s going to happen in a few days.”
The US believes the attack, including its march on Kyiv, has gone more slowly than Moscow had intended, according to Pentagon press secretary John Kirby, stressing that Ukraine forces have fought back. However, he said that the military effort is still in its early stages and that things might change quickly.
Following the European Union and Britain’s indirect sanctions against key Russian figures, the Biden administration announced on Friday that it will move to freeze Mr. Putin’s and Mr. Lavrov’s assets. The penalties on Mr. Putin and Mr. Lavrov, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, are “an example and a demonstration of the West’s absolute incapacity.”