Moscow ordered its troops to advance in Ukraine “from all directions” on Saturday as the Ukrainian capital Kyiv imposed a blanket curfew after fighting in the city that saw Russian troops pushed back.
Ukrainian officials reported 198 civilian deaths in total, including three children, as explosions reverberated in Kyiv, forcing residents to flee to safety underground.
Moscow said it fired cruise missiles at military targets and would “develop the offensive from all directions” after accusing Ukraine of having “rejected” talks.
But, on day three of Russia’s invasion, defiant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed his country would never give in to the Kremlin, while Washington said the invading force had a “lack of momentum”.
Ukraine’s army said it held back an assault on the capital — but was fighting Russian “sabotage groups” which had infiltrated the city.
Zelensky said in a video messages “we will do and say only one thing: we will fight until we have liberated our country”.
He earlier said Ukraine had “derailed” Moscow’s plan to overthrow him and urged Russians to pressure President Vladimir Putin into stopping the conflict.
The Pentagon estimates that half of the invasion force built up by Russia on Ukraine’s borders in recent months is now inside the country.
But there was a “lack of momentum over the last 24 hours, particularly in the northern parts of Ukraine” and the Russian military had still not gained air superiority over the country, the official said.
Ignoring warnings from the West, Putin unleashed a full-scale invasion that the UN refugee agency said has forced almost 116,000 people into neighbouring countries.
Tens of thousands more are estimated to be displaced within Ukraine, with many on the move to western areas of the country less affected by fighting.
Pro-Ukraine protests erupted around the world, as thousands demonstrated their solidarity.
– ‘I was trembling’ –
Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said 198 civilians, including three children, had been killed in the conflict so far and 1,115 wounded.
In Kyiv, residents sought sanctuary in subway stations and cellars, while Zelensky announced a baby girl had been born on the metro, saying the birth showed “the enemy has no chance”.
Some recounted a night of horror.
“At night it was more than one hour of huge explosions, it was very stressful,” said Yulia Snitko, a pregnant 32-year-old who spent the night sheltering in the basement of her Kyiv apartment block, fearing premature labour.
“When I realised what was happening, I was trembling.”
Thousands of refugees made their way to the Polish border city of Przemysl by train.
“We don’t want to be running from country to country and asking for support, but support is really needed this time,” one refugee, Anna, told AFP.
Zelensky said he asked UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to strip Russia of its vote at the UN Security Council as punishment for the invasion.
Earlier, he thanked “partners” for sending weapons and equipment, with ex-communist eastern European countries and Britain among them, while Washington announced $350 million of new military assistance.
In a major U-turn, Berlin said it will send Kyiv 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger missiles, reversing its longstanding policy of not exporting weapons to war zones.
Germany also announced it was working to limit Russia’s access to SWIFT global payments which would cripple Russia’s trade with most of the world, despite previously resisting the move over concerns Russia could cut off gas supplies.
“Keep it up,” Zelensky responded.
But the Kremlin has so far brushed off sanctions, including those targeting Putin personally, as a sign of Western impotence.
– 40,000 NATO troops –
NATO has said it is deploying its rapid response force of 40,000 troops to eastern Europe for the first time, but the Western military alliance has made clear it will not send any troops to Ukraine.
On the ground early Saturday, AFP reporters in Kyiv heard occasional blasts of what soldiers said were artillery and Grad missiles being fired in an area northwest of the city centre.
There were also loud explosions in the centre.
Emergency services said a high-rise apartment block was hit by shelling overnight, posting a picture that showed a hole covering at least five floors blasted into the side of the building.
Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said the building had been hit by a missile and that Russian forces were battling to advance from the northwest and west of the city.
“Now in Kyiv there are, unfortunately, sabotage groups, there were several clashes,” he said.
Hours later, AFP saw a destroyed Ukrainian military truck in the city centre and a civilian volunteer digging a trench for soldiers.
Ukrainian army tanks were also seen deploying across downtown Kyiv, but the streets were otherwise mostly empty and silent except for the sound of air raid sirens and birdsong.
The city said it was toughening a curfew in place and anyone outside after 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) would be considered “members of the enemy’s sabotage and reconnaissance groups”.
The curfew will last until 8:00 am on Monday.
– ‘Untrue information’ –
Announcing the beginning of the assault Thursday, Putin said it was to defend Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The rebels have been fighting Ukrainian government forces for eight years in a conflict in which more than 14,000 people have been killed.
Putin called the current conflict a “special military operation” and Russia’s communications regulator on Saturday told independent media to remove reports describing it as an “assault, invasion, or declaration of war”.
In a statement, the regulator accused the outlets of spreading “untrue information” about the shelling of Ukrainian cities by the Russian army, and civilian deaths.
Russia also released images of the Chernobyl nuclear plant, site of the 1986 nuclear disaster, with a masked soldier saying radiation was “under control”.
The publication was apparently part of a major Kremlin propaganda campaign at home downplaying the conflict.
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