Russian forces close in on Kyiv as air raid sirens heard across other cities
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
After laying siege to southern port city Mariupol, Russian forces are reportedly heading towards the capital Kyiv city even as Ukrainian officials have said that they are “ready to fight”.On early Saturday morning, air raid sirens and shellings were heard over Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities, local media reported, amid warnings from western defence officials that the Russians were beginning to gain ground around the capital. According to the Guardian, loud explosions were reportedly heard in Dnipro in the country’s east on Saturday, as well as in Mykolaiv, Nikolaev and Kropyvnytskyi.The port city has also been without water and power for 11 days. While Kharkiv – Ukraine’s second-largest city – continues to be blockaded by Russian forces.In eastern Ukraine, heavy fighting between Ukrainian troops and separatist forces supported by Russia is taking place, local media reported.Residential buildings and streets have been destroyed by artillery fire as separatist forces captured the town. Whereas in western Ukraine near the Polish border, the military airfields of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk have been “put out of action”, Russia announced on Friday.“It is impossible to say how many days we still have (ahead of us) to free Ukrainian land. But we can say we will do it,” he said. "We are already moving towards our goal, our victory."Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has announced that around 12,000 US troops have been moved along the borders with Russia such as Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Romania, even as he ruled out sending forces to Ukraine. Addressing members of the House Democratic Caucus on Friday, Biden stressed over "not fighting a third World War in Ukraine" but avowed sending an "unmistakable message that we will defend every inch of territory".