Kiev is under siege – Dramatic hours for the Ukrainian defense

LAST UPDATE: 16:06

The fever of the battle for the main front in the war in Ukraine has been transferred to Kiev. According to the information so far, in addition to the battles that have been taking place on the outskirts of the city since yesterday, the forces of Russian President Vladimir Putin have managed to reach some suburbs of the Ukrainian capital where they are trying to repel the Ukrainian forces. According to the TASS agency, the Russian army has blocked Kiev from the west.

Ukrainian military vehicles are entering the country’s capital to defend it against oncoming Russian troops, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said on Friday afternoon.

At the same time, fighting continues on all major fronts in Ukraine, in Kharkov, Mariupol, but also in Donbass, where in Donetsk and Lugansk, Russian-backed separatists are gaining ground. In fact, after 14.00, it was reported by the Russian media that the separatists, with the support of the Russian army, attacked Ukrainian army positions in eastern Ukraine.

Against the background of all this, the Ukrainian president invited his Russian counterpart to negotiations, at a time when Europe and NATO are threatening Russia with a new package of sanctions.

According to a Kremlin statement, Moscow considers demilitarization a “significant part of Ukraine’s neutrality.”

Battles in Kiev

Fighting is raging in the northern suburbs of Kiev as the Russian military appears to be tightening its grip on the Ukrainian capital, according to an AFP reporter. Exchanges of fire and explosions were heard in the Oblonsky suburb, and many low-key explosions were heard in the city center.

Kiev authorities told residents of the northwestern Obolon region on Friday to stay off the streets as “active hostilities” approach. “In connection with the approach of active hostilities, the residents of the Obolon area are urged not to go out,” the city council said in a warning.

The fire near the Kiev district, where government buildings are housed, was reported by the state agency RIA Novosti, while it also spoke about the damage to seven residential buildings in a Russian province by Ukrainian fires, according to the state agency RIA.

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Friday that the Ukrainian capital had “entered a defensive phase” as Russian troops brought the sounds of war to the city. “The city is in a defensive phase. Shots and explosions are heard in some neighborhoods, saboteurs have already entered Kiev. The enemy wants to bring the capital to its knees and destroy us,” he told a news conference.

Calls for negotiations

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the European Union to step up sanctions against Russia in order to punish it for invading Ukraine.

“All the possibilities for sanctions have not yet been exhausted. The pressure on Russia must increase. This is what I told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen,” Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Twitter.

Zelensky’s adviser said on Friday that Ukraine is ready to discuss with Russia the required NATO neutrality with a view to achieving peace.

The Kremlin responding stated that he has noted the change of attitude of Zelensky and analyzes the development. As Peskov stressed, he will not say anything about a possible meeting between Zelensky and Putin at the moment.

A little later himself the Ukrainian president called Russian President Vladimir Putin at the negotiating table, according to Reuters, citing the Russian agency Ria. Zelensky also called on European citizens to demonstrate to force their governments to take more decisive action.

He added that “Europe can still stop Russian aggression if it acts immediately”, after first talking about an insufficient reaction on the part of the EU, and that they were “late” in its aid to Ukraine, at a time when Russian tanks are attacking people”.

The head of Russia’s intelligence service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin said that the only way for Ukraine to move forward is neutrality, a day after Russia launched an invasion of the country.

What the army says

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said on its Facebook page that the attack on government buildings was a sabotage operation by Russian forces carried out by a military reconnaissance unit. “from the citizens to inform us about the movements of the enemy, make Molotov cocktails, neutralize the enemy!”, wrote the message.

Through Facebook, the Ukrainian army spoke of “missile attacks” against the Ukrainian capital earlier on Friday and assured that two of the rockets had been intercepted and shot down. Uploaded a short amateur video showing an apartment building in flames. Russia’s Defense Ministry later denied the allegations in a statement issued Friday stating “Similar, baseless allegations concerning Russia’s intelligence have been made more than once.

In fact, the Russian Ministry of Defense issued a statement clarifying that the Russian army is not going to hit residential areas of the capital.

The Ukrainian armed forces shot down in the early morning hours today a “Russian plane” in Kiev, which crashed into a nine-storey apartment building causing a fire, said for his part Anton Gerastshenko, the Ukrainian Deputy Interior Minister.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said on Friday that Russia had struck 33 civilian positions in the past 24 hours during an offensive across the country and on its way to Kiev, Interfax news agency reported. “The Russians say they are not hitting political objects. But 33 civilian positions have been hit in the last 24 hours,” the agency said, citing Ukrainian Interior Ministry official Vadim Denishenko.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry announced on Friday afternoon that more than 1,000 Russian soldiers had been killed since the start of the war. It also said it had destroyed ballistic missiles and at least two Russian aircraft.

Belarusian hackers are constantly attacking the Ukrainian army

Ukrainian cybersecurity officials say that a hacking campaign has targeted the private e-mail addresses of Ukrainian military personnel “and related persons”.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the Ukrainian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) said hackers used password-stealing emails to hack into Ukrainian soldiers’ email accounts and used compromised address files to send unsolicited emails.

CERT said it had blamed a Minsk-based group codenamed “UNC1151” for the invasion, identifying its members as Belarussian army officers.

Battles outside Kiev

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian forces said they were fighting Russian armored units in two cities, Dimer and Ivankiv, 45 and 80 kilometers north of Kiev, respectively.

Another alarm in #kiev. Possible next air strike #war #ukraine pic.twitter.com/3adPXVqgu1

– Ted K | Ukrainian Reports (@Ted_Kac) February 25, 2022

The Ukrainian army’s general staff said early in the morning that Ukrainian forces were in control of the Antonov military airport in Gostomel, near the gates of Kiev, which had been attacked by Russian forces yesterday, but were repulsed. After 14.00 Russian media reported that the airport has been occupied, according to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense, while the same statement states that about 200 members of the Ukrainian special forces were killed or captured.

The Russians are gathering forces in Belarus

Ukraine’s chief of staff said on Friday that Russia was using Gomel Airport in Belarus to deploy troops to attack Kiev due to damage at the Gostomel military airport near the Ukrainian capital.

“In order to intimidate the population of Ukraine, the enemy is increasingly choosing to destroy urban infrastructure and housing,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement on Facebook.

Battles in Mariupol and Kharkiv

He said Russian troops were advancing on Kiev from various directions as Ukrainian forces fought around Mariupol in the south and Kharkiv in the northeast.

Shortly after 11:30 a.m., Reuters quoted an eyewitness as saying that loud explosions could be heard in Kharkov.

“The enemy, having been repulsed by Cherniviv’s defenders, is seeking to bypass the city to attack the capital. That is why it is taking the direction of Kosollets-Brovary and Konotop-Nezin-Kiev. Konotop has fallen,” the Ukrainian said.

At the same time, in the south, Russian-backed separatist leaders expect their troops to move out to the geographical borders of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions very soon. Russian news agencies reported citing separatist leaders on Friday.

Air raid sirens sounded in Lviv to the west. Authorities reported heavy fighting in the eastern city of Sumy.

The island of Zmini was occupied

Russian forces have seized the Black Sea island of Zmini after 82 Ukrainian soldiers surrendered, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Ukrainian officials say 13 border guards on the island, south of the port of Odessa, have been killed by Russian warship fire.

A blow to a Moldavian ship

Moldovan-flagged chemical tanker hit by rocket on Friday near the port of Odessa, seriously injuring two crew members, a Moldovan naval official said.

“Just 10 minutes ago we heard that the entire crew was rescued, but two were seriously injured and are being taken to hospital,” Vadim Pavalaci, the deputy director of the navy, told Reuters.

Russia sends increased radioactivity to Chernobyl – Paratroopers

Ukraine’s nuclear service announced on Friday that increased levels of radioactivity are being recorded from the site of the inactive Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Experts of the Ukrainian service did not provide exact data on the levels of radioactivity, but stressed that the increase is due to the movement of heavy military equipment in the area that lifts the radioactive dust.

Alongside Russia will deploy paratroopers for the guarding of the nuclear power plant, announced a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense on Friday morning.

The map with the points where the Russians hit Ukraine

A pipeline supplying water to Crimea has been seized

Russian forces announced that they took control of a pipeline vital to water supply to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia and suffering from water shortages for eight years.

“Thanks to the use of ground troops and airborne troops (…) Russian forces were able to reach the city of Kherson, which allowed the blockade of the Northern Crimea pipeline to be lifted and the water supply to the Crimean peninsula to be restored,” he said. night in a statement the Russian army.

The Ukrainian authorities had closed the valves of this pipeline, which is located in the Kherson region and provides 85% of the Crimean water needs, shortly after the annexation of the peninsula in the spring of 2014.

Since then, Crimea has suffered from severe water shortages, especially during summer droughts. The pipeline blockade also affected the peninsula’s agriculture, formerly known for its rice and corn crops.