Ukrainian troops resisted this Saturday, February 26, in the streets of Kiev against the advance of Russian forces, who are trying to take control of the capital, on the third day of the invasion launched by President Vladimir Putin.
Hours after making a dramatic call for mobilization, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky He assured on Saturday that his “allies” are sending weapons to help them fight Russia.
A total of 198 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded since Russia began its large-scale attack on its neighbor, Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Liashko said on Facebook on Saturday.
Dozens of Ukrainian soldiers also lost their lives, while no information was provided on the Russian side. Kiev claims to inflict heavy casualties on the invading army.
Although the Russian forces attack in different parts of Ukraine, their main objective seems to be the capital Kiev, the scene of fighting since Friday and which suffered missile attacks on Saturday.
“In Kiev, violent fighting continues. The Ukrainian army contains the Russian saboteurs”, indicated around 03:30 GMT (22:00 yesterday in Ecuador) the Ukrainian special communications service on its Telegram account, asking citizens to protect themselves in shelters.
A Russian missile fell on a large residential building in Kiev, Ukraine’s state emergency service said on Saturday, without immediately giving information about possible victims.
“Kiev, our splendid and peaceful city, survived another night of attacks by Russian ground forces and missiles. One of them hit a residential building in Kiev,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
According to a Facebook post, the Ukrainians destroyed five invader vehicles, including a tank, near the Beresteiska metro station in the northwest of the capital.
In addition, the special communications service reported an attempted Russian attack on a power plant in the Troieshchyna neighborhood in northeast Kiev.
The Ukrainian military also reported “heavy fighting” in Vasilkov, a town 30 km southwest of Kiev where they shot down a military transport plane and where the Russians “try to unload paratroopers”.
“We cannot lose the capital,” President Zelensky had said on Friday night, warning that a heavy attack on Kiev was coming.
This Saturday, in a video posted on Facebook, he urged not to believe “a lot of false information” on the internet according to which he had ordered the Ukrainian army to surrender.
Dressed in military green and looking tired but determined, Zelensky said: “Our truth is that this is our land, our country, our children, and we will protect all of this.”
Ukrainian president says weapons and equipment will arrive
Zelensky claimed that “weapons and equipment” from an “anti-war coalition” are on their way to Ukraine.
The Dutch Ministry of Defense indicated that it will deliver to Kiev as soon as possible 200 thousand Stinger anti-aircraft and the Czech Republic announced that it will donate machine guns, automatic and precision rifles, pistols and ammunition worth 8.6 million dollars.
On the Russian side, the Defense Ministry said on Saturday that the army attacked Ukraine’s military infrastructure with naval and air cruise missiles.
“Overnight, the armed forces of the Russian Federation launched a long-range precision weapons bombardment using naval and airborne cruise missiles against Ukrainian military infrastructure,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in televised remarks.
The spokesman also stated that in eastern Ukraine, separatist forces from the Donetsk and Lugansk territories supported by Russia have gained ground, although this statement cannot be verified by independent sources.
The Russian army also took “full control of the city of Melitopol” in southern Ukraine, near Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, it added.
According to this spokesman, since the beginning of the invasion, Russian forces destroyed a total of 821 Ukrainian military infrastructures, including 14 airfields.
Thousands of Ukrainians flee their country
The Russian offensive has caused tens of thousands of Ukrainians to flee the country, in addition to internally displaced people fleeing the fighting.
In Mostyska, near the Polish border, thousands of Ukrainians were trying to leave the country, forming a road collapse of up to 20 kilometers, an AFP journalist found. Faced with the traffic jam, some exiles were heading to the border on foot, dragging their bags and suitcases in the middle of the cold night.
“We’ve been here a long time, maybe six or seven hours already, it’s crazy. It’s crazy traffic, I don’t know how to leave my country. In fact, I don’t want to leave my country, but because of the invaders, I have to flee as quickly as possible,” said Tamara Kulman, 34.
This exodus is evident in the ghostly streets of the capital, where the omnipresence of the “territorial defense” brigades stands out, militias of civilians enlisted to help the army who stand out for their yellow armbands.
“I had never taken a weapon in my hands until today… We will try to do the best we can,” said Roman Bondertsev in north Kiev.
“And if they kill me, there will be two others ready to take my place,” he added.
Sanctions against Russia for attack on Ukraine
Meanwhile, Western countries adopted a barrage of sanctions against Russian institutions, companies and leaders, including Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovin response to the invasion.
At the diplomatic level, there is no progress. Putin encouraged the Ukrainian army to “seize power” and said he was willing to send a delegation to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, to negotiate with Ukraine.
In the UN Security Council, Russia vetoed a resolution promoted by the United States and Albania to deplore “aggression” against Ukraine. And its diplomatic spokeswoman, Maria Zajarova, said that relations between Moscow and Western powers are approaching a “point of no return.”
NATO announced that it will activate its Response Force to reinforce its eastern flank and countries such as the United States and France announced the sending of additional troops to that area.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Saturday that the war “is going to last” and said “you have to prepare” for it.
Russia invaded Ukraine after demanding for weeks that NATO never admit this former Soviet republic as a member, and that the transatlantic alliance not further entrench itself militarily on its borders.
Putin first recognized last Monday the independence of two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian forces and Kiev’s army have clashed since 2014 in a conflict that has left more than 14,000 dead. The Russian president has also denounced a “genocide” in this area of Ukraine. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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