Ukrainian and Russian forces have been combating pitched avenue battles in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest metropolis, on Sunday as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy referred to as on volunteers from around the globe to journey to his nation and assist repel Putin’s military.
Whereas combating was intensifying because it entered its fourth day, Kyiv residents awoke to seek out that the capital was nonetheless in Ukrainian fingers.
“Anybody who desires to affix the protection of Ukraine, Europe and the world can come and struggle aspect by aspect with the Ukrainians,” Zelenskyy’s workplace mentioned in a press release. “There isn’t a better contribution which you may make for the sake of peace.”
His overseas minister, Dmytro Kuleba, echoed the decision, inviting foreigners to contact Ukraine’s overseas diplomatic missions of their respective international locations.
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In line with regional officers, Russian automobiles broke into Kharkiv, a metropolis of 1.4 million folks some 12 miles to the south of the border with Russia.
In a single day, Russian forces blew up a gasoline pipeline within the metropolis, officers mentioned. Officers tried to reassure residents that it was not a nuclear strike after the explosion despatched an enormous fireball into the sky.
“It’s fairly harmful on the streets of the town now,” Chief of Police Volodymyr Tymoshko mentioned as he pleaded with residents to not go exterior. “Because of the small teams of the enemy who broke into the town, combating continues.”
Talking in a video message posted on his Instagram account Sunday, Zelenskyy referred to as the evening “brutal” across the nation. Russian forces have been concentrating on residential buildings, kindergartens and even ambulances, he mentioned.
Russia has denied it has been concentrating on civilians.
Kyiv will stay underneath strict curfew till 8 a.m. native time on Monday, complicating the duty of assessing the depth of the combating, as residents have been informed to keep away from venturing out onto the streets and search shelter.
Authorities reported clashes with Russian “sabotage teams” in a single day.
Russian munitions struck a radioactive waste web site, however the extent of the injury wasn’t recognized due to ongoing shelling and missile fireplace, the State Inspectorate for Nuclear Regulation of Ukraine mentioned in a press release.
“The state of affairs in Kyiv is calm, the capital is totally managed by the Ukrainian military and protection,” Mykola Povoroznyk, Kyiv’s deputy chief mentioned on Telegram. “Let’s maintain on!”
Russian forces on Sunday blocked the southern Ukrainian cities of Kherson, a port and gateway into the Black Sea, and the port of Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov, Russian state-run Interfax information company quoted Protection Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov as saying.
The stress on strategic cities within the south of Ukraine, together with ports, appeared geared toward seizing management of Ukraine’s shoreline.
Whereas the combating continued to accentuate, a Russian delegation that included army officers and diplomats arrived in Belarus for what they mentioned was negotiations with Ukraine.
Zelenskyy responded by saying that whereas his nation was prepared for peace talks, these could not occur in Belarus given the Russian ally’s position within the invasion.
“Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku we supplied all of them to the Russian aspect and we are going to settle for another metropolis in a rustic that hasn’t been used for launching missiles,” Zelenskyy mentioned talking in Russian, addressing Belarusian folks immediately. “Solely then the talks will be sincere and actually put an finish to the battle.”
However whereas the Russian offensive appeared to have been stymied by stiffer-than-expected resistance from extremely motivated Ukrainian armed forces, hundreds of Ukrainians have fled to the nation’s Western borders to flee the combating.
The United Nations Excessive Commissioner for Refugees said Sunday the variety of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the nation has reached 368,000 and continues to rise.
In the meantime, Ukrainian authorities human rights ombudsman Lyudmyla Denysova mentioned Sunday that greater than 210 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and greater than 1,100 wounded. Moscow has not launched casualty numbers for Russian forces.
