KYIV: Russia’s offensive in Ukraine edged closer to central Kyiv with a series of strikes hitting a residential neighbourhood as the leaders of three Nato member countries planned a visit to Ukraine’s embattled capital.
Shortly before dawn yesterday, large explosions thundered across Kyiv from what Ukrainian authorities said was artillery strikes.
The shelling ignited a huge fire and a frantic rescue effort in a 15-storey apartment building. At least one person was killed and others remain trapped inside.
Shockwaves from an explosion also damaged the entry to a downtown subway station that has been used as a bomb shelter.
Authorities tweeted an image of the blown-out facade, saying trains would no longer stop at the station.
As Russia stepped up its assault on Kyiv, the leaders of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia were to visit to Kyiv later yesterday on a European Union mission to show support for the country.
“The aim of the visit is to express the European Union’s unequivocal support for Ukraine and its freedom and independence,” Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said in a tweet.
He will be joined by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who is Poland’s deputy prime minister for security and the leader of the conservative ruling party.
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators also planned to hold a second day of talks as Russia’s offensive in Ukraine entered its 21st day.
When Russia launched the war nearly three weeks ago, fear of an imminent invasion gripped the Ukrainian capital, and residents slept in subway stations or crammed onto trains to flee. But as the Russian offensive bogged down, Kyiv saw a relative lull.
Fighting has intensified on the city’s outskirts in recent days, and sporadic air raid sirens ring out around the capital.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seeking to extend martial law until April 24 and to require men ages 18 to 60 to stay in the country to fight.
He submitted the extension in a Bill to parliament, which is expected to vote on it this week.
In Washington, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that while the Biden administration supports Ukraine’s participation in the talks with Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin would have to show signs of de-escalating in order to demonstrate good faith.
Russian troops were still about 15km from the centre of Kyiv as of Monday, according to a senior US defence official.
Overall, the Russian military offensives made little progress over the weekend, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the Pentagon’s assessment.
The official said that Russian forces have launched more than 900 missiles but have not taken control of the air above Ukraine.
The Ukrainian general prosecutor’s office yesterday released details of two deadly Russian attacks the day before.
It said an artillery strike had hit a university and open-air market, killing 10, and a 65-year-old woman was shot in a bus that was evacuating civilians from a Kyiv suburb.
Ukraine claims its forces have killed 150 Russian troops and destroyed two Russian tanks in the battle for Mariupol.
The Kremlin-backed leader of the Russian region of Chechnya said on a messaging app that Chechen fighters were spearheading the offensive on Mariupol.
The Russian military said 20 civilians in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine were killed by a ballistic missile launched by Ukrainian forces. The claim could not be verified.
The UN has recorded at least 596 civilian deaths since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, though it believes the true toll is much higher. Millions more have fled their homes, with more than 2.8 million crossing into Poland and other neighboring countries in what the UN has called Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since World War II. — AP