Invading Russian forces have closed in on Ukraine’s capital in an apparent encircling movement after a barrage of air attacks on cities and military bases around the country.
Frequent artillery blasts could be heard in Kyiv in the early hours of Saturday, coming from an unspecified location some distance from the city centre, according to the Reuters news agency.
The invasion of Ukraine began early on Thursday with missile attacks on cities and military bases, followed by a multipronged ground assault that rolled troops in from separatist-held areas in the east; from the southern region of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014; and from Belarus to the north.
The assault, anticipated for weeks by the West, amounts to Europe’s most significant ground conflict since World War II. It is unclear how much or little Russian forces have seized or the extent of the casualties.
