198 Ukrainians killed in assault, Moscow continues bombarding military infrastructure

|HT|

On Day 3 of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Moscow said it is bombarding Ukraine's military infrastructure "with long-range precision weapons using air- and sea-launched cruise missiles". 198 Ukrainians have been killed so far in the assault, a minister said. The conflict has spilled to the streets of Kyiv - the capital city - with fighting on streets. Frequent artillery blasts could be heard in the early hours in the city. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to stand up to the invasion. He rejected a US evacuation offer, saying "I need ammunition, not a ride"

1. 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. Kyiv saw fighting on streets, reports said, in signs of worrying escalation. Residential buildings were also targeted.

2. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a missile slammed into a high-rise building on the southwestern outskirts of Kyiv near Zhuliany airport on Saturday. The Russian airborne forces landed near the city overnight and tried to seize the base in Vasylkiv, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Kyiv, its mayor Natalia Balansynovych said. She also said that fierce fighting is underway in the central street of the city. Small groups of Russian forces also tried to infiltrate the but failed to make any gains, according to the Ukrainian military.

3. A UN emergency meeting saw a series of sharp remarks against the Kremlin as Russia vetoed a resolution to call back its troops. Eleven nations favoured the resolution while India, China and the UAE abstained from voting.

4. While the US has refused to send troops, the Ukraine President said that weapons are on their way from France.

5. At the southern border, intense fighting is underway in Kherson just north of Crimea, and in the Black Sea ports of Mykolaiv, Odesa and around Mariupol. Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said that Russia considers it a priority to seize the south, but it has failed to make any significant gains, according to Reuters.

6. A Russian Ilyushin Il-76 military transport plane was shot down near Bila Tserkva, 50 miles (85 kilometers) south of Kyiv.

7. An advisor to the Ukraine interior minister Anton Herashchenko said that Russia was lying about not shelling civilian infrastructure. At least 40 such sites had been hit and Russian troops were shelling civilian sites, the advisor said, according to Reuters

8. Ukraine's military is also battling with Russian armoured units in two locations between 40 and 80 kilometres (25 and 50 miles) north of Kyiv.

9. The Ukraine war is the worst that Europe has seen in decades.

10. On Friday, Russia's Vladimir Putin urged the Ukraine Army to overthrow the government.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)