Moscow capture Ukrainian city, Hostomel airfield; Both countries troops fight on streets of Kyiv; We will defend Ukraine until the end: Zelensky
The Russian Defense Ministry on Saturday ordered its troops to attack Ukraine in all directions “in response to Kyiv’s refusal to negotiate.” Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said that as a result they will intensify the attacks, which began on Thursday, adding that six Ukrainian ships were sunk near the Snake Island in Black Sea by Russian army.
“US RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-9A Ripper strategical unmanned aerial vehicles were hovering in the provocation area when Ukrainian ships attacked Russian ships near Snake Island,” he said.
Russian forces captured the southeastern Ukrainian city of Melitopol on Saturday, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported, as Moscow launched coordinated cruise missile and artillery strikes on several cities, including the capital Kyiv.
If the Interfax report citing the Russian defence ministry is confirmed, it would be the first significant population centre the Russians have seized since their invasion began on Thursday.
Earlier, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces fired cruise missiles from the Black Sea at Mariupol, also in the southeast, as well as Sumy in the northeast and Poltava in the east.
Kyiv authorities said a missile hit a residential building, and a Reuters witness said another hit an area near the airport. Gunfire erupted near city-centre government buildings at around dawn, a Reuters witness said. The cause was not clear.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers repulsed a Russian attack in the capital, the military said Saturday after a defiant President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed his pro-Western country would not be bowed by Moscow.
“I am here. We will not lay down any weapons. We will defend our state, because our weapons are our truth,” Zelensky said.
Moscow may respond to Western sanctions by opting out of the last nuclear arms deal with the U.S., cutting diplomatic ties with Western nations and freezing their assets, a senior Russian official warned Saturday as Russia’s ties with the West dived to new lows over its invasion of Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, also warned that Moscow could restore the death penalty after Russia was removed from Europe’s top rights group — a chilling statement that shocked human
rights activists in a country that hasn’t had capital punishment for a quarter-century.
Heavy, frequent artillery fire and intense gunfire, apparently some distance from the city centre, could be heard in Kyiv in the early hours, a Reuters witness said. The Ukrainian military claimed Russian troops attacked an army base on a main Kyiv avenue but the assault was repelled.
Some 14 warplanes, eight helicopters,15 artillery, and the ‘Buk’ missile system, have been shot down, 102 tanks, 536 armoured vehicles were destroyed, and more than 3,500 soldiers belonging to the Russian forces have been killed, Ukrainian authorities said Saturday. Meanwhile, Russia has started to deploy additional military units in regions along its border with Ukraine, said a statement by the Ukrainian General Staff.
Mikhail Podolyak, the adviser to the Ukrainian president, said in a statement about the situation in his country that clashes continue in the cities of Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, and Mariupol.
Pointing out that the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the police are keeping the situation under control across the country, Podolyak stressed that “the situation in Kyiv and Kyiv region is also under control.” “As of this (Saturday) morning, more than 3,500 Russian soldiers were killed and 200 were taken prisoner,” Podolyak said.
The Kremlin on Saturday accused Ukraine of prolonging the military conflict by refusing to negotiate as Russia pressed on with its invasion of the pro-Western country. “In connection with the expected negotiations, the Russian president yesterday afternoon ordered the suspension of the advance of the main forces of the Russian Federation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a conference call. France has decided to send defensive military equipment to Ukraine to support the country against Russia’s invasion, a French army spokesman said on Saturday, adding that the issue of sending offensive arms was still under consideration.
