Explosions and shots were recorded this Friday in a neighborhood in the north of the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, as verified by an AFP journalist.
Residents of the Obolonsky neighborhood ran for cover when the shots were heard.
Russian troops have intensified their offensive against the capital in recent hours, where, according to the authorities, several missiles fell at dawn.(Due to the public interest that the events between Russia and Ukraine arouse, all our coverage of that invasion and related actions will have free access for all readers of EL TIEMPO)
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense indicated on its Facebook page that it was a sabotage operation by Russian forces carried out by a commando of reconnaissance soldiers.
The ministry called on civilians in the area to take up arms.
“We ask citizens to inform us of enemy movements, make Molotov cocktails and neutralize the occupier,” he said.
On the second day of the Russian invasion, the fighting multiplies around the capital.
(Also read: Ukrainian President regrets that his country was left ‘alone’ against Russia)
Russian troops are closing in on Kiev and have attacked with cruise missiles.
Aris Messinis / AFP
This Friday, the Ukrainian troops also indicated that they are fighting Russian armored units in two towns, Dymer and Ivankiv, located 45 and 80 kilometers north of Kiev.
The advance of the “enemy forces was stopped on the banks of the Teterov River. The bridge over the river was destroyed,” according to this message.
The Army General Staff said it controlled the military airport in Gostomel, at the entrance to Kiev, where Russian troops entered on Thursday. AFP was unable to verify this information.
(Also: Video: Russia attacks Kiev with ballistic missiles)
Ukraine warns of approach of Russian soldiers
For her part, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar warned of the possibility of Russian soldiers entering areas on the outskirts of Kiev this Friday after Russian troops approached the capital on the last day as part of the invasion of the country.
“Enemy occupation of Vorzel and villages is possible,” he wrote on his official Facebook page.
Vorzel is a town in the Ukraine region, about 35 kilometers from the capital, where powerful explosions were heard this morning, which the adviser to the Ministry of the Interior, Anton Gerashchenko, attributed to the fire of the anti-aircraft batteries defending the city.
(Keep reading: Biden: ‘We will defend every inch of NATO’)
The anti-aircraft defense of Kiev shot down a Russian device, which fell next to a residential building in the city, according to its Facebook account.
On Thursday, the first day of the invasion, Russian troops crossed the border point of Vilcha, in the Kiev region, 50 kilometers from the border with Belarus.
Shortly after they took the Hostomel aerodrome, 35 kilometers from the capital, where they arrived with 200 paratroopers, according to the Army, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to regain control, as presidential adviser Alexei Arestovich said last night and The General Command of the Armed Forces reiterated in its first part of the day on its Facebook page.
“Another tactical group of the Defense Forces maintains control of the Hostomel airport, to which the Russian paratroopers went yesterday,” he wrote.
AFP and EFE
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