Fierce fighting broke out in Kyiv as Russian forces tried to push their way towards the city centre from multiple directions in the early hours of Saturday, and as the Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskiy, bluntly rejected a US offer to evacuate him from the country’s capital.
“The fight is here,” Zelinskiy said. By 8am, however, residents were reporting a lull in the attack as it appeared Kyiv’s defenders had held out against another night of Russian advances from multiple directions, including both north and south of the main western route from Zhitomyr to Kyiv, and in the area of the motorway towards the country’s south.
Kyiv 26.02.2022 pic.twitter.com/RJKN3gIVxB
— Iryna (@Iryna13822327) February 26, 2022
Ukraine invasion: Russians close in on Kyiv but meet strong resistance
Russian assaults on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv have been met with fierce resistance, as the Ukrainian military says it fought off several attacks.
The military said in a Facebook post early on Saturday that an army unit managed to repel Russian forces near its base on a major city street.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “The occupiers wanted to block the centre of our state… We broke their plan.”
Meanwhile, fighting continues near several other Ukrainian cities.
