The British Ministry of Defense stated today, Saturday, that fighting continues in the northwest of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and that most Russian ground forces are now about 25 kilometers from the city center. The ministry added via its official Twitter account that Ukrainian counterattacks have inflicted significant losses on Russian forces. It noted that the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Mariupol in Ukraine remain surrounded and are under heavy Russian bombing.
As Russian military operations continue in Ukraine, air raid sirens sounded in most regions of the country this morning. Local media reported that air raid sirens were heard in most Ukrainian cities early Saturday morning to urge people to take shelter. Several local Ukrainian media outlets reported hearing sirens in the capital, Kyiv, the western city of Lviv, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, and also in the Sumy region in the northeast of the country.
Russian forces appear to have reorganized on Friday to launch a potential attack on Kyiv, as satellite images showed those forces firing artillery while advancing toward the Ukrainian capital. The Russian army has focused its attacks on Kyiv and eastern Ukraine, where it has expanded its offensive to include the large city of Dnipro. The Ukrainian army stated in a statement that the Ukrainian capital, along with Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, Kryvyi Rih, Kryvychuk, Nikopol, and Zaporizhzhia, are the main regions where Russian forces' efforts are still concentrated.
It added that "the Russian army is unable to achieve success and continues its missile and bomb attacks on cities located deep within Ukrainian territory, including Dnipro, Lutsk, and Ivano-Frankivsk." Satellite images captured by American company Maxar showed the continued advance of Russian forces toward the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The company also released images of a fire at the Antonov Airport in Hostomel near Kyiv, as well as images showing burned houses in towns northwest of Kyiv.
