Ukraine war: Zelensky defiant as Putin's noose tightens around Kyiv

Residents of Kyiv took shelter on Saturday night as explosions and street fighting signaled another Russian push to take the Ukrainian capital.

Defiant President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv remained under Ukrainian control as Russian forces renewed their assault under the cover of darkness, pounding the capital with artillery and cruise missiles. 

Air raid sirens and heavy weapons fire reverberated through the city, as Ukrainian soldiers and civilian volunteers dug in to repel warmonger Vladimir Putin’s forces. 

Zelensky has pledged to ‘destroy the occupiers’ and the residents of Kyiv appear to have fully mobilized for a fight to the death.

At 5pm local time, or 10am ET, an extended 48-hour curfew took effect banning civilians from the streets of Kyiv until at least Monday night. The previous curfew had run from 10pm to 7am.

Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said: ‘All civilians on the street during the curfew will be considered members of the enemy’s sabotage and reconnaissance groups.’ 

In a video message to the besieged nation, Zelensky accused the Kremlin of attempting to seize the capital, overthrow the government and install a ‘puppet’ regime ‘like in Donetsk’, one of two separatist regions which Putin officially recognized before launching an all-out invasion. 

Declaring ‘we broke their idea’, he added: ‘The fights are going on in many cities and areas of our state. But we know that we are protecting the country, the land, the future of our children. Kyiv and key cities around the capital are controlled by our army.

‘Each Ukrainian should keep one thing in mind: if you can stop and destroy the occupiers – do it. Everyone who can come back to Ukraine – come back to defend Ukraine.’  

It comes after a high-rise apartment block in Kyiv was hit by a devastating missile this morning, while Ukraine’s civilian death toll hit 198. 

‘More than 100,000 invaders are on our land. They insidiously fire on residential buildings,’ Zelensky said in a Twitter update on Saturday morning. 

Civil defense volunteers are now manning checkpoints and digging trenches on the outskirts of Kyiv, where earlier on Saturday Ukrainian tanks patrolled the eerily empty streets, silent except for the sound of air raid sirens and birdsong.  

Skirmishes reported on the edge of Kyiv on Saturday suggested that small Russian units were trying to clear a path for the main forces. 

Russia’s defense ministry claimed in a statement that it had paused combat operations voluntarily to pursue peace talks, but that the military offensive would resume at full force after Ukraine allegedly ‘rejected a negotiating process,’ which the Ukrainian side denies. 

A senior US defense official said more than half of Putin’s assembled invasion force is now inside Ukraine’s borders, noting that the forces were ‘largely combat power’ that will now have to be sustained by supply lines.

The official said that the successful defense of Kyiv overnight Friday demonstrated a ‘viable’ Ukrainian resistance, and said that there is increasing Russian frustration at the lack of momentum in their invasion push. 

Some of the heaviest fighting has taken place near the northeastern city of Kharkiv, and on Saturday night a huge column of Russian armor was spotted advancing toward Kharkiv on the Russian side of the border.

Britain’s ministry of defense says the bulk of Russian forces involved in the advance on Kyiv are now stalled 19 miles from the city center. 

Ukraine’s ministry of defense is calling on citizens in Kyiv and across the country to remove all street signs and other directional signage to ‘confuse and disorient’ the Russian invaders. 

Zelensky in a Friday night phone call reportedly rejected President Joe Biden’s offer to evacuate him from Kyiv, telling the US leader: ‘The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride.’ 

Late Friday, Biden signed a memo authorizing up to $350 million in additional security assistance to Ukraine, with another $250 possible, bringing the total security aid approved for Ukraine to $1 billion over the past year. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that the new US aid would provide ‘immediate military assistance to Ukraine to help defend itself from Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war.’

NATO members Czech Republic and Slovakia said they were sending arms, and Slovakia’s defense minister said up to 1,200 foreign troops from other NATO members could be deployed in his country to reassure member countries on the alliance’s eastern flank.

In a reversal of its longstanding policy against lethal aid, Germany agreed to deliver 400 RPGs to Ukraine through a third country, after Poland’s prime minister slammed Berlin’s initial offer to send 5,000 military helmets to Ukraine as ‘a joke’. 

Evacuation trains are now running from Kyiv to Lviv in the far west of Ukraine, near the Polish border. Poland’s border guard says that since war began, 121,000 refugees have crossed the border. The vast majority are women and children, as Ukrainian male citizens age 18 to 60 are barred from leaving as part of a general mobilization. 

As Ukrainian forces said they had fought off a Russian attack on their capital as the sun rose on Saturday, Zelensky vowed to stay and fight on in an impassioned video to his people.

‘I am here. We will not lay down any weapons. We will defend our state, because our weapons are our truth,’ he said outside his office, denouncing as disinformation claims that he had surrendered or fled.

Wearing military garb the president added: ‘A lot of fake information has appeared on the internet saying that I allegedly called on our army to lay down its arms and that evacuation is underway.

‘Our truth is that this is our land, our country, our children and we will protect all of this. This is what I wanted to tell you. Glory to Ukraine!’.

Briefly switching to Russian, Zelenskyy hailed prominent Russians who have denounced the invasion and urged them to redouble efforts to force the Kremlin to halt the attack. 

He claimed that thousands of Russian troops were killed and hundreds of those who were taken prisoner ‘can´t understand why they were sent into Ukraine to kill and get killed.’ 

‘The sooner you say to your government that this war should be immediately stopped, the more of your people will stay alive,’ he said. 

Meanwhile, shocking footage on Saturday showed a missile ripping apart a tower block near Zhuliany airport, while CCTV from inside also shows the extent of the damage after the site was hit.

Images show the building with a hole covering at least five floors blasted into the side and rubble strewn across the street below. 

There have been no fatalities recorded from the attack, however, according to an adviser to the interior minister. Anton Herashchenko also said Russia was lying about not shelling civilian infrastructure, claiming at least 40 such sites had been hit.  

Some 198 civilians, including three children, have been killed so far by Russian forces attacking the pro-Western country, Ukraine’s health minister said today, while 1,115 – including 33 children – have been wounded.

Ukraine has also claimed to have inflicted massive casualties on Russia, saying that more than 1,000 Russian troops were killed in combat on Friday alone. The casualties could but be independently verified. 

It comes as a barrage of cruise missiles have also been launched by Russian forces against Ukrainian military facilities.  

‘Russia has yet to gain control of the airspace over Ukraine greatly reducing the effectiveness of the Russian Air Force,’ the UK defence ministry said in an intelligence update posted on Twitter.

But armed forces minister James Heappey said today there was no reason to think a ‘happy ending is just around the corner’ as he warned the conflict could rumble on for months.

He told BBC Breakfast: ‘Nobody should think that this is anywhere near over. What stands in front of Ukraine, its armed forces and very tragically its people, is days, weeks, months more of what we have seen over that last 48 hours.’ 

Claims that Russia has taken full control of the southern city of Melitopol, however, were dismissed this morning by Mr Heappey.  

Meanwhile, the mayor of a city south of the capital says the country’s military has fended off a Russian attempt to take control of a military air base. 

Natalia Balansynovych, mayor of Vasylkiv, about 25 miles south of Kyiv, said Russian airborne forces landed near the city overnight and tried to seize the base. She added that fierce fighting also raged in Vasylkiv’s central street.

She said Ukrainian forces repelled the Russian attacks, and the situation is now calm. Ms Balansynovych said there were heavy casualties, but did not give any numbers. 

It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: ‘Yesterday I urged NATO and Nordic partners to do all they can to support Ukraine and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

‘I am pleased even more allies have come forward with defensive and humanitarian aid. We must stand with the Ukrainian people as they defend their country and democracies everywhere.’

Yet even as Zelensky spoke, the Ukrainian interior ministry was warning Kyiv’s residents to shelter in place and not venture out onto the streets.

Ukraine’s armed forces on Saturday morning claimed 3,500 Russians had been killed overnight, and 200 taken prisoner. They said 14 Russian aircraft, eight helicopters, and 102 tanks had been seized.

Meanwhile, dozens of people were wounded in overnight fighting in Kyiv, city mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Saturday morning.

As of 6am local time, 35 people, including two children, had been wounded, he said. It is unclear whether he was referring only to civilians. Klitschko added there was currently no major Russian military presence in Kyiv, although he said saboteur groups were active.

Armed forces were engaged in a fierce battle for control of the city, with footage on social media showing explosions close to a metro station in the western center of the capital by the zoo; a battle ongoing for control of a thermal power plant to the north; and multiple reports suggesting fierce fighting 20 miles south, near a vital airbase.

In Kyiv, footage shared on social media showed a bombardment close to Beresteiska metro station, in the west of the city, which is near the zoo.  

More than 50 explosions and heavy machine gun fire were reported in the district of Shulyavka, near Beresteiska metro and the zoo, according to The Kyiv Independent. 

A bridge near the metro was blown up, according to reports. It was unclear whether the explosion was caused by artillery or by Ukrainian forces intent on stopping the Russian advance.The district is under the control of the 101st Independent Security Brigade of the General Staff.

Terrified residents posted videos filmed from their apartments, with flashes of light and the sound of gunfire. One video shared on social media showed an apartment building glowing with red lights, which some speculated was to guide bombers or snipers. Others said the lights were to warn the military not to bomb them. 

The northern suburb of Troieshchyna was also coming under sustained attack for another night, as Russia tried to wrest control of the thermal power plant on the banks of the Dnieper river. Unconfirmed reports suggested dozens of Russians had been arrested. 

Meanwhile, satellite images show a huge queue of trucks and cars waiting in a traffic jam leaving Ukraine, near the Romanian border in Siret.

Defence Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said the military struck a range of installations with long-range Kalibr cruise missiles.

He said that since the start of Russia’s attack on Thursday, the military has hit 821 Ukrainian military facilities, including 14 air bases and 19 command facilities, and destroyed 24 air defence missile systems, 48 radars, seven warplanes, seven helicopters, nine drones, 87 tanks and eight military vessels.

In Sydney, several hundred people marched in heavy rain on Saturday chanting ‘Ukraine will prevail’ and demanding more action against Moscow, while protesters in Tokyo called for Russia to be expelled from the United Nations Security Council.

The fresh protests came as Russian and Ukrainian forces clashed in fighting for Ukraine’s capital and after Russia vetoed a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would have deplored the Kremlin invasion of Ukraine.

From Tokyo through Warsaw and London to New York, thousands have protested in recent days against the invasion, Europe’s biggest security crisis in decades.

Draped in Ukraine’s blue and yellow flag and waving the country’s national banner, Sydney protesters also carried also signs condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempts to topple the Ukrainian government.

Some speakers demanded that the government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison expands sanctions against Moscow and bans Russian citizens from visiting Australia, while others called for the NATO to step into the conflict.

‘I want more economic sanctions on Russia, I want military help for Ukraine,’ said Katarina, a protester who gave only her first name. ‘I want more action, more concrete action and less words. It’s too late for diplomacy right now.’

Another protester, Mogdan, called on the Australian government to lead other countries in attempts to stop Putin.

‘It’s World War Three, it’s a war not only on Ukraine, it’s a war on everyone,’ the protester said.

A smaller protest took place in front of the Russian embassy in Canberra, Australia’s capital, with people carrying signs ‘Putin off Ukraine’ and ‘Stop War’.

Several hundred Russian, Ukrainian and Japanese protesters gathered in the busy Shibuya shopping district in central Tokyo, many with their children and holding Ukrainian flags, chanting ‘stop the war’ and ‘stop Putin’ in Japanese and English.

‘I just want to say, ‘Putin stop this, regain your sanity’,’ said Hiroshi Sawada, a 58-year-old musician who attended the rally in Tokyo.

A 28-year-old Russian worker who asked not to be named said none of the people she knew from her home country supported the war. ‘We hate what is just happening now in our country,’ she said.

Australia and Japan joined the United States, the European Union, and many other countries in imposing a series of rounds of sanctions against Russian politicians, businesses, and elite citizens over the invasion. 

Ahead of a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in Berlin Saturday afternoon, Poland’s prime minister urged Germany to put aside ‘selfishness’ and ‘egoism’ and offer substantive support to the people of Ukraine.

‘Nothing is going to stop Putin if we are not decisive enough,’ Mateusz Morawiecki said in Berlin. ‘This is a very historic moment… we have no time to lose.’

Morawiecki said Germany´s aid thus far – of military helmets, not weapons — is a far cry from what´s necessary to help Ukraine defend itself.

‘What kind of help was delivered to Ukraine? Five thousand helmets? This must be a joke,’ Morawiecki said.

He added that the sanctions on Russia need to be ‘crushing,’ calling for the exclusion of Russia from the SWIFT global financial system and for measures targeting Putin himself, oligarchs who back him, and Russian business more broadly.

Slovakia’s defense minister says up to 1,200 foreign troops from other NATO members could be deployed in his country in response to Russia´s invasion of Ukraine.

The plan is part of the NATO initiative to reassure member countries on the alliance´s eastern flank by sending forces to help protect them. Slovakia borders Ukraine.

Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad said forces from the Netherlands and Germany are among those expected to come. Germany will also provide the Patriot system to boost Slovakia´s air defense.

The country´s government and Parliament have not yet approved the plan. 

Ex-actor who’s inspired a nation… and shamed the West: How President Zelensky exemplifies the openness of Ukraine’s political system – in stark contrast to Russia where Putin is president-for-life

By EDWARD LUCAS for the DAILY MAIL

As his Ukraine teetered on the abyss, Volodymyr Zelensky delivered the speech of his life in the early hours of Thursday morning. He vowed unflinching resistance to Russian invaders.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine needed a war, he said. ‘Not a cold war, not a hot war. Not a hybrid one.

‘But if we come under attack, if we face an attempt to take away our country, our freedom, our lives and lives of our children, we will defend ourselves.

‘When you attack us, you will see our faces. Not our backs, but our faces.’

They were stirring words. He even switched from Ukrainian to Russian, addressing the Russian people directly in the hope of piercing the toxic fog of propaganda spread by the Kremlin’s lie machine.

It depicts Ukraine as a Nazi-run puppet state of the West, bent on persecuting ethnic Russians in Ukraine and advancing Nato’s aggressive agenda. Too many believe it.

Volodymyr Zelensky’s mere presence in office dispels that vile slur. Not only is he a native Russian-speaker, who grew up in the country’s heavily Russified south- eastern region. He is Jewish.

Indeed, for a time Ukraine was the only country other than Israel to have both a Jewish head of state and a Jewish prime minister, the president’s ally Volodymyr Groysman.

And Zelensky exemplifies the openness of Ukraine’s political system – in stark contrast to Russia where Putin is president-for-life.

A former actor and political novice, his campaign for election started as a joke but struck a chord with millions of ordinary Ukrainians. In April 2019 he defeated the veteran incumbent and scandal-plagued president, Petro Poroshenko, with an astonishing 72 per cent of the vote.

And this week Mr Zelensky’s unflinching rhetoric has again inspired his country – and shamed the West.

As the invaders cut Ukraine in two, closing on the capital, Kyiv, yesterday morning, the 44-year-old president, dressed in military style T-shirt, warned that Russian death squads were aiming to assassinate him and his family as a way of destroying ‘Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state’.

His wife, Olena, and their two children are at an undisclosed location in the country.

He also issued a mordant rebuke to the West for its inaction. ‘Who is willing to fight alongside us?’ he asked. Ukraine’s darkest hour is its leader’s most shining one.

And it marks an astonishing turnaround. Only a few weeks ago, Zelensky’s presidency was languishing, beset by allegations of sleaze and incompetence.

His attempts to reform Ukraine’s horrendous corruption had become bogged down.

His rating had plunged to a record low. His attempts to win international diplomatic support in the West were perceived to have failed, and so too had the attempt to defuse tensions with Russia.

His inner team combined inexperience and highly questionable judgment. It seemed that his presidency was fizzling as quickly as it flared.

For it is only four years ago that Zelensky, a law graduate who turned to showbusiness, was a middle-ranking actor in a popular political satire — in a British context somewhere between Monty Python and Yes Minister. Called Servant of the People, it starred him as a humble, harassed but idealistic schoolteacher whose televised rant about corruption goes viral, leading to his unexpected election as president.

This fanciful-seeming plot was trumped by reality.

Ukrainians were fed up with Mr Poroshenko, a confectionery tycoon whose patriotic rhetoric was undermined by persistent allegations of corruption.

They wanted change. Mr Zelensky’s platform – he called his party Servant of the People after his TV show – lambasting corruption and criticising narrow-minded Ukrainian nationalism – seemed to offer it. Yet the script soon soured as Zelensky’s promised sleaze- busting proved selective at best.

His main backer was Igor Kolomoisky, a tycoon accused by the FBI of involvement in a multi- billion-pound banking fraud.

Mr Kolomoisky, known for displaying his ‘pet’ shark as a means of intimidating visitors, has always denied wrongdoing. Ukraine’s corruption – worse than Russia’s in many eyes – has deep roots.

Power and wealth are deeply intertwined. Among the public, mistrust of a predatory state is entrenched, and all too justified.

Oligarchs run media empires, with politicians and officials on the payroll. The judicial system is a festering mess where arrests, prosecutions and verdicts are used as score-settlers between political and commercial rivals. Senior positions are bought and sold.

Healthcare and education are plagued by kickbacks. The security service, the SBU, is infested with intrigue and sleaze – and penetrated by Russian agents of influence.

Mr Zelensky’s team, mostly showbiz pals, stumbled through this minefield. They found that satirising corruption was much easier than uprooting it.

Exasperated voters deserted his party in droves, as criticism from international human rights groups and from foreign governments intensified.

For the tragic truth is that Mr Zelensky is only the last in a line of leaders who have promised much but delivered little during Ukraine’s three decades of independence.

The brave, adaptable Ukrainian people have survived and even thrived despite the incompetence and corruption of their rulers.

Mr Zelensky’s stirring rhetoric and personal bravery are the focus of national unity now. But they do not compensate for his own failures – and those of the rest of Ukraine’s political class.