Horrific photos have emerged from inside Kyiv showing horrified citizens gathering in underground shelters after apartment buildings were bombed as Russian forces pushed back and authorities said they were preparing for an attack aimed at overthrowing the government. .
Ukrainian forces were filmed taking defensive positions on key streets in Kyiv as they prepared to fight Russian troops to control the three-million-strong capital, even as air raid sirens blew over the city.
High-ranking official troops defended positions on four fronts, although they were outnumbered after residents fled to hide in bases, metro stations and bomb shelters in the capital following a television warning of air strikes.
Meanwhile, residents were filmed inspecting the damage to their home near Kyiv’s main airport after the windows of a 10-story apartment building exploded, forming a two-meter crater full of rubble showing where the projectile landed before dawn.
Corps of two Russian servicemen, dressed in military uniforms in an apparent attempt to sneak into the Ukrainian capital, were filmed scattered to an unmarked armored car after being killed in a clash with Kyiv forces earlier this morning.
Ukrainian authorities say a Russian plane was shot down and crashed into a building in Kyiv during the night, setting it on fire and injuring eight people.
The Kyiv City Council warned residents of the Obolon district near Gostomel to stay indoors due to the “approach of active hosts” after gunfire was heard in the suburbs, as well as in the Vorzel, Bucha and Irpen districts this morning. . Putin’s men came from Chernobyl, less than 60 miles outside the capital.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine turned to social media today to call on the people of Kyiv to make Molotov cocktails to “repel the occupiers” and the citizens of Obolon to share information with the Ukrainian military about the movement of Russian vehicles and troops.
A Russian vehicle with what appear to be corpses of Russian troops laying nearby is seen on the streets of Kyiv on Friday after fighting broke out in the suburbs
Widespread damage is seen to apartment in Kyiv, Ukraine, with a Russian assault on the capital expected to take place today
Terrified residents of Kyiv gathered in underground shelters as Russian forces entered the capital early on Friday morning and the battle for the capital commenced
Residents collect belongings in an apartment in Kyiv after it was damaged by a Russian missile strike early on Friday morning
A man crosses a deserted street in central Kyiv as Russian troops approached the capital on Friday morning. The Russian troops are thought to have arrived from the north-west, having pushed down from Chernobyl which was captured late yesterday
Rifles were also handed out to civilians and volunteers as President Zelensky urged any European willing to defend the country to travel to Ukraine and join in the defence
Central Kyiv was empty by Friday afternoon as residents fled as Russian troops advanced on the capital from Chernobyl. More Russian troops and armour are advancing on the capital from Konotop, in the east, having bypassed the city of Chernihiv where they ran into heavy Ukrainian resistance
Harrowing images from inside Kyiv have emerged showing citizens, including a child enjoying a moment on a swing, outside their homes in a 10-storey building after the apartment block’s windows were blasted out and a two-metre crater filled with rubble formed after a missile strike on Friday morning
Natali Sevriukova breaks down in tears as she stands in front of the ruins of her Kyiv apartment following a rocket attack on the city in the early hours of Friday
Hundreds of residents from an apartment block in Kyiv that was damaged by a missile strike early on Friday morning gather in a bomb shelter in the basement of a school
An Ukrainian military medic approaches the bodies of Russian servicemen wearing a Ukrainian army uniforms lying beside and inside a vehicle after they were shot during a skirmish in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv
Ukrainian soldiers take up positions in downtown Kyiv as the prepare to defend the capital from Russian attackers
A Ukrainian soldier sits injured after crossing fire inside the capital on Friday morning as troops prepare to battle Russian men advancing from Chernobyl, less than 60 miles north of the city, from control of Kyiv
Ukrainian soldiers are pictured forming up across a highway in Kyiv as they prepare to defend the city from Russian attackers, with gunfire and explosions heard in the centre of the capital
A man wearing a full-length black coat and carrying a Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle walks through central Kyiv as Russian troops arrived in the city, though their exact location is unknown
Russian armour is now advancing on Kyiv from the north and east, with US intelligence saying the plan is to besiege the city, capture an airport, and fly in paratroopers who would then attack the capital. The aim would be to capture the government and force them to sign a peace treaty handing control of the country back to Russia or a Russian puppet
A child sits on a swing in front of a damaged residential building in the Ukrainian capital hours after it was hit in a Russian missile strike early on Friday as Putin’s men advanced on Kyiv from the north
A resident checks on a damaged room of her apartment in a residential block after the building was hit by a Russian missile strike early morning on Friday, a day after Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine in a statement tantamount to a declaration of war
Hundreds of residents from an apartment block in Kyiv that was damaged by a missile strike early on Friday morning gather in a bomb shelter in the basement of a school
Ukrainian soldiers occupy a position next to the highway and bridge during an exchange of shootings in the city of Kyiv
Soldiers in the capital took up defensive positions on bridges and armored vehicles rolled through the streets as many residents stood restlessly at the doors of their apartment buildings.
Hundreds of people were gathered in a cramped bomb shelter under a building in central Kyiv early Friday afternoon following a televised air strike warning.
“We don’t know how long we have to stay here.” It’s good that we have at least chairs, “said Victoria, 35, while her children aged 5 and 7 slept without taking off their winter coats. “We are shocked …” How can you wage war against peaceful people? ‘
Alla, 40, said: “The children were scared, crying and asking, ‘Mom, are we all going to die?'”
People rest in the Kyiv subway, using the underground space as a makeshift bomb shelter as Russian troops approach the capital
Central Kyiv was empty by Friday afternoon as residents fled as Russian troops advanced on the capital from Chernobyl. More Russian troops and armour are advancing on the capital from Konotop, in the east, having bypassed the city of Chernihiv where they ran into heavy Ukrainian resistance
Firemen extinguish a fire inside a residential building in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv after it was hit by a missile strike early on Friday morning
Ukrainian police officers outside a residential building that was damaged in a Russian missile strike early on Friday morning
Ukrainian troops took up defence positions in the capital on Friday morning as the country’s ministry of defence urged residents in Kyiv to make Molotov cocktails to ‘repel the occupiers’ and asked citizens in Obolon to share information with Ukrainian military about the movement of Russian vehicles and troops
Ukrainian servicemen stand on patrol at a security checkpoint in the capital, Kyiv, as Russian troops advance on the city on Friday
Ukrainian service personnel have set up roadblocks in Kyiv and were stopping cars on their way out of the city on Friday morning as it was reported Russian troops were inside the capital
Ukrainian soldiers take position on a bridge inside the city of Kyiv, as Russian forces advance into the capital
Soldiers tasked with defending Kyiv from advancing Russian troops take up positions underneath a highway into the cit
Aftermath of an overnight shelling at a residential area in Kyiv, Ukraine, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to launch an invasion of the country
Firemen pick their way through the rubble of a destroyed apartment in Kyiv, as President Zelensky said the Russian military is now targeting civilian areas
A man dressed in camouflage takes a picture of a crater where a Russian rocket landed, destroying part of an apartment block in Kyiv which is now under heavy attack
A woman with a backpack walks in front of a damaged residential building on Košice Street, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where a military projectile was hit
Once Kyiv is surrounded, US intelligence believes the plan will be for Russian special forces to move and take over an airport – possibly Sikorsky or Borispol – which will then be used to fly a much larger force of up to 10,000 paratroopers. who will attack capital.
The paratroopers’ job will be to enter the city, find Zelensky, his ministers and parliamentarians before forcing them to sign a peace deal restoring control of the country back to Russia or a Moscow-backed puppet regime – effectively ending the war without Putin’s ground forces must fulfill the difficult and bloody task of capturing and occupying the entire country.
The Russians appear to have almost carried out the plan on the first day of the invasion, when 20 helicopter attackers landed a team of troops at Antonov Airport, 15 miles north of Kyiv. But units of the Ukrainian National Guard managed to regain their runway overnight after heavy fighting, scattering surviving Russian attackers in the area.
Russia’s attack on the capital is likely to be coordinated with pressure from troops on the southern and eastern fronts – Crimea and Donbass – in order to detain Ukraine’s armed forces so they cannot retreat and fortify the city, author Michael Weiss said. .
It could also be accompanied by bombings and sabotage attacks on power grids and infrastructure to sow panic and force people to flee, growling roads and hindering the movement of forces already in Kyiv.
The plan seems to be underway in the early hours, as explosions erupted before dawn and the city was bombarded by what the defense minister called “horrific missile strikes” not seen since 1941.
The wreckage of an unidentified aircraft is seen on the outskirts of Kyiv, having been shot down and crashed into a house
A woman walks around the wreckage of an unidentified aircraft that crashed into a house in a residential area
Ukraine claimed to have shot down a Russian jet over the outskirts of Kyiv overnight, with wreckage falling on a house and leaving several people injured
Natali Sevriukova breaks down in tears as she stands in front of the ruins of her Kyiv apartment in the early hours of Friday
Ukrainian defenders have blown up several bridges leading into the capital in an attempt to slow the Russian advance