Kyiv under siege: Images capture the chaos as civilians join fight in Ukraine’s capital

Dramatic images show the collision of military conflict against a civilian population as Russia began its siege of Kyiv. Warning: GRAPHIC CONTENT.

A wave of Russian troops broke on the concrete shores of Ukraine’s capital city as volunteers joined their national guard in a brutal street fight against Vladimir Putin’s invading army.

Dramatic images from Kyiv showed the collision of military conflict against a civilian population as Russia attempted to surround and lay siege to the city.

On day two of the war, Kyiv residents woke to the shouldering ashes of an apartment building struck by missile fragments of a Russian attack, which was intercepted by Kyiv’s air defence system. Eight were injured.

Ukraine troops blew up a bridge to slow the advance of Russian forces arriving from the north.

A Russian 9K35 Strela-10 mobile short-range surface-to-air missile system separated from its unit rolled over a civilian car in the Obolon district in the city’s north. The driver survived.

Defensive positions were taken on highways as residents fled their homes and apartment buildings to seek shelter in basements and underground metro stations.

Russians dressed in stolen Ukraine uniforms leading a convoy into the city were pictured dead alongside the armoured vehicles stopped by Ukraine forces.

Train platforms overflowed as terrified citizens attempted to flee from Kyiv Central Train Station to city of Lviv, further west.

Kyiv authorities called on civilians to take up arms with Molotov cocktails iPhone photos to track enemy movements.

Rifles were distributed to all who those who remained. Men in jeans and trench coats fought alongside soldiers in fatigues guarding entry points into the city.

Downtown, soldiers braced on street corners using buildings for cover as street fighting broke out throughout the city’s neighbourhoods.

Firefighters extinguish a blaze at a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street after it was struck by missile fragments. Picture: AFP.

People look at a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street after it was struck by missile fragments. Picture: AFP.

Ukrainian servicemen stand near an armored personnel carrier BTR-3 on the northwest of Kyiv. Picture: AFP.)

A man clears debris at a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street. Picture: AFP.

A Ukrainian infantry combat vehicle BMP-2 standing guard on the outskirts of Kyiv. Picture: AFP.

The wreckage of a vehicle on a road in the north of Kyiv after an armoured Russian vehicle crashed into it, injuring the man inside. Picture: AFP.

Ukrainian servicemen pick up the body of an Ukrainian man who was shot when a Russian armoured vehicle drove past him. Picture: AFP.

People hide in a bomb shelter in Kyiv as Russia attacks the city. Picture: AFP.

Wreckage of an unidentified aircraft which crashed into a private house in a residential area in Kyiv. Picture: AFP.

The body of a Russian servicemen wearing Ukrainian service uniform dead after his raiding party was stopped in a skirmish in Kyiv. Picture: AFP.

A Ukrainian military medic approaches the bodies of Russian servicemen wearing a Ukrainian service uniforms. Picture: AFP.

Armed civilian volunteers stand alert on a street in Kyiv. Picture: AFP.

A volunteer, holding a rifle, protects a main road leading into Kyiv. Picture: AFP.

A woman carries her cat as she walks near Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi railway station in Kyiv to evacuate the city. Picture: AFP.

Firefighters extinguish a blaze at a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Picture: AFP.

Originally published as Kyiv under siege: Images capture the chaos as civilians join fight in Ukraine’s capital