‘Fortress’ Kyiv prepares for Russian encirclement

Russian shelling hit civilian targets in central Ukraine’s Dnipro city on Friday, in an apparent change in tactics.

Russian shelling hit civilian targets in central Ukraine’s Dnipro city on Friday, as Moscow’s troops edged closer to Kyiv, where officials said the capital was being transformed into a “fortress”.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians remain holed up in Ukrainian cities, including besieged Mariupol, under a Russian bombing campaign after the first talks between Moscow and Kyiv’s top diplomats ended without any progress.

President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of again targeting humanitarian corridors.

In the early hours of Friday, Russian war planes carried out what appeared to be the first direct attack on Dnipro, killing one person. Three air strikes hit a kindergarten, apartment building and a shoe factory.

Elsewhere, the Ukrainian military warned “the enemy is trying to eliminate the defences of the Ukrainian forces around” regions to the west and northwest of the capital “to block Kyiv”.

In the capital, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said half the population had fled, adding the city “has been transformed into a fortress”.

“Every street, every building, every checkpoint has been fortified.”

Russian forces are encircling at least four major Ukrainian cities and armoured vehicles have rolled up to Kyiv’s northeastern edge, where suburbs including Irpin and Bucha have endured days of heavy bombardment.

Ukrainian soldiers there described fierce fighting for control of the main highway leading into the capital, and there were missile strikes in Velyka Dymerka just outside Kyiv’s city limits.

“It’s frightening, but what can you do?” said Vasyl Popov, a 38-year-old advertising salesman. “There is nowhere to really run or hide. We live here.”

Britain’s defence ministry said in an intelligence update, “Russian forces are committing an increased number of their deployed forces to encircle key cities”.

“This will reduce the number of forces available to continue their advance and will further slow Russian progress,” a statement tweeted by the ministry said.

But there has been no let-up in the onslaught on several major cities, with the besieged southern port city of Mariupol suffering relentless bombardment, including on attempted aid deliveries.

Mr Zelensky said Moscow had launched a “tank attack” targeting a humanitarian corridor where he had dispatched a convoy to try to get food, water and medicine into the city.

The attack, which Mr Zelensky described in a video statement as “outright terror”, came a day after the bombing of a children’s hospital there that local officials said killed three people, including a young girl. Mr Zelensky branded that attack a Russian “war crime”, a position backed by top Western officials, while Russia’s army claimed the bombing was a “staged provocation” by Ukraine.

Residents of Irpin and Bucha flee fighting via a destroyed bridge. Picture: Getty Images

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said Russian warplanes had targeted residential areas in the city “every 30 minutes” on Thursday, “killing civilians, the elderly, women and children”.

Some humanitarian corridors out of cities under attack have held. Around 100,000 people have been able to leave the northeastern city of Sumy, the eastern city of Izyum, and areas northwest of Kyiv in the past two days.

Moscow said it would also open daily humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians to Russian territory, but Kyiv has rejected routes leading to Russia.

In Turkey, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov ended with “no progress”, even on a 24-hour ceasefire. Mr Lavrov said the two sides would keep talking, but also insisted Russia’s invasion was purely defensive.

Asked by a reporter if Moscow was planning to attack other nations, he insisted “We don’t plan to attack other countries”.

The conflict has so far caused around $135bn in damage to roads, bridges and businesses, according to Oleg Ustenko, Mr Zelensky’s chief economic adviser.

Western nations and allies have offered military and humanitarian support, and on Friday the US congress passed a budget including $13.6bn for Ukraine.

But the US has ruled out enforcing a no-fly zone, and rejected a Polish plan to transfer fighter jets to Ukraine via a US air base for fear of being drawn directly into the conflict. Western sanctions have targeted Russia’s financial system and its oligarchs, including Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich, who was hit on Thursday by a UK assets freeze and travel ban.

AFP