Russian troops enter Kharkiv

Russian troops have entered Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, and fighting is under way.

Russian troops have entered Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, and fighting was under way on Sunday, the head of the regional administration said on the fourth day of Moscow’s invasion of the pro-Western country.

“The Russian enemy’s light vehicles broke into the city of Kharkiv,” Oleg Sinegubov said in a Facebook post. “The Ukrainian armed forces are eliminating the enemy.”

Earlier, Russia escalated its Ukrainian assault with a missile attack on a nuclear waste disposal site outside of the capital Kyiv.

Russia bombed Kyiv on Sunday with a range of anti-aircraft weapons and missiles, according to Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communications said, adding shells hit the radioactive waste disposal site of the Kyiv branch of “Radon Association”.

After an initial assessment officials said a missile missed the tanks holding the radioactive waste, hitting the perimeter. There was no danger to the population “outside the sanitary protection (buffer) zone”.

The automated radiation monitoring system at the site has failed, but officials said the radiation levels inside the Pecherska subway station in Kyiv was normal.

On Friday Russian troops took control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant but Ukrainian staff continue working at the site.

Experts said increased radiation levels during the takeover were a result of soil disturbances as troops moved through the no-go zone as the quickest route from their Belarus starting point to Kyiv.

Overnight a huge fireball engulfed an oil depot at the Vasylkiv Air Base, southwest of Kyiv and a Russian missile damaged a gas pipeline in Kharkiv.

For the fourth night of the war and the third directly attacking Kyiv, the capital held firm as residents bunked in cellars and subway stations.

A curfew is in place until Monday so Ukrainian commanders can spot Russian infiltrators.

City State Admininstrator Mykola Povoroznyk said: “The situation in Kyiv is calm, the capital is completely controlled by the Ukrainian army. There were several clashes with sabotage groups at night. “

The resistance has surprised many and emboldened Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov to tweet: “72 hours of resistance! The world didn’t believe. The world doubted. But we did not just stand, we confidently continue to fight with Russian occupant! We showed the world – don’t be afraid. Ukraine be strong and repel it! Support of Ukraine must be more stronger! Your safety depends on us!”

But Russian forces have made significant ground from the south and have overrun Melitopol and destroyed the village of Sartana. The Russian forces from Crimea are now in touching distance of the forces from Donbas and are almost encircling Mariupol, which risks being cut off.

In the Black Sea area, Mykolayiv Oblast mayor Vitaly Kim reported Russian tanks were moving through the city and there was heavy fighting.

This comes as French President Emmanuel Macron demanded that Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko orders Russian military forces to leave Belarusian territory.

Macron denounced “the gravity of a decision that would authorise Russia to deploy nuclear arms on Belarus soil”.

Russian news agency TASS reported Mr Lukashenko rejected any possibility of deployment of nuclear weapons from his country saying such speculations were “fakes.”

“As long as no one is trying to strangle the people of Belarus, not just nuclear weapons – conventional weapons — are ruled out,” he said.