Ukrainian forces put up fierce fight to hold capital

KYIV • The Ukrainian defence forces, outmanned and outgunned, waged a ferocious resistance to the Russian invasion yesterday, battling to keep control of the capital, Kyiv, and other cities around the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted a video, telling the public not to believe false reports that he has fled the country. "I'm here. We are not putting down any arms. We will protect our country, because our weapons are our truth. The truth is that this is our land, our country, our children, and we will protect them all," he said. "Glory to Ukraine."

His comments came as fighting intensified in Kyiv. What until three days ago had been a thriving European metropolis has been transformed into a battle zone. Russian troops pressed in from all directions. There was intense street fighting, and bursts of gunfire and explosions could be heard across the city.

The Russian military has a decisive edge in cyber warfare, heavy weaponry, missiles, fighter planes and warships. In sheer numbers, its military dwarfs that of Ukraine.

Russia has established attack lines into three cities - Kyiv in the north, Kharkiv in the north-east and Kherson in the south - and Ukrainian troops are fighting to hold all three.

The Pentagon reported late on Friday that the Russians did not appear to be in control of a single major population centre. Significantly, a senior US defence official said, Ukrainian command and control remains intact.

The Ukrainian government reported hundreds of Russian soldiers killed, along with scores of their own soldiers, while the Russian defence ministry yesterday made no mention of any casualties or about the fight for Kyiv.

The Russian invasion started with targeted airstrikes early on Thursday, but on the third day of the war, bloody battles were often being waged in close quarters.

Ukrainian news site Ukrainska Pravda, citing witnesses, reported combat less than 400m from Maidan Square in central Kyiv.

A witness said missiles hit an area near Sevastopol square, while another said one landed close to the Zhulyany airport.

The Kyiv city government said one missile struck a residential building yesterday, but reported no casualties.

Video footage online showed a missile blasting into a tall building in the city, and CCTV footage taken from inside one apartment showed a violent explosion that blew out the windows and sent a plume of thick black smoke into the empty flat.

All Ukrainian men of fighting age are being drafted into service, and tens of thousands are signing up. Ukrainians were asked to make Molotov cocktails. There were tearful scenes at airports in western Ukraine as wives kissed their husbands goodbye before they headed to the front.

The authorities said Russia lied about not shelling civilian infrastructure, and that at least 40 such sites had since been hit.

Residents in Kyiv were advised to stay indoors.

"There are hostilities in the streets of our city. We ask you to stay calm and be as cautious as possible! If you are in a shelter, do not leave it now," the Kyiv City State Administration said.

"If you are at home - do not approach the windows, do not go out on balconies. Hide in an enclosed room... and cover yourself with something that will prevent injury from debris."

As battles were waged around the city yesterday, there were reports of clashes near the city's train station and along a central thoroughfare, Bohdan Khmelnitsky Street, leading from Victory Square towards the city centre.

Along that street, gunfire could be heard through the night.

"We are stopping the horde, so far as we can," Ukraine's Security and Defence Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said.

"The situation is under control of the armed forces of Ukraine and citizens of Kyiv."

Ukrainians are still struggling to understand how a country at peace so suddenly found itself at war. The fear was evident in the drive from Kyiv to a small village outside the city. Military convoys had replaced families going on vacation or visiting friends.

Where once Kyiv was a city where the music played too loudly in its cafes, the incessant wail of air raid sirens drowned out all joy.

The fear was evident in the faces of the people seeking safety in western Ukraine, after they emerged from 20-hour train rides in packed carriages that were kept pitch black to avoid being targeted by Russian rockets.

From Lviv in the west to Odessa in the south, and Kharkiv and nearly all points in between, people huddled in air raid shelters, lined up at bank machines and stocked up on essentials.

While the Russians, for the moment, were not in control of any city, it was only the first phase of a conflict that could stretch into weeks or longer.

NYTIMES