Russia’s troops had remained on the outskirts of Kharkiv
A city of 1.4 million about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) south of the border with Russia, while other forces rolled past to press the offensive deeper into Ukraine.
Videos posted on Ukrainian media showed Russian vehicles moving across Kharkiv and Russian troops roaming the city in small groups. One video showed Ukrainian soldiers inspecting Russian light utility vehicles damage. By shelling and abandoned by Russian troops on a street.
Oleh Sinehubov, the head of the Kharkiv regional administration, told civilians not to leave their homes.
As Russia pushes ahead with its offensive, the West is working to equip the outnumbered. Ukrainian forces with weapons and ammunition. While punishing Russia with far-reaching sanctions intended to further isolate Moscow.
Huge explosions lit up the sky early Sunday near the capital, Kyiv, where people hunkered down in homes. Underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale assault by Russian forces.
Flames billowed into the sky before dawn from an oil depot near an air base in Vasylkiv. Where there has been intense fighting, according to the town’s mayor. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said another explosion was at the civilian Zhuliany airport.
Zelenskyy’s office also said Russian forces blew up a gas pipeline in Kharkiv, prompting the government to warn people to protect themselves from the smoke by covering their windows with damp cloth or gauze.
“We will fight for as long as needed to liberate our country,” Zelenskiy said.
Terrified men, women and children sought safety inside and underground, and the government maintained a 39-hour curfew to keep people off the streets. More than 150,000 Ukrainians fled for Poland, Moldova and other neighboring countries, and the United Nations warned the number could grow to 4 million if fighting escalates.
Russia’s military also put increasing pressure on strategic ports in the south of Ukraine, blocking the strategic cities of Kherson on the Black Sea and the port of Berdyansk on the Azov Sea, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said.
He said the Russian forces also have taken control of an air base near Kherson and the city of Henichesk on the Azov Sea. Ukrainian authorities previously have reported fighting in various areas along the coast.
The Ukrainian authorities have reported fighting going on near Odesa, Mykolaiv and other areas.
Russia’s advances along Ukraine’s coast mark an attempt to cut the country’s access to its sea ports that would deal a major blow to its economy. The offensive in the south also could allow Moscow to build a land corridor to Crimea, which until now was connected to Russia by a 19-kilometer (12-mile) bridge, the longest bridge in Europe which opened in 2018.
President Vladimir Putin hasn’t disclosed his ultimate plans, but Western officials believe he is determined to overthrow Ukraine’s government and replace it with a regime of his own, redrawing the map of Europe and reviving Moscow’s Cold War-era influence.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a Russian delegation of military officials. Diplomats had arrived Sunday in the Belarusian city of Gomel for talks with Ukraine. Zelenskyy on Friday offered to negotiate a key Russian demand: abandoning ambitions of joining NATO.
“The Russian delegation is ready for talks and we are now waiting for the Ukrainians,”Peskov said.
Ukraine’s president said his country was ready for peace talks with Russia but not in Belarus given the Russian ally’s role in the invasion. Speaking in a video message Sunday, Zelenskyy named Warsaw, Bratislava, Istanbul, Budapest or Baku as alternative venues.
Speaking in Russian, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine wants peace talks and will “accept any other city in a country that hasn’t been used for launching missiles. Only then, the talks could be honest and put an end to the war.”
They also agreed to impose ”restrictive measures” on Russia’s central bank.
Responding to a request from Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, tech billionaire Elon Musk said on Twitter
His satellite-based internet system Starlink was now active in Ukraine and that there were “more terminals en route.”
It was unclear how much territory Russian forces had seized or to what extent their advance had stalle. Britain’s Ministry of Defense said “the speed of the Russian advance has temporarily slow. Likely as a result of acute logistical difficulties and strong Ukrainian resistance.”
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal U.S. assessments.
The curfew forcing everyone in Kyiv inside was set to last through Monday morning. The relative quiet of the capital was sporadically broke by gunfire.
Fighting on the city’s outskirts suggested that small Russian units were trying to clear a path for the main forces. Small groups of Russian troops were reporte inside Kyiv.
Russia claims its assault on Ukraine is aim only at military targets, but bridges, schools and residential neighborhoods have hit.
Roxs news Source: News10