Ukrainian military blows bridge to slow russian advances

Ukrainian military blows bridge to slow russian advances
 

Fearing a Russian attack on the capital city, thousands of people went deep underground as night fell, jamming Kyiv's subway stations.


At times it felt almost cheerful. Families ate dinner. Children played. Adults chatted. People brought sleeping bags or dogs or crossword puzzles - anything to alleviate the waiting and the long night ahead.

But the exhaustion was clear on many faces. And the worries.

'Nobody believed that this war would start and that they would take Kyiv directly,' said Anton Mironov, waiting out the night in one of the old Soviet metro stations. 'I feel mostly fatigue. None of it feels real.'

The invasion began early Thursday with a series of missile strikes, many on key government and military installations, quickly followed by a three-pronged ground assault. Ukrainian and U.S. officials said Russian forces were attacking from the east toward Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city; from the southern region of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014; and from Belarus to the north.

The Ukrainian military on Friday reported significant fighting in the area of Ivankiv, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of Kyiv, as Russian forces apparently tried to advance on the capital from the north. It said one bridge across a small river had been destroyed.

'The hardest day will be today. The enemy's plan is to break through with tank columns from the side of Ivankiv and Chernihiv to Kyiv. Russian tanks burn perfectly when hit by our ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles),' Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said on Telegram.

Zelenskyy, who had earlier cut diplomatic ties with Moscow and declared martial law, appealed to global leaders, saying that 'if you don't help us now, if you fail to offer a powerful assistance to Ukraine, tomorrow the war will knock on your door.'

Though Biden said he had no plans to speak with Putin, the Russian leader did have what the Kremlin described as a 'serious and frank exchange' with French President Emmanuel Macron.