Street fighting begins in Kyiv, death toll climbs

KYIV, Ukraine (NewsNation Now) — Kyiv officials are warning residents that street fighting is underway against Russian forces, and they are urging people to seek shelter.

The warning issued Saturday advised residents to remain in shelters, to avoid going near windows or on balconies, and to take precautions against being hit by debris or bullets.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was urged to evacuate Kyiv at the behest of the U.S. government but turned down the offer, according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation. The official quoted the president as saying that “the fight is here” and that he needed anti-tank ammunition but “not a ride.”

Around 8 a.m. in Ukraine, midnight Eastern time, Zelenskyy published a short video on his twitter account of him standing in Central Kyiv to rally his country and counter Russian propaganda about his whereabouts.

“There’s a lot of fake information online that I call on our army to lay down arms, and that there’s evacuation,” he said, according to a translation from the Kyiv Independent. “I’m here. We won’t lay down our arms. We will defend our state.”

Не вірте фейкам. pic.twitter.com/wiLqmCuz1p

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 26, 2022

Sooner after Zelenskyy recorded that message there were reports of additional air-raid sirens in the capital.

Here’s what else is known about the battle in and around Kyiv:

• Skirmishes reported on the edge of the city suggested that small Russian units were probing Ukrainian defenses to clear a path for the main forces.
• Myhailo Podoliak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there were separate Russian “sabotoge and reconnaissance groups” in the city with local authorities fighting against them, according to a report from CNN. “Currently, the situation in the suburbs and the surrounding area is under control,” he said, according to CNN.
• The Interfax Ukraine agency said Russian soldiers were trying to capture one of the city’s electricity generating stations.
• Ukraine’s overall death toll continued to rise. The New York Times cited the Ukrainian health minister as saying Saturday that 198 people had been killed in the fighting, including three children, and 1,115 were wounded, including 33 children. Meanwhile, the BBC stated 35 people were wounded in overnight fighting in Kyiv.
• Russian troops attacked an army base in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv but the assault was repelled, the Ukrainian military said in a Facebook post early on Saturday.

The Russian military continued its advance, laying claim Friday to the southern Ukraine city of Melitopol. Still, it was unclear in the fog of war how much of Ukraine is still under Ukrainian control and how much or little Russian forces have seized. In fact, the UK’s Armed Forces Minister told the BBC that “all the objectives Russia aimed to gain control of in the first day of its assault remain in Ukrainian hands.”

Those Russian forces active in Kyiv are special forces units and paratroopers but the main Russian armoured columns remain some way north of the city, he said.

Ukraine’s military reported shooting down an II-76 Russian transport plane carrying paratroopers near Vasylkiv, a city 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Kyiv, an account confirmed by a senior American intelligence official. It was unclear how many were on board. Transport planes can carry up to 125 paratroopers.

A second Russian military transport plane was shot down near Bila Tserkva, 50 miles (85 kilometers) south of Kyiv, according to two American officials with direct knowledge of conditions on the ground in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military, in a Facebook post, claims 3,500 Russian soldiers have died and another 200 were taken prisoner. It also stated that Russia had also lost 14 aircraft, 8 helicopters, and 102 tanks so far. There was no way to independently verify these claims and Russia hasn’t announced any casualties.

U.S. defense officials believe the Russian offensive has encountered considerable resistance and is proceeding slower than Moscow had envisioned, though that could change quickly.

Still, the pace of the Russian invasion has been slower than anticipated. While that could be seen as a moral victory for the Ukrainian fighters, Ret. U.S. Lt. Gen. William Boykin is worried about what a frustrated Putin may do.

“Don’t forget that they still have tactical, tactical nuclear weapons, and I’m not so sure that if they got bogged down, that that would ultimately be a Rubicon that they’d be willing to cross just to be able to get their troops out,” Boykin said on “On Balance with Leland Vittert.”

Zelenskyy on Friday had appealed for a cease-fire and warned in a bleak statement that multiple cities were under attack.

The Kremlin accepted Kyiv’s offer to hold talks, but it appeared to be an effort to squeeze concessions out of the embattled Zelenskyy instead of a gesture toward a diplomatic solution. Ukraine nonetheless remains “ready to discuss a cease-fire and peace,” said Zelenskyy spokesman Sergii Nikiforov.

The U.S. and other global powers slapped ever-tougher sanctions on Russia as the invasion reverberated through the world’s economy and energy supplies, threatening to further hit ordinary households. U.N. officials said millions could flee Ukraine. Sports leagues moved to punish Russia and even the popular Eurovision song contest banned it from the May finals in Italy.

Through it all, Russia remained unbowed, vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that it stop attacking Ukraine and withdraw troops immediately. The veto was expected, but the U.S. and its supporters argued that the effort would highlight Moscow’s international isolation. The 11-1 vote, with China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining, showed significant but not total opposition to Russia’s invasion of its smaller, militarily weaker neighbor.

NATO, meanwhile, decided to send parts of the alliance’s response force to help protect its member nations in the east for the first time. NATO did not say how many troops would be deployed but added that it would involve land, sea and air power.

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