Russian soldiers and armored vehicles were seen in different parts of the northeastern city of Kharkov and shots were heard, a witness said. A video released by the government showed a tank on fire.
According to the governor, Oleg Sinegubov, a few hours after the fighting in the city intensified, “Kharkov is totally under our control.”
“The Russian enemy is completely demoralized,” leaving their vehicles abandoned, and even, he said, groups of Russian soldiers “surrender to the Ukrainian army.”
Russian troops blew up a natural gas pipeline in Kharkiv before dawn, a Ukrainian state agency said, sending a cloud of flames into the darkness.
Ukraine’s Western allies stepped up their response to Russia’s invasion by land, sea and air late on Saturday with sanctions to expel major Russian banks from the world’s largest payment system SWIFT and other measures aimed at limiting Moscow’s use of a $630 million war fund of central bank reserves.
Ukrainian forces were holding back the advance of Russian troops on the capital, Kyivaccording to the president Volodomir Zelensky. But the bombing hit infrastructure and civilian targets, including ambulances, he said.
More than 368,000 refugees, mostly women and children, have poured into neighboring countries, clogging trains, roads and borders since Russia’s president, Vladimir Putinlaunched what it called a special military operation on Thursday.
The Kremlin sent a diplomatic delegation to neighboring Belarus to offer talks, but Ukraine rejected the offer, saying Belarus has been complicit in the invasion. Ukraine was willing to hold talks elsewhere, Zelensky said.
Russian missiles found their target overnight, including an attack that set fire to an oil terminal in Vasilkov, southwest of Kiev, said the mayor of the city. “The enemy wants to destroy everything,” said Mayor Natalia Balasinovich.
The Ukrainian gas pipeline operator said the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, vital for Europe’s energy needs, was continuing as normal. The energy giant Gazpromcontrolled by the Kremlin, also declared that gas exports through Ukraine were continuing as normal.
The Ukrainian authorities were defiant.
“We have resisted and are successfully repelling the enemy’s attacks. The fight continues,” Zelensky said in a video message from the streets of Kiev posted on his social media.
Google banned the Russian state-run media outlet RT and other channels from receiving money for advertisements on its websites, apps and videos of Youtubesimilar to a measure taken by Facebook.
Putin was suspended as honorary president of the International Judo Federation (IJF) on Sunday, in response to the war.
The Kremlin said its troops were advancing again “in all directions” and Putin thanked Russia’s special forces, highlighting those who are “heroically performing their military duty” in Ukraine.
A Ukrainian presidential adviser said some 3,500 Russian soldiers had been killed or wounded. Western officials have claimed that intelligence services indicate that Russia has suffered more casualties than expected.
Russia has not released casualty figures and Reuters has not been able to verify the number of casualties or the exact situation on the ground.
Source: Ambito
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