Russian troops pressed toward Ukraine's capital Saturday after a night of explosions and street fighting sent Kyiv residents seeking shelter underground. The country's leader refused an American offer to evacuate, insisting he would stay. “The fight is here,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
It was not immediately clear how far Russian troops had advanced. Ukrainian officials reported some success in fending off assaults, but fighting persisted near the capital. Skirmishes reported on the edge of the city suggested that small Russian units were trying to clear a path for the main forces.
Russia claims its assault on Ukraine is aimed only at military targets, but civilians have been killed and injured during Europe's largest ground war since World War II.
A missile struck a high-rise apartment building in the city's southwestern outskirts near one of Kyiv's two passenger airports, Mayor Vitali Klitchsko said, leaving a jagged hole of ravaged apartments over several floors. A rescue worker said six civilians were injured. The mayor extended a 10 p.m.-7 a.m. curfew he imposed two days to run from 5 p.m. until 8 a.m. as of Saturday.
"All civilians on the street during the curfew will be considered members of the enemy's sabotage and reconnaissance groups," Klitschko said.
The conflict has already driven hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians from their homes. U.N. officials said more than 120,000 Ukrainians have left the country for Poland, Moldova and other neighboring nations.
Saturday's street clashes followed two days of massive air and missile strikes as Russian soldiers moved in from the north, east and south. The assault pummeled bridges, schools and residential neighborhoods, and resulted in hundreds of casualties.
It was unclear in the fog of war how much of Ukraine was still under Ukrainian control and how much Russian forces have seized. Russia's defense ministry claimed the Russian military had taken full control of the southern city of Melitopol, about 22 miles (35 kilometer)s inland from the Azov Sea coast, and said Russia-backed separatists had made significant gains in the eastern region of Donbas.
Ukrainian and Western officials, however, say Ukrainian forces have managed to slow the Russian advance. Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry said a Russian missile was shot down before dawn Saturday as it headed for the dam of the sprawling water reservoir that serves Kyiv.
Western officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to overthrow Ukraine's government and replace it with a regime of his own. The invasion represented Putin's boldest effort yet to redraw the map of Europe and revive Moscow's Cold War-era influence. It triggered new international efforts to end the invasion, including direct sanctions on Putin.
Zelenskyy offered renewed assurance Saturday that the country's military would stand up to the Russian invasion. In a defiant video recorded on a downtown Kyiv street, he said he remained in the city and that claims the Ukrainian military would put down arms were false.
"We aren't going to lay down weapons. We will protect the country," the Ukrainian president said. "Our weapon is our truth, and our truth is that it's our land, our country, our children. And we will defend all of that."
