Protesters in Aotea square Tamaki Makaurau demand the removal of Russian invasion forces from Ukraine. Photo / Alex Burton
Protesters in Aotea square Tamaki Makaurau demand the removal of Russian invasion forces from Ukraine. Photo / Alex Burton
Russia unleashed a wave of attacks on Ukraine, targeting airfields and fuel facilities in what appeared to be the next phase of an invasion that had been slowed by fierce resistance. The US and EU responded with weapons and ammunition for the outnumbered Ukrainians and powerful sanctions intended to further isolate Moscow.
Huge explosions lit up the sky yesterday south of the capital, Kyiv, where people hunkered down in homes, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a fullscale assault by Russian forces.
Flames billowed into the air before dawn from an oil depot near the Zhuliany airport, about 40km south of the capital, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office.
They 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," Zelenskyy vowed. 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 neighbouring countries.
Russian military tanks and armored vehicles advance in Donetsk, Ukraine. Photo / AP
Russian 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. The Institute for the Study of War has revealed its latest analysis of the movements of Russian troops.
The mapping shows Russian troops have occupied areas around Chernobyl, land near Kharkiv, a zone north of Crimea and the two rebel regions Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic.
Ukrainian servicemen walk by fragments of a downed aircraft, in in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo / AP
The think tank said, "Russia has failed to encircle and isolate Kyiv with mechanised and airborne attacks as it had clearly planned to do. Russian forces are now engaging in more straightforward mechanised drives into Kyiv along a narrow front on the west bank of the Dnipro River and on a broad front to the northeast."
The Russian forces had temporarily abandoned their efforts to seize Chernihiv and Kharkiv and were bypassing those cities to continue their drive on Kyiv, ISW said.
To aid Ukraine's ability to hold out, the US pledged military assistance to the country, including anti-tank weapons, body armour and small arms. Germany said it would send missiles and anti-tank weapons to the besieged country and that it would close its airspace to Russian planes.
An apartment building damaged following a rocket attack on the city of Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo / AP
The US, European Union and United Kingdom agreed to block "selected" Russian banks from the SWIFT global financial messaging system, which moves money around more than 11,000 banks and other financial institutions worldwide, part of a new round of sanctions aiming to impose a severe cost on Moscow for the invasion.
According to a member of the European Union Parliament, who said he was citing Ukrainian intelligence reports, Putin was "furious" that his invasion of Ukraine hadn't been "easy" after Russian troops had been unable to take even one major city in three days of fighting.
Ukrainian soldiers take positions outside a military facility as two cars burn, in a street in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo / AP
"Putin is furious, he thought that the whole war would be easy and everything would be done in one to four days," Riho Terras, who is also the former defence chief of Nato member Estonia, said on Twitter.
US defence officials also said that Russian forces were growing increasingly frustrated by the strength of the Ukrainian resistance.
Protesters in Aotea square Tamaki Makaurau demand the removal of Russian invasion forces from Ukraine. Photo / Alex Burton
Ordinary civilians have joined with Ukrainian forces, making Molotov cocktails, blocking roads and even shooting at the tyres of Russian vehicles to impede their progress.
According to Terras, Putin was holed up in his "lair in the Urals", and brought Russian oligarchs with him so they couldn't flee the country.
