The Russian army is progressing with difficulty in places, but the bombardments continue unabated on several cities, and the ground fighting in the outskirts of kyiv or Mariupol continues.
Several loud explosions were heard at dawn in western Kyiv. A twelve-storey building was damaged in the Shevchenko district, but no report has yet been given, while a second curfew has been put in place since Tuesday.
Heavy fighting is still taking place on the northwestern outskirts, in and around the towns of Irpin, Hostomel and Boutcha.
Russian forces have intensified fighting in the Kyiv suburbs, notably around the town of Bucha in the northwest and the highway leading west toward Zhytomyr, Kyiv region head Oleksiy Kuleba said.
The mayor of kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said in an interview with Le Monde:
“The city is ready to defend itself. People are ready. There is anger, rage, and there will be no panic (…). When we see what is happening elsewhere, like in Mariupol, the scenario of a Russian desire for the total destruction of kyiv is not excluded. »
Street fights take place this morning in Mariupol
According to eyewitnesses who passed this information to the online newspaper 0629.com, “Russian tanks entered the city from 23 districts. They were also seen in 17-20 districts.
According to Mariupol Police Patrol Chief Mykhailo Vershinin, the fighting was concentrated near the Police Academy (Budivelnykiv Avenue).
There is no more information at the moment. The bombardment of the city does not stop for even an hour.”
On Tuesday, around 20,000 people in private vehicles were finally able to leave Mariupol, the southeastern port city besieged for more than ten days, via a humanitarian corridor, the Ukrainian presidency announced. According to the Ukrainian authorities, the inhabitants of Mariupol have been holed up in shelters without water, food and electricity for two weeks. and that at least 200,000 inhabitants had to be evacuated urgently.
Talks between Russia and Ukraine are due to resume on Wednesday, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is ready to give up joining NATO.
“We have heard for years that the doors were open, but we also heard that we could not join. It’s a truth and it must be recognised. I am glad that our people are beginning to understand this and rely on themselves and our partners who help us.”
The Polish, Czech and Slovenian prime ministers arrived in kyiv on Tuesday evening to affirm the European Union’s “unequivocal support” for Ukraine, the head of the Polish government announced on Facebook.
A NATO “peace mission”, “protected by the armed forces”, to help Ukraine, was suggested on Tuesday evening in kyiv by Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski.War in Ukraine
