Kyiv under heavy air/missile assault as Russian forces close in from 4 directions

“I’m the No. 1 Russian target and I stay in Kyiv,” said Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Feb. 25, day two of the Russian invasion, as Russian forces closed in on the Ukraine capital from four directions amid heavy air and missile bombardment.  Residents dived for shelter, maintaining that the bombardment was the heaviest they had seen since Nazi Germany’s assault on their town in 1941. Western military sources expect Kyiv to fall to the Russian army before the end of Friday, setting the scene for regime changeover.

Those sources estimate that Russian forces sustained around 450 deaths on Thursday, the first day of the invasion.

The nuclear issue raised its head on Thursday, Feb. 24, the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when President Vladimir Putin warned that an attempt take down his army would meet with an “instant” response “unprecedented in human history.” A short time later, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor was in Russian hands, just 150km from Kyiv.

As Russian armored vehicles drove through the streets of the capital after disabling Antonov international airport on its outskirts, the Russian ruler was seen to be a short step from toppling the Zelensky government and substituting a pro-Russian regime. The mayor of Kyiv imposed a night curfew on the city from 10 p.m. to 7.a.m on Friday. READ MORE