On the fourth day of fighting, Russian military vehicles advanced into Ukraine’s second-largest city, and explosions shook oil and gas facilities.
Fire was heard and Russian soldiers and armoured vehicles were seen in various parts of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s northeastern city. In a video released by the government, a burning tank was visible. According to a Ukrainian state news agency, Russian troops blew up a natural gas pipeline in Kharkiv before dawn, sending a flaming cloud into the sky.
“Light vehicles from the Russian enemy have broken into Kharkiv, including the city centre,” regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said. “The armed forces of Ukraine are annihilating the adversary. “We are requesting that civilians refrain from leaving their homes.”
Late Saturday, Ukraine’s Western allies stepped up their response to Russia’s land, sea, and air invasion by imposing sanctions that will bar major Russian banks from the main global payments system, as well as other measures aimed at limiting Moscow’s use of a $630 million war chest of central bank reserves.
According to an official, Finland and Sweden are the latest European countries to shut off their airspace to Russian flights, and the EU could follow suit with a coordinated European-wide embargo.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy claimed Ukrainian forces were deterring Russian troops from moving on Kyiv. According to him, civilian infrastructure and targets, including as ambulances, were struck by bombardment.
Ukraine claimed to have killed over 4,000 Russian soldiers, according to a United Nations agency. The figures were unconfirmed by Reuters. Over 368,000 refugees have poured into neighbouring countries, mostly women and children, clogging railways, roads, and borders.
The Russian government dispatched a diplomatic delegation to Belarus to offer talks, but Ukraine declined, claiming Belarus was complicit in the invasion. According to Zelenskiy, Ukraine is willing to hold talks in any location.
Overnight, Russian missiles hit their targets, including a strike in Vasylkiv, southwest of Kyiv, that set an oil terminal on fire, according to the town’s mayor. Large flames and billowing black smoke were seen in the night sky as a result of the blasts, according to online reports.
The transit of Russian gas through Ukraine, which is critical for Europe’s energy needs, is proceeding normally, according to the operator of the country’s gas pipeline. Gazprom, the Kremlin-controlled energy behemoth, also stated that gas exports through Ukraine were regular.
A Ukrainian missile blew destroyed an oil station in the town of Rovenky, according to Russian-backed separatists in Luhansk’s eastern sector. Among the 240 civilian casualties, a United Nations relief organisation said that at least 64 civilians were killed.
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