Fighting is in the east, west and south of Kyiv, according to multiple reports.
“All of this is now happening within the city limits,” reports CNN’s Clarissa Ward, but it doesn’t appear to have reached the centre.
There are no signs of residential areas being targeted yet, she says, “but we’re hearing a lot of explosions from many different directions.”
Interfax Ukraine news agency reports Russian forces have tried to attack an electricity-generating station, while the Ukrainian military says it has repelled an attack on a Kyiv army base, according to Reuters.
The Ukrainian government also says it stopped a Russian advancement down Peremohy Avenue - which runs past the Beresteiska metro station, where heavy fighting has also been reported. The Guardian has not independently verified the reports.
The assault appears to line up with Zelenskiy’s warning that tonight could see Russia’s attempt to storm the city. Three million people call Kyiv home.
Earlier Zelensky posted a video from the streets in Kyiv. “Tonight, they will launch an assault. All of us must understand what awaits us. We must withstand this night,” he said. “The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now.”
Smoke and flames rise over during the shelling near Kyiv, as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine February 26, 2022. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
Ukrainian internet is experiencing serious disruptions as the fighting continues, according to a network monitoring organisation.
The report said it had confirmed “significant disruptions” in Kharkiv on Thursday and further disruptions have been tracked across Ukraine, reaching Kyiv on Saturday morning with a “major disruption” registered to GigaTrans, Ukraine’s “backbone internet provider... which supplies connectivity to several other networks”.
“While connectivity does remain available through other routes, the incident is likely to have a significant impact on infrastructure, limiting citizens’ ability to communicate,” it said.
“Work is ongoing to assess the incidents and their contexts. Telecoms disruptions in Ukraine have so far been attributed to power outages, cyberattacks, sabotage, and kinetic impacts.”
So far there is still contact coming out of Kyiv, including social media posts, pictures and photos, and some of those posting from the city say they haven’t experienced any trouble, so the extend of the disruption still seems unclear.
⚠️ Confirmed: Real-time network data show a major disruption to #Ukraine's internet backbone provider GigaTrans, which supplies connectivity to many other networks. The incident comes as heavy fighting is reported in #Vasylkiv and #Kyiv 📉
Japan is considering imposing economic sanctions on Belarus for its support of Russia’s invasion, Reuters is reporting.
Citing two officials, the report said Tokyo will coordinate with other G7 governments, but there were no other details about the specifics. It said Japan’s foreign ministry declined to comment.
US sanctions already announced against Belarus include 24 Belarusian individuals and entities.
A short time ago, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said he had spoken with Japan’s foreign minister about “how we are standing together with Allies and partners to hold Russia accountable for its illegal, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine”.
“Japan is helping to lead a coalition of partners and allies in response.”
Japan has already announced sanctions on Russia over the invasion, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida terming Moscow’s moves an unacceptable violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and international law.
Kira Rudik is a Ukrainian parliamentarian currently in Kyiv. She’s just spoken to CNN, saying it is strange to go from working as a member of parliament, under the threat of Russian attack, and then to have it suddenly start. “Then you know you have to do something,” she says.
“That’s when you get a gun and you learn how to shoot it. You understand you have to get a group of resistance, which we did, and now we are helping our army to fight Russian soldiers who are trying to take Kyiv right now as I am talking to you.”
Rudik says this is the “new reality”.
“We are not leaving. This is our town and this is our country, and no Putin soldiers will tell us how to live.”
I learn to use #Kalashnikov and prepare to bear arms. It sounds surreal as just a few days ago it would never come to my mind. Our #women will protect our soil the same way as our #men. Go #Ukraine! 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/UbF4JRGlcy
A report from the Reuters news agency suggests it is looking more likely that Russia could be excluded from the Swift global bank payments system – a step that some countries had been reluctant to take:
Germany and Italy softened their opposition against kicking Russia out of the world’s main international payments network, US and European officials said. Doing so would hit Russian trade and make it harder for Russian companies to do business.
Italy, which had been reluctant to take that step, on Friday said it would not veto proposals to ban Russia and pledged to continue working in unison with its EU partners. Germany, which has the EU’s biggest trade flows with Russia, is also open to banning Russia from Swift, but must calculate the consequences for its economy, said its finance minister, Christian Lindner.
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s PM, and Boris Johnson in Britain want Russia removed from Swift immediately. It would mark be a significant escalation of sanctions already imposed against Russia and its leadership, including some aimed personally at Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.
Fighting is in the east, west and south of Kyiv, according to multiple reports.
“All of this is now happening within the city limits,” reports CNN’s Clarissa Ward, but it doesn’t appear to have reached the centre.
There are no signs of residential areas being targeted yet, she says, “but we’re hearing a lot of explosions from many different directions.”
Interfax Ukraine news agency reports Russian forces have tried to attack an electricity-generating station, while the Ukrainian military says it has repelled an attack on a Kyiv army base, according to Reuters.
The Ukrainian government also says it stopped a Russian advancement down Peremohy Avenue - which runs past the Beresteiska metro station, where heavy fighting has also been reported. The Guardian has not independently verified the reports.
The assault appears to line up with Zelenskiy’s warning that tonight could see Russia’s attempt to storm the city. Three million people call Kyiv home.
Earlier Zelensky posted a video from the streets in Kyiv. “Tonight, they will launch an assault. All of us must understand what awaits us. We must withstand this night,” he said. “The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now.”
Smoke and flames rise over during the shelling near Kyiv, as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine February 26, 2022. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
Guatemala has recalled its ambassador from Russia. The central American country’s president Alejandro Giammattei said on Friday that he had ordered the return of Guisela Atalida Godinez Sazo, adding that his government rejected Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Giammattei had earlier expressed “full support for the sovereignty of Ukraine as like-minded countries and stand in solidarity with its people and government.”
Kazakhstan is denying a request for its troops to join the Russian offensive, NBC has reported.
The former Soviet Republic state has also refused to join Putin’s recognition of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent states, his pretext for the hostility.
A significant and interesting move here, from one of Russia’s closest allies.
There are mounting witness reports now of artillery and fire in Kyiv now.
One person told Reuters they could hear artillery blasts coming from an unspecified location somewhere near the city centre. A reporter for the Kyiv Independent is reporting “extremely hard combat” near the Kyiv Zoo - the Guardian has not verified this.
The Washington Post’s correspondent in Kyiv is reporting “dozens and dozens” of explosions heard.
Hard to sleep in Kyiv now, have heard dozens and dozens of explosions in the last few minutes — likely including air defense. https://t.co/eDQlnGO6qB
BBC has also reported a large explosion heard in Maidan square, and multiple blasts in Troieshchyna, where that thermal power station is. Burning vehicles have also been seen on Kyiv’s Peremonhy Ave.
Nick Walsh, CNN’s reporter in Kherson, in the south of the country reports heavy fighting over a key bridge as Russian forces move through the area.
“Locals here we’ve spoken to are terrified,” he says.
There are sporadic reports of heavy fighting around Kyiv right now. A CNN reporter in the capital says there is heavy fighting in Obolon in the city’s north, while other reports note clashes in Vasylkiv, in the southwest outskirts. Just over the river to the East is Troieshchyna where there are several reports of Russian forces attacking a thermal power station. It’s the second time in 24 hours Russia has targeted the power plant, and Ukrainian forces are attempting to repel them, according to the Kyiv Independent.
The Guardian has not independently verified these reports, which have come through in just the last few minutes.
