Video shows the attack on an apartment complex in Kiev on Saturday.
The Russian army’s attack on the Ukrainian capital Kiev has met fierce resistance. Ukrainian troops say they have repelled several Russian offensives.
Ukrainian troops said on Facebook earlier Saturday that one of their units had successfully repulsed Russian troops near a base on a main city street.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “The occupiers want to blockade the center of our country… We sabotage their plans”.
Meanwhile, fighting continues near several Ukrainian cities.
A total of 198 Ukrainians, including three children, have died since the Russian invasion, Ukrainian Health Minister Lyasko said.
According to Interfax news agency, Kiev officials issued a statement asking people to stay in shelters and stay away from windows if they are at home.
image source,ANADOLU AGENCY / GETTY IMAGES
An apartment complex in Kiev was attacked.
But Oleksiy Danilov, secretary-general of Ukraine’s National Security Council, told Ukrainian news site Lb.ua that the Ukrainian army was “in control” of the situation.
He said they were using all means to stop the enemy. Ukrainian troops and citizens control Kiev, he said.
In one selfie video, Zelensky can be seen walking around the Kiev government district, apparently to dispel rumors that he is calling for the army to surrender to Russian forces.
“Here I am. We will not lay down our arms. We will defend our country,” he said.
In his speech later, Zelensky added: “We are defending our country, the land of our future children. Our military controls Kiev and important cities around the capital”.
He also said that the occupiers wanted to blockade the center of our country and put their puppets here, just like they did in Donetsk, and we sabotaged their plans.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a missile hit an apartment complex in the city. At least four apartments can be seen destroyed in a photo he posted on Facebook.
He later added that as of 6 a.m. local time, 35 people had been injured, including two children.
But he said “there are no Russian troops in town, but added that people should stay in shelters as more airstrikes are expected”.
Schematic diagram of the Russian army marching into Kiev
Kiev wakes up from a long, anxious night
Analysis by BBC foreign affairs correspondent Paul Adams
The people of Kiev have just spent another anxious, long dark night in bomb shelters and basements.
Over their heads, street fighting broke out from time to time as Russian troops attempted to attack the city’s fortifications.
Ukrainian troops said they repelled an attack on the main road in the west early in the morning, and said they successfully stopped Russian airborne troops trying to land at Kiev’s southern airfield – even saying they shot down a large plane carrying Russian troops.
Elsewhere, Russian troops and armor continued to advance slowly along several routes.
Ukrainian cities seem to be in the hands of the government.
But the amphibious landing of Russian troops west of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on Friday showed Moscow’s determination to connect previously annexed Crimea to eastern territories controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
Earlier on Saturday (26), the Ukrainian air force command also reported heavy fighting near the Vasilkov air base southwest of Kiev, the air force command added, that the base was attacked by Russian paratroopers.
Separately, a Ukrainian fighter jet allegedly shot down a Russian transport plane, which the BBC could not verify.
Zelensky acknowledged the casualties caused by Russian forces, insisting that “the enemy also suffered very heavy casualties”. But the BBC could not verify the claim.
With Russian forces closing in on Kiev, Ukraine has urged the West to impose quicker, tougher sanctions on Moscow to punish its attacks on Ukraine.
One of the demands is for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift), the system used for global business transactions, to sever ties with Russia.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also urged the West to block Russia’s use of the payment system, in order to cause the greatest pain to Putin and his regime.
Ukraine’s defense minister had earlier urged anyone who could take up arms to join the effort to push back Russia.
Sava, a mother-of-two, told the BBC that she would take refuge in the basement during the shelling, but she was also preparing to defend Ukraine.
She also kept her rifle and pistol on the windowsill, next to her children’s toys, as her husband prepared to fight.
“I’m afraid for my life, for my children, for my country’s life. But it’s that fear that turns into anger that makes you fight to defend your country and yourself,” she said.