Russian troops are on the way to Kiev, and considerable damage is observed in the cities and towns as Moscow continues its bombing of Ukraine. Multiple explosions were heard by CNN teams on the ground just before 6 a.m. on the outskirts of northwestern Lviv.
Russia can target foreign weapons: Russia threatened to fire arms deliveries to Ukraine, arguing that convoys carrying foreign weapons could be considered “legitimate targets.” The warning issued by the Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov creates a risk of a direct confrontation between Moscow and the NATO country.
The USA rushes to military aid: The warning came after the US committed $ 200 million to “immediate” defense aid and services, including military education and training for Ukraine. A US official said the aid would include “anti-tank, anti-aircraft systems and small arms supporting the defenders on the frontline of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s unprovoked attack.”
Russian troops an inch closer to Kiev: Most of the Russian ground forces are around 25 kilometers from the center of the Ukrainian capital, the British Defense Ministry said Saturday in its latest intelligence assessment. Russian attacks continue to hit civilian areas: a large area of Makariv, a village 30 miles west of Kiev, suffered significant damage from apparent Russian air strikes. Photos posted on social media geolocated and verified by CNN show serious damage to apartment complexes, schools and a medical facility.
Chernobyl on generators: Repair of the nuclear power plant’s electrical system, damaged in the Russian attack on March 9, is underway as the plant now depends on external diesel generators to keep the reactors running, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said. Russian officials have also come to Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, demanding control of the facility, according to a statement by Energoatom, a Ukrainian state-owned nuclear energy company.
Serious Damage: The cities of Kharkiv, Mariupol, Mykolaiv, Dnieper, Chernihiv and Sumy are under constant Russian attack, and Russian forces are expanding their offensive to Ukraine to the west. In the besieged city of Mariupol, satellite images showed damage and fires in residential buildings and gas stations. Emergency Coordinator Doctors Without Borders told CNN that the city is now in a “disaster phase”. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that “a few small towns no longer exist … They just left.”
Evacuations: According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, seven civilians, including a woman and a child, were killed by Russian troops while trying to escape from the village of Peremoga in the Kiev region. Zelenskiy said that 12,729 Ukrainians were evacuated on Saturday.
United Ukraine: Zelenskiy said his country is more united than ever in the face of Russian violence, but he sees “the lack of courage of NATO members to unite for Ukraine. This is a huge problem. The philosophical problem of the alliance ”. Zelenskiy said that on Saturday Ukraine lost about 1,300 soldiers and that the entire country was “the front line”.