Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: What’s going on on the battlefield

Monday was the fifth day of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops are driving deeper into the country having attacked Ukraine from three directions: its northern border with Belarus, the eastern frontier with Russia, and in the south from Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014.

Ukrainian troops successfully defended Kyiv after a Russian attack overnight on Sunday that saw columns of Russian troops repeatedly try to storm the city, according to the Ukrainian military commander leading the defence of the capital city.

The Ukrainian military said Russian troops continued to attack airports, air defence systems, critical infrastructure and residential areas around the country, launching missile strikes on buildings in cities of Zhytomyr and Chernihiv. Russian forces killed dozens in heavy rocket attacks across residential neighbourhoods in Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine.

Russia’s military claimed it had captured the cities of Berdyansk and Enerhodar and the “territory around” a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhiya in the country’s southeast. It also said it had taken control of Ukraine’s airspace.

‘We must stop him now’: Kyiv emerges from curfew determined to halt Putin’s advance

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Ukraine crisis has seen the EU undergo a profound and rapid transformation

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West takes seriously Putin’s nuclear weapons threat

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Russian and Ukrainian military claims cannot be independently verified.

Encircling Kyiv

On Sunday, Russian forces continued to slowly encircle the capital Kyiv, where mayor Vitali Klitschko ordered a curfew until Monday morning in order to avoid residents of the capital city being mistaken for Russian "saboteurs".

Russia’s army continued to gain ground in southern regions of Ukraine, using troops rolling in from the Crimean peninsula.

Thousands of people fleeing the fighting are in the western city of Lviv, many desperate to make the 100km journey to the Polish town of Przemysl and escape the war.

On Saturday, there was fighting overnight in the southern cities of Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa. Areas near Sumy, Poltava, and Mariupol were hit by air strikes, Ukrainian sources told Reuters. A witness in Melitopol confirmed a Russian claim that the city was under their control. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2022