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Satellite images taken by a US company show that a large Russian military convoy has been deployed in a new location near Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.
The convoy was last seen near Antonov Airport, northwest of Kyiv. His maneuverability indicates that he may head for the capital.
A technology company named Maxar, which released satellite images, states that some of the convoys were located in settlements around Kyiv and others were artillery further north.
Along with news of the relocation of Russian convoys, there is news that Ukrainian Russian troops are attacking new targets in different parts of the country:
- A small airport aircraft engine plant in Lutsk, located northwest, was targeted.
- According to Russian defense officials, the explosion also targeted a small airport in Ivano-Frankowsk in the southwest.
- It was reported that one person was killed in an airstrike in Dnipro in the Middle East of Ukraine.
No safe zone
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Sara Rainsford BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent, Dnipro
The air raid warning sounded at 4:30 am and was heard for more than 3 hours. Now we have learned that danger is a reality.
District officials say three airstrikes hit shoe factories, apartments and kindergartens.
There are many heavy industry facilities and even missile factories in the city. A nearby metal store was attacked, but no known military targets were attacked.
Dnipro has been waiting for such an attack since the beginning of the war. Military power is accumulated on all bridges and arterial roads. As the bombing warning began to sound, city dwellers became accustomed to escaping into underground bunkers.
But despite all that, it still seemed like a little safer zone. People who fled from other cities under the attack of Russia were here.
Recently, immigration has begun from here as well. There is a line of evacuation trains, and the road at the west exit of the city is filled with vehicles. We now see that immigrants are also growing after being directly targeted for the first time.
“Once again, the major cities of Ukraine have been exposed to catastrophic attacks,” said Mikhail Podryak, an adviser to the President of Ukraine.
He added that the bombardment of Podolyak Lutsk closed two central heating plants, “a catastrophic war against Russian civilians and big cities continues.”
Russian national media reported that the Ukrainian city Volvonavka was captured by Russian-backed separatists. However, news about the city north of the besieged port city of Mariupol has not yet been confirmed by independent sources.
Biological weapons debate
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied Russia’s claim that chemical and weapons of mass destruction were manufactured in Ukraine with US support.
In his video conversation, Zelensky also warned that Russia would face the strictest sanctions if it used such weapons in Ukraine.
The United States had previously said that Russia made these claims to legalize the use of such weapons.
Russia summoned the UN Security Council on Friday to hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss allegations of biological weapons production in Ukraine.
Created defense army
A senior Pentagon official said Thursday that Russian troops had moved within five kilometers of Kyiv in the last 24 hours.
If the officials spoken anonymously were correct, Russian soldiers heading northwest were only 14 kilometers away from the city center.
Russian troops are also approaching Kyiv from the northeast, the same official said, adding that the city in the north of Chernihiv is now under siege, now about 40 km away.
According to a statement by US officials, the Russian convoy appeared to have stopped not far from the capital Kyiv before advancing due to Ukrainian resistance and anti-tank fires.
It is not clear how many armored vehicles currently in motion were part of this first convoy.
Thousands of civilians have recently been displaced in a fierce battle in the towns of Irpin and Bucha, just a few kilometers northwest of Kyiv.
Images circulated on Thursday suggest that a convoy of Russian armored vehicles was shot down by Ukrainian troops near the city of Brovary, just outside the capital.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said that half of the city, 3 million people, had migrated and Kyiv “turned into a fortress.”
“All streets, all buildings, all checkpoints were prepared for the attack,” Klitschko said.
Tens of thousands of civilians volunteered to support the Ukrainian army in the defense of the capital, forming a defense unit.