Ukrainian citizens take part in a protest in support of Ukraine in front of the Russian Embassy in Santiago, on 26 February 2022. Photo: AFP/Martin Bernetti
Russia on Saturday ordered its troops to advance “from all directions” into Ukraine as it continues to pound the country’s military with cruise missiles.
The Pentagon says half of Russia’s invasion force is already inside Ukraine but is being frustrated by unexpectedly stiff Ukrainian resistance, with President Volodymyr Zelensky claiming his troops have “derailed” the Russian masterplan.
Ukrainian soldiers beat back a Russian attack in the capital Kyiv only hours after Zelensky warns Moscow would attempt to take the city before dawn.
Civilians – some of whom have never held a gun before – hunker down to battle with Russian tanks.
Greece calls on Russia to stop bombing Ukrainian villages after it blames Moscow for the “murder” of at least 10 ethnic Greek civilians in airstrikes near the southern city of Mariupol.
“We call on the Russian Federation to immediately halt aerial assaults and all action against civilians,” the Greek foreign ministry said in a statement.
AFP sees a dead civilian lying sprawled on the pavement in central Kyiv as nearby medics help another man whose car was crushed by an armoured vehicle.
Others are feared dead after artillery blasted a five-storey hole in a high-rise apartment block.
Ukraine’s health minister says 198 civilians, including three children, have been killed and 1,115 wounded since Russia invaded.
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A defiant Zelensky releases a self-shot video from central Kyiv saying, “I am here… this is our land, our country, our children and we will protect all of this.”
Poland says 100,000 refugees have crossed its border from Ukraine since Russia invaded, with the UN estimating a similar number are internally displaced. Some 50,000 have also poured into Hungary and Romania with thousands more crossing into Moldova.
The United States says it is providing Ukraine with $350 million in additional military assistance to fight off the Russian invasion.
Germany is sending 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 “Stinger” surface-to-air missiles to help Ukraine. France is also rushing military equipment and fuel there with Prague supplying small arms and ammunition.
Two Danish journalists are shot and wounded when their car comes under fire near the northeastern city of Okhtyrka, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Russian border.
Germany says it is working on excluding Russia from the SWIFT interbank system after coming under severe criticism from Poland for resisting EU efforts to impose the sanction that would cripple Moscow’s trade with most of the world.
French naval forces intercept a cargo vessel in the Channel loaded with cars heading for Saint Petersburg after the EU slapped sanctions on Moscow.
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Russia orders its media to remove reports describing its attack on Ukraine as an “assault, invasion, or declaration of war” or face being blocked and fined.
NATO is deploying its 40,000-strong rapid response forces for the first time to bolster defences on its eastern flank. No details were given on where the forces are being sent.
Pro-Ukraine protests erupt across the world as thousands take to the streets from London to Athens and Argentina to Canada to denounce Russia’s assault on its neighbour.
Meanwhile, more than 3,000 Russians have been arrested since Thursday for protesting against the invasion.
In Switzerland, thousands of people gathered across the country, including about 1,000 outside the United Nations’ European headquarters in Geneva.
Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate tweet a message of support to “all of Ukraine’s people” in a rare geopolitical intervention.
Britain’s foreign minister on Saturday also cancelled a diplomatic reception that Queen Elizabeth II had been scheduled to attend.
Despite the monarch being forced to cancel virtual events in recent days due to coronavirus symptoms, it is understood that the postponement is related to the current crisis in Ukraine.
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich hands over the English Premier League club to its charitable trust as football fans across Europe turn on Russia with banners such as “Stop it, Putin!” and gestures of solidarity with Ukraine.
© Agence France-Presse
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