Clashes broke out in a northern district of the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Friday. Explosions could also be heard in the Obolonsky district, a journalist from the AFP news agency reported.
People ran away to get to safety. According to the AFP reporter, shots could be heard there and larger explosions as far as the city center.
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, it was a sabotage action by a Russian reconnaissance squad in the Obolon district. The ministry called on civilians in the neighborhood to take up arms. “We ask citizens to inform us of enemy movements, throw Molotov cocktails and neutralize the occupiers,” it said in a statement on Facebook.
The Ukrainian army warned that Russian units were using partially conquered Ukrainian technology.
Russian forces are advancing on the capital in their all-out attack on Ukraine. Russia began a major offensive against the neighboring country on Thursday morning. Rockets and artillery shells fell in several cities in Ukraine. Within a few hours, Russian ground troops had then advanced from Belarus to the greater Kiev area.
On Friday morning, the Ukrainian army also reported fighting north of Kiev against advancing Russian troops. Fighting broke out in the towns of Dymer, around 45 kilometers north of Kiev, and Ivankiv, around 80 kilometers north of the capital. “A large number of enemy tanks had arrived there”.
Later, the Ukrainian armed forces announced that the advance of Russian troops had been stopped at the Teterov River. “The bridge over the river was destroyed.” According to the General Staff, the Ukrainian military also recaptured a military airfield in Gostomel near Kiev.