Russian forces ramped up their attack on cities across Ukraine on Sunday, with Ukrainian authorities reporting that the Russians blew up a gas pipeline in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and an oil depot in Vasylkiv, a town just southwest of Kyiv, where fire raged, according to Politico.
Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection warned that the explosion at the gas pipeline in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city located in the northeast of the country, could cause an “environmental catastrophe” and urged residents to cover their windows with damp cloth or gauze.
A similar warning was issued to residents of the Kyiv region because of thick smoke from the oil depot blaze in Vasylkiv, where a military air base is also located.
In Kharkiv on Sunday morning, the regional governor Oleg Sinegubov warned that “light technology” had broken through the city’s defenses, including in the central part of the city. He told residents in a Facebook post to shelter in place and not go out onto the streets
Journalists based in the city reported a heavy overnight bombardment with multiple-launch rocket systems. A Russian column also appeared to be pushing into the city of Sumy, with residents told to shelter in place and an air raid alert sounding just before 9 a.m. local time.
Entering the fourth day of heavy fighting, Ukraine still held its capital — defying expectations, particularly of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was reported in Moscow to have ordered his forces to take the capital by Monday at any cost.
Putin launched what he called a special military operation on Thursday, ignoring weeks of Western warnings and saying the „neo-Nazis” ruling Ukraine threatened Russia’s security – a charge Kyiv and Western governments say is baseless propaganda.
“The situation in Kyiv is calm, the capital is completely controlled by the Ukrainian army and defense forces,” said Mykola Povoroznyk, the first deputy head of Kyiv City State Administration, in a statement released just before 7 a.m. Kyiv time. An air raid siren was heard in the city shortly afterward.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov trumpeted his military’s resilience in a post on social media, saying it had proved doubters wrong. “72 hours of resistance!” he tweeted. “The world didn’t believe. The world doubted. But we did not just stand, we confidently continue to fight.”
Earlier, the Ukrainian Air Force said it had taken out three Russian Sukhoi Su-30 and two Sukhoi Su-25 jet fighters, and a second giant Il-76 transporter plane, which can carry large numbers of airborne troops.
On Sunday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office announced the formation of a new unit, the International Legion of the Territorial Defense of Ukraine, to be made up of foreigners who wish to fight for the country. “Anyone who wants to join the defense of security in Europe and the world can come and stand side by side with Ukrainians against the invaders of the 21st century,” Zelenskiy said in a statement.
Ukraine’s defense ministry said that Moscow’s main tactic appeared to be the “capture of small cities, villages and connecting motorways,” while deploying rockets on major urban centers like Kyiv.
On Saturday, Ukraine’s Health Minister Viktor Liashko said Russian forces had killed 198 Ukrainians, including three children, with 1,115 wounded, 33 children among them. More than 150,000 Ukrainian refugees have now crossed into neighboring countries, half of them to Poland, and many to Hungary, Moldova, and Romania, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said on Saturday.
Reznikov, the defense minister, told Ukrainians “help is coming,” adding: “Many have finally conquered fear and dared to challenge the Kremlin. Help which was impossible three days ago is coming.”