World

Russians attack Ukrainian fuel facilities, troops enter Kharkiv

February 27, 2022
Ukraine cities bear the brunt of the Russian assault.
Ukraine cities bear the brunt of the Russian assault.

KIEV — Russia forces targeted airfields and fuel facilities as attacks continued in Ukraine overnight.

The Ukrainian president’s office said Russian forces blew up a gas pipeline in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city while there were flames an oil depot near an air base in Vasylkiv, near the capital.

Ukrainian officials said Russian troops entered Kharkiv, with people urged to stay sheltered underground in basements and metro stations. Ukrainian forces continued to have control of capital city Kiev.

Meanwhile, Western countries announced on Sunday that they would remove "selected Russian banks" from SWIFT in an effort to cut the country off from the international financial banking system.

Russian troops entered into Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, with officials warning residents to take shelter. Air raid sirens are reported to be heard in Kiev, but the capital remains under Ukrainian control.

Civilian deaths were reported due to Russian shelling.

Russian units are surrounding two southern Ukrainian cities: Kherson and Berdiansk, Russian media outlet Tass reported, citing the country's Defense Ministry.

The Russians also took control of an airfield near Kherson, they said.

A 7-year-old child was killed after shelling reportedly hit a kindergarten, an official in the Sumy region, Dmytro Zhyvytskyy, said. He said that six people were killed and 55 were injured due to shelling in Okhtyrka on Saturday.

"In some places there are destroyed gas pipelines, but the gas leak has been stopped," Zkyvytskyy added in a Facebook post.

An elderly woman was killed on Saturday night after a 9-story residential building was hit in Kharhiv, Ukrainian authorities said. About 60 people were hiding in the basement of the building and none of them were injured, they added.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov praised his armed forces for their efforts to fight the Russian invasion.

"Where are all those who promised to capture Kiev in 72 hours?" Reznikov asked in a long Facebook post. "There are still many challenges ahead. But we are not the only ones who believe in our victory now," he said.

"Without this army and our people, Europe will never be safe. Without us, Europe simply will not exist," he added.

Capital city Kiev remains under Ukrainian control, said the deputy head of the city's state administration, Mykola Povoroznyk. "The situation in Kiev is calm. The capital is completely controlled by the Ukrainian army and defense," Povoroznyk wrote on social media.

Russia, meanwhile, closed its airspace to planes from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Slovenia, a move that comes as Moscow’s ties with the West plunge to new lows over its invasion of Ukraine, AP reports.

Russia’s state aviation agency, Rosaviatsiya, announced early on Sunday that the measure was taken in retaliation for the four nations closing their airspace for Russian planes.

Also SpaceX's Starlink satellites have now been deployed over Ukraine with more on the way, according to the company's billionaire CEO Elon Musk, after a call for help from the country's vice prime minister on Saturday.

Mykhailo Fedorov, who is also Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation, tweeted Musk requesting that SpaceX switch on its Starlink broadband satellites to supplement the country's Internet services which have been disrupted during Russia's ongoing invasion. — Euronews


February 27, 2022
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