Russian forces have entered Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv after failing in their overnight efforts to seize control of the capital city of Kyiv – as Ukraine’s president today said his country were ready for peace talks.
Footage shared on social media Sunday morning showed Putin’s army trucks rolling through the city of 1.41 million people, which sits in Eastern Ukraine close to the border with Russia.
Soldiers were also seen marching through Kharkiv on foot, with a very dramatic clip showing Russians slowly advancing along a road before running and firing their guns as Ukrainians opened fire on them.
Another clip shared online shows an army vehicle said to belong to the Russians ablaze, with locals saying it had been torched by Ukrainians seeking to defend their city.
Oleh Sinehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration, said Ukrainian forces are fighting Russian troops in the city and asked civilians not to leave their homes.
Meanwhile, the UK’s Ministry of Defence released its latest intelligence update, saying there had been an ‘intensive’ exchange of rocket artillery in the city, followed by ‘heavy fighting’ between Ukrainian and Russian forces. It said fighting in the capital Kyiv had been ‘less intense’ than previous nights.
The breach of Ukraine’s defenses came hours after Russia was dealt a significant blow when a column of Chechen special forces sent to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were blown up by locals just two days into their mission.
The armed group – famed for their barbaric violence and human rights abuses – are said to have been obliterated after their convoy of 56 tanks was blown to smithereens near Hostomel, just northeast of Kyiv, by Ukrainian missile fire on the second day of the Chechens’ deployment. It is unclear how many died – but the number is likely to run into the hundreds.
Their deaths were reported by The Kyiv Independent news outlet as officials in Kyiv revealed that they’d managed to maintain control of Ukraine’s capital city throughout combat on Saturday night and into Sunday morning.
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Source: Daily Mail
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