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Russian tanks in Crimea: The troops have so far acted like pincers
Photo: Konstantin Mihalchevskiy / picture alliance/dpa/Sputnik
Explosions in the Ukrainian capital, Russian tanks from north and south: Russia is advancing further into Ukraine, the world looks on helplessly.
On Friday, Russian troops partially reached the capital Kiev.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reported on "terrible Russian rocket attacks" on the city of millions.
On the orders of Vladimir Putin, Russia launched a war of aggression on Thursday after months of troop deployments on the borders with Ukraine.
For the first two days of the invasion, troops advanced in a pincer fashion: from the Black Sea to the south, from the occupied Crimea Peninsula and Russia to the east, but mostly from Belarus to the north.
In the direction of Kiev, two major attack vectors from the north-west and north are visible. The first Russian troops used them to reach the city center of the city of over a million inhabitants.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry reported exchanges of fire and Russian "saboteurs" in the northern Obolon district.
Videos posted on social media show fighting in a residential area in northern Kiev.
The advance of the attackers is delayed by Ukrainian soldiers, but apparently they cannot really be stopped.
The Ukrainian army is fighting with very high morale, but only with limited combat effectiveness, according to defense circles.
The troop strengths at a glance
The Armed Forces of Ukraine consist of 200,000 regular army soldiers.
They fight with mostly outdated equipment.
There are also 50,000 men in reserve, most of whom are lightly armed.
The Ukrainian government is also trying to mobilize the population.
According to experts, there are up to 500,000 men and women who have been equipped with weapons in the past few days.
Russian troop strength in the country is estimated at around 90,000 soldiers and around 80 tactical battalion groups (BTG) plus helicopters.
The BTG are fast and highly flexible combat units with 600 to 1000 soldiers.
Since Thursday, Russia has been bombarding Ukraine first with air strikes, then with artillery.
The airborne troops follow suit.
If the tactics are maintained, Kiev could be surrounded in the coming days.
So far, Russian troops have been advancing slowly from the south.
However, in the evening, after heavy fighting, soldiers crossed the Dnipro River.
The Ukrainian regional administration announced that this would give them access to the strategically important city of Cherson.
The enemy attacked with heavy forces and suffered heavy losses.
Eventually, however, the defenders would have lost control.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 137 soldiers have been killed and 316 soldiers injured on the Ukrainian side since the beginning of the invasion.
The Russians, contrary to their promises, made no distinction between military targets and residential buildings, he said.
Contradictory statements
According to Ukrainian data, the Russian troops, for their part, suffered heavy losses.
So far, the invading troops have "lost" 2,800 soldiers, according to the Ministry of Defense in Kiev.
It was unclear whether the soldiers were killed, wounded or captured.
In addition, it is estimated that up to 80 tanks, more than 500 armored combat vehicles, ten aircraft and seven helicopters were destroyed.
So far, Russia has not reported any casualties in its own ranks – but according to its own statements, it has “disabled” 118 Ukrainian military objects and shot down five Ukrainian warplanes and a helicopter.
None of the information can be independently verified at this time.
The UN Human Rights Office said there were reports of at least 127 civilian casualties in Ukraine, including 25 dead and 102 injured.
However, the actual number is likely to be much higher.
According to estimates by the United Nations, 100,000 people are already fleeing Ukraine.
The UN expects up to four million people to seek protection if the situation continues to deteriorate.
According to the refugee agency UNHCR, thousands have already fled to neighboring countries.
Ukraine has about 42 million inhabitants.
mrc/mgb/dpa