The resistance of the Ukrainian army and its civilian auxiliaries continues to stem the Russian offensive which, in response, increases its level of destruction.
The invading forces have thus made very little progress towards the capital Kiev, the center of which was relatively spared by the bombardments on Sunday during the day.
On the other hand, intense fighting is taking place in the western outskirts, in Irpin where, according to local authorities, Ukrainian soldiers are still holding out.
The Russians
“bomb residential areas;
schools, churches, tall buildings, everything
“, is sorry, to AFP, Natalia Dydenko, a resident.
A little further on, the clashes are also violent in Bilogorodka where the last bridge still intact is located, mined by the Ukrainians, allowing access from the west to Kiev.
150 kilometers to the north, Cherniguiv has been subjected to aerial bombardment for several days, like the town of Okhtyrka.
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LIVE - War in Ukraine: "heavy fighting" in the south and north, Mariupol in a critical situation
In the south of the country, Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov besieged for five days, is going through an increasingly critical period.
Laurent Ligozat, of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), points out that the 450,000 inhabitants no longer have food, heating or electricity.
On YouTube, the mayor, Vadim Boïtchenko, affirms that the Russian bombardments have already caused several "
thousands of wounded
".
The establishment of a ceasefire and humanitarian evacuation corridors under the control of the Red Cross, attempted for the first time on Saturday, again failed on Sunday.
The Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces attacking the city blame each other for these failures.
“Humanitarian catastrophe”
On Facebook, the artist Diana Berg, who was able to flee the city on Saturday, affirms
that "while the civilians were about to leave
,
several lines of Russian fighters fired"
.
Gennadiy Mokhnenko, a pastor who left Mariupol on February 24 with children, cannot return.
“I tried several times but I couldn't.
There is fighting and the entrance to the city is blocked by Russian troops.
In Mariupol, it's a real humanitarian catastrophe.
There are a lot of deaths.”
On the other side of the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, Russian armies are trying to take Mykolaiv.
A first assault on this port, HQ of the Ukrainian navy, was repelled by the defenders on Friday.
The capture of this city would open the road to Odessa to the Russian soldiers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of “
wanting to bomb Odessa
".
Ukrainian intelligence suspects Russia is planning an amphibious landing on the Black Sea coast from Crimea.
In a sign that the war is moving west, Vinnytsia airport, some 200 kilometers southwest of Kiev, was hit by Russian missiles on Sunday. Presidents Putin and Macron, during a new telephone exchange on Sunday, discussed the safety of nuclear installations in Ukraine.
Putin has, according to the Kremlin, accused "
radicalized Ukrainians
" of being behind the incidents at the Zaporizhia power plant.
The Élysée assured that “
to guarantee the safety and security
” of the installations, the Russian president accepted that “
work (…) be initiated without delay by the IAEA
», the International Atomic Energy Agency.