Russian forces close in on Ukraine major cities | DW News

Ukrainian forces battled Russian troops on multiple fronts, including the outskirts of Kyiv.

Ukraine's border guard has said that males aged 18-60 are not allowed to leave the country in a statement posted on its Facebook account. The border guard said that this restriction will last for the duration of the period of martial law in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law earlier on Thursday shortly after it was reported that Russia had attacked Ukraine.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar has warned that Russian forces are poised to enter areas just outside the capital, Kyiv, on Friday. A government adviser, Anton Herashchenko, said the Russian troops planned to break through into the capital using tanks but that Ukrainian forces were ready to counter the attack with anti-tank missiles supplied by foreign allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier said the government had information that "subversive groups" were moving on the city. This comes after a night of reported air raids in the city that were said by a DW correspondent to have set some residential buildings on fire. Many Kyiv residents have taken shelter in underground metro stations.

The Ukrainian general staff of the armed forces said Ukrainian troops were firmly resisting what he called "Russian occupiers" in the Kyiv area. Ukrainian airborne assault troops were reported in a statement to have stopped "overwhelming enemy forces" at the Teteriv River near the settlements of Dymer and Ivankiv, northwest of the capital. The statement said a bridge over the river was destroyed. "The hardest day will be today. The enemy's plan is to break through with tank columns from the side of Ivankiv and Chernihiv to Kyiv,'' Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said on Telegram.

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