DEFIANT AMID ONSLAUGHT ONSLAUGHT
UKRAINE refused to buckle under Vladimir Putin’s merciless onslaught yesterday – repelling his forces as missiles rained down.
The Russians pounded Kyiv and other cities with cruise missiles but experts claimed they had underestimated opposition forces.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who filmed a video from the streets of the capital, declared “the fight is here”.
He said: “I’m here. We won’t lay down our arms. We will defend our state. Glory to Ukraine.”
His troops prevented Russian forces from taking Kyiv despite the shelling of apartment blocks and a kindergarten.
The United States described the Ukrainian resistance as “viable” and very determined.
Britain is bolstering NATO numbers in the region, with 1,000 troops due to arrive in Estonia this week, bringing our total forces there to 2,000.
Challenger tanks also arrived yesterday, RAF Typhoons from our base in Cyprus are patrolling NATO airspace over Romania and Poland, and HMS Trent is in the eastern Mediterranean on NATO exercises.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “These deployments constitute a credible deterrent to stop Russian aggression threatening the territorial sovereignty of member states.”
Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said the Russian advance had been temporarily halted – and denied Moscow’s claim that it had captured the south-eastern city of Melitopol.
President Zelensky, meanwhile, also staged a dawn address to tell EU leaders: “This might be the last time you see me alive.” He added: “The occupiers wanted to block the centre of our state... we broke their plan.
“We will fight as long as it takes to liberate the country.”
CRIPPLED
Dramatic video showed a destroyed Russian convoy with Z-markings near Kherson in the south of the country on the third day of fighting.
Another clip purportedly showed the destruction of a 20-vehicle Russian military column in Kharkiv.
In Lugansk, in the east, a Russian tank lay crippled at the roadside in a symbolic image of Ukrainian resistance. Courage and defiance was captured in Bakhmach, north-east of Kyiv, where footage showed a civilian kneeling in front of a tank.
One woman said: “Oh God, he’s climbing on top of the tank.
“They’re begging them to stop. He threw himself in front of the wheels.”
Kyiv’s defence ministry has put Russia’s losses at around 80 tanks, 516 armoured vehicles, 10 airplanes and seven helicopters.
Adviser Oleksiy Arestovych claimed
around 3,500 Russian soldiers had been killed or injured. He said: “We are striking the enemy around Kyiv. The enemy is not moving for now.”
Estonia’s former defence chief Riho Terras said: “The Russians are in shock of the fierce resistance.
“Ukraine must stay strong and we must provide assistance.”
On the Russian side, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, an ally of Putin, deployed a number of his fighters to
Ukraine. But Russian commanders are said to be frustrated by the slow progress – even complaining they were running out of fuel.
Tanks and military vehicles were seen stranded in remote areas while locals taunted Russian troops.
Meanwhile, Germany approved the delivery of 400 rocket-propelled grenades, 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine. As protests against the invasion took place across the globe, the Ukrainian people vowed not to roll over.
Software engineer Oleh Zimokha, 29, said a bomb shelter in Kharkiv, more than 500 miles from the capital: “Putin will never win.
“It is impossible for him to conquer the spirit of the Ukrainian people.”
Across Ukraine almost 20,000 ordinary people now have been given guns in the fight. Both sides claimed to
have inflicted many losses. Ukraine said 198 people, including three children, have been killed.
Tens of thousands continued to head for neighbouring countries in a desperate bid to flee the conflict.
There were agonising scenes near the Polish border as crowds scrambled desperately on to trains heading out of Ukraine. Soldiers fired shots in an attempt to maintain order.
Elsewhere, four journalists were among the injured – including two from Danish tabloid Ekstra-Bladet, shot in eastern Ukraine yesterday.
In the cyber war, international hacking group Anonymous has claimed responsibility for “ongoing” sabotage of Russian government technology.
It brought down sites at the Kremlin and the Russian Ministry of Defence.
My God, he begs them to stop... he is throwing himself in front of tank
WITNESS ON MAN FACING UP TO RUSSIAN TROOPS
Reporting team: Andy Lines, Nigel Nelson Political Editor, Patrick Hill, Jack Clover, Dan Warburton, Sean Rayment, John Siddle, Amy Sharpe, Phil Cardy, Geraldine McKelvie
Kelly Jenkins