Civilian targets hit as Russian forces near Kyiv

Russian strikes hit fresh civilian targets in central and eastern Ukraine on Friday, including a city previously considered a safe haven, as Moscow’s troops edged closer to the capital Kyiv.   

More than two weeks after Russia invaded its neighbour on February 24, hundreds of thousands of civilians remain trapped and under bombardment, while the UN estimates some 2.5 million have fled.   

Western powers have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow and sent funds and military aid to Kyiv, but have failed to halt Russia, with overnight strikes again reported across Ukraine on Friday.   

The first high-level talks between the two sides on Thursday failed to make a breakthrough although Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday there were “certain positive shifts”.   
He added that negotiations are “now being held on an almost daily basis”.   

Three missiles hit civilian buildings in the central city of Dnipro early Friday, destroying a shoe factory and killing a security guard.   

The city had been considered a safe haven, becoming a hub for the coordination of humanitarian aid and those fleeing more severe fighting in the country’s east.   

Military targets were also hit early Friday, with four Ukrainian servicemen killed in strikes on the Lutsk military airport in the northwest, local officials said. Moscow said the airfield had been “put out of action”.   
Meanwhile the advance of Russian forces continued against the capital Kyiv, which risks being entirely surrounded.   

The Ukrainian military warned Russia was trying to “block” Kyiv by taking out defences to the west and north of the capital, adding that there was also a risk to Brovary in the east.   

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of hiring “murderers from Syria, a country where everything has been destroyed... like they are doing here to us”.   
KYIV AFP, 11 March, 2022