Russian troops are pressing toward Ukraine’s capital, after a night of explosions and street fighting that sent Kyiv residents seeking shelter underground
Zelenskyy was urged early Saturday to evacuate Kyiv at the behest of the U.S. government but turned down the offer, according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation. The official quoted the president as saying that “the fight is here" and that he needed anti-tank ammunition but “not a ride.
But Zelenskyy adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Ukrainian forces controlled the situation when the small Russian units tried to infiltrate Kyiv. A British official, Armed Forces Minister James Heappey, said fighting in the capital was so far confined to “very isolated pockets of Russian special forces and paratroopers” and that “the main armored columns approaching Kyiv are still some way off.”
Sports leagues also sought to punish Russia, and even the popular Eurovision song contest banned Russian acts from the event's May finals in Italy. NATO, meanwhile, decided to send parts of the alliance’s response force to help protect member nations in the east for the first time. NATO did not say how many troops would be deployed but added that it would involve land, sea and air power.
U.N. officials reported 25 civilian deaths, mostly from shelling and airstrikes, and said that 100,000 people were believed to have left their homes. They estimate that up to 4 million could flee if the fighting escalates.
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