Air alert declared in Kyiv as fighting continues

March 09, 2022, 11:49 AM
by AP/UNB

UNB News
Publish- March 09, 2022, 11:49 AM
AP/UNB
Update- March 09, 2022, 11:53 AM

Air alert declared in Kyiv as fighting continues

In this photo provided by UK Parliament, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is displayed on the screen as he addresses British lawmakers in the House of Commons in London, Thursday March 8, 2022. Speaking by video link, the Ukrainian leader urged the U.K. to increase sanctions on Russia, to recognize Russia as “a terrorist country” and to keep Ukraine’s skies safe. He was given a standing ovation by members from all parties in the House of Commons. (Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament via AP)

An air alert was declared Wednesday morning in and around Kyiv, with residents urged to get to bomb shelters as quickly as possible.

“Kyiv region – air alert. Threat of a missile attack. Everyone immediately to shelters,” regional administration head Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram.

Nearly two weeks into the invasion, Russian troops have advanced deep along Ukraine’s coastline. The city of Mariupol, which sits on the Azov Sea, has been surrounded by Russian soldiers for days and a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the encircled city of 430,000

Ukrainian soldiers walk on a destroyed bridge in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

For days, as Moscow’s forces have laid siege to Ukrainian cities, attempts to create corridors to safely evacuate civilians have stumbled amid continuing fighting.

Across the country, thousands of people are thought to have been killed, both civilians and soldiers, in nearly two weeks of fighting. Russian forces have seen their advances stopped in certain areas — including around Kyiv, the capital, — by fiercer resistance than expected from the Ukrainians.