Russia-Ukraine crisis: Ukraine fears Kiev is on the brink of besieged by Russian troops.
Kyiv:
A dead man in civilian clothes lay sprawled on the sidewalk of a residential area in northern Kiev on Friday, as Ukrainian soldiers took positions under the cover of a two-storey building.
Two dozen meters away, medics rushed to help another man, who had driven a civilian car that had been completely crushed under the tracks of an armored vehicle.
A vanguard of the Russian invasion force left a trail of damage when fighting broke out for the first time in the Ukrainian capital Kiev amid mounting fears that the city is on the brink of siege.
Pedestrians rushed to safety as small arms and explosions broke out in the Obolonsky district in the north of the city.
The bigger blasts were heard in the city center, where residents endured a tense first night under the curfew and the sound of bombing.
Eyewitnesses said they saw corpses of what appeared to be two dead Russian soldiers near the truck, but the Ukrainian army, which inspected the wrecked car, did not allow AFP to approach.
“Two infantry fighting vehicles with hidden identification markings drove along the road. I did not see the unit’s insignia,” said civilian Yevgen Nalutay, 39.
“One hid right in the underpass and the other continued along the road, but then turned into the courtyard of the house and I couldn’t see it any further. People were fleeing.”
‘This is necessary’
Resident Viktor Berbash, 58, told AFP news agency that he ran to his balcony after hearing gunshots Friday morning.
“I saw an armored vehicle and there was automatic fire. And here was this car, probably already with an anti-aircraft gun on it.”
He saw the civilian in a car being crushed by a tank — a deliberate move, he said — not sure if the driver survived or not.
“Two armored vehicles drove along the road and the second deliberately drove into the oncoming lane,” he said.
“It wasn’t a coincidence, it was just for fun, it wasn’t necessary. And he just ran into this car. Stopped, drove over it and continued on.”
Ukraine’s defense ministry said the clash was provoked by “a hostile sabotage and reconnaissance group”.
Russian troops first arrived on the outskirts of Kiev on Thursday when waves of helicopter troops attacked the Gostomel airport just outside the city, close to Obolonsky.
The Ukrainian army claims to have repulsed the attack on the airbase, but Russian ground forces have also pushed down the western bank of the Dnieper from Belarus.
When the reconnaissance party arrived in Obolonsky, the Defense Ministry called on civilians to resist.
“We urge civilians to inform us about troop movements, make Molotov cocktails and neutralize the enemy,” an online message reads.
The fighting on the wide highways and between the densely populated multi-storey blocks of flats in northern Kiev may portend things to come if Russian forces attack the city of some three million people.
President Vladimir Putin appears to be planning to overthrow the Ukrainian government, and Western intelligence expects his troops to descend on the capital within hours or days.
Overnight, ballistic missiles were fired at targets in Kiev, ahead of what Washington warns will be a Russian operation to “behead” the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
