Half of the population of Kyiv has left the city since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started 14 days ago, the mayor of the besieged capital stated Thursday.
Speaking on state television amid reports of encroaching Russian forces, Vitali Klitschko added that “slightly less than two million people remain in the city. Kyiv is now a fortress. Every street, every building - is now fortified.”
The British Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, reported that the huge Russian convoy making its way to the capital from the northwest "has made little progress in the last week" - and that it has suffered “continuous losses” at the hands of Ukrainian forces.
Drone footage released Thursday shows Ukrainian forces ambushing a Russian tank convoy near the city of Brovary, some 35 km from the center of Kyiv.
According to independent investigative agency Bellingcat, the video was captured on the E95 - a main road which leads directly to the center of Kyiv.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry verified the video’s authenticity, stating that “the force’s commander, Colonel Zakharov, has been killed. The force has suffered heavy casualties, both in manpower and equipment," a statement said.
A Ukrainian attack on a Russian tank convoy near Brovary
(Video: News 247, KENCH TV)
Both the video and Klitschko’s statement come in the wake of yet another round of negotiation, which saw the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine meet Thursday in Turkey - the highest-level contact between the two countries since the war started.
Ukraine's Dmytro Kuleba said he had secured no promise from Russia's Sergei Lavrov to halt Russian bombardment so aid could reach civilians in several besieged cities, including Kyiv's main humanitarian priority — evacuating hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the port city of Mariupol.
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A pregnant woman is taken away from destruction caused by Russian bombing in Mariupol
(Photo: AP)
Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Thursday that not a single civilian was able to leave the encircled Mariupol as Russian forces failed to respect a temporary ceasefire to allow evacuations.
First published: 18:08, 03.10.22