Kyiv breached but Russian forces meet fierce resistance | Financial Times

Russian forces breached the suburbs of Kyiv on Friday but their advance met strong resistance, leaving Moscow still battling to seize any of Ukraine s biggest cities.

Vladimir Putin called on the Ukrainian army to mutiny and spare the nation bloodshed as he expanded his assault, moving one third of Russia s assembled combat forces into the country, according to US estimates.

Nato member states meanwhile pledged to continue supplying military weapons to Ukraine, including air defence systems. We are in this for the long haul, said Jens Stoltenberg, Nato secretary general, after the alliance held a crisis meeting.

Kyiv residents woke to loud explosions on Friday and reports of Russian armoured vehicles advancing into the northern Kyiv district of Obolon, bringing street fighting to the 3mn-strong capital.

But western officials said tough Ukrainian opposition had slowed Russia s attempt to encircle Kyiv and capture Kharkiv in the north-east, Ukraine s second-biggest city.

Battlefield setbacks highlighted the challenge still ahead for Putin after he pit Europe s biggest invasion force in half a century against an outgunned but determined Ukrainian military, seemingly ready to hold ground in urban warfare.

In general, the Russians have lost a little bit of their momentum, said a Pentagon official. A good indication is that no population centres have been taken.

via www.ft.com