Ukraine invasion: Russian forces continue ‘ruthless’ attacks in Mariupol and other key cities as terrified citizens flee burning homes | World News

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Russia has continued its advance on Ukraine, with “ruthless attacks” overnight in the key cities of Mariupol and Chernihiv as terrified citizens try to flee their burning homes.

Fighting has continued overnight in northern Ukraine while residential districts and civilian infrastructure is struck indiscriminately by Russian shells as the invasion enters its tenth day.

Shelling in Kyiv and Mariupol

Footage verified by Sky News shows the continued shelling of the country’s key cities including Kyiv and Mariupol, while a massive blast was caught on a TV camera in Irpin.

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0:48 Drone captures explosions

Following days of intense shelling, residents in the port city of Mariupol were left without power and water after Russian missiles struck critical infrastructure.

Mayor Vadym Boichenko said the city “came under enemy fire” by Russian forces in continuing “ruthless attacks”.

It is understood the city remains in Ukrainian hands, but British intelligence says it is “highly likely” Mariupol is surrounded by Russian forces.

Key developments:

If the key port city were to fall, it would allow Moscow to create a land corridor between Crimea and the rebel-led regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

In Kyiv, a vast Russian armoured column threatening the Ukrainian capital remains stalled on the outskirts.

But Russia’s military has launched hundreds of missiles and missile attacks on cities and other sites across the country.

Image: Map of Russian invasion of Ukraine

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich said battles involving bombs and artillery continued northwest of Kyiv.

In the south of Kyiv, a Russian airstrike on a residential area in Markhalivka killed seven people, including two children.

Homes burn down in Chernihiv

As homes in Chernihiv burned following Russian shelling, one resident accused Europe of being a bystander as the violence rages on.

“We wanted to join NATO and the EU and this is the price we are paying, and NATO cannot protect us,” she said.

Another frightened Chernihiv woman was devastated after her house was set on fire.

Image: A devasted Chernihiv woman watches her home burn down

“I was asleep and they (Russians) started to shoot, and the fire broke out. Now we are burning down,” she said.

“My house was hit twice. A first time and then a second. What have you done to my house and to the country you fascist?”, she said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “He is an imbecile. How the whole world cannot stop him?”

Ukraine says that more than 840 children have been wounded in the invasion, and 28 have been killed.

At least 331 civilians have been confirmed killed but the true number is probably much higher, the UN human rights office said.

What is happening in other cities?

Russian forces made their biggest advances in the south in the past week, where they captured their first sizeable Ukrainian city, Kherson.

Bombing furthered in northeastern cities including Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Okhtyrka in recent days.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich said Ukrainian forces are still in control of Chernihiv and the southern city of Mykolaiv and had defended the biggest port city, Odesa, from Russian ships.

Verified footage circulating on social media showed brave citizens in Kherson coming out to protest against the Russian occupation on Saturday – chanting for Putin’s soldiers to go back to Russia.

The occupiers tried to disperse the rally by firing shots in the air.

1.3 million people flee Ukraine

The United Nations has confirmed that well over a million Ukrainian refugees have fled their home country since the conflict with Russia began.

These are largely women and children, as men of fighting age – those aged between 18 and 60 – have been urged to stay behind by President Zelenskyy and defend Ukraine.

The UN says this has quickly become the “biggest refugee crisis this century”, predicting that as many as four million people could leave.

Image: A map of where Ukrainian refugees have fled

Kyiv’s central train station remained crowded with people desperate to escape the conflict. “People just want to live,” one woman told reporters.

In the western city of Lviv, thousands of people waited for hours on Friday outside the railway station at the western city to board trains heading to Poland, with many families arriving with few belongings.

Some were in wheelchairs, others accompanied by pet dogs and cats, uncertain about their fate.

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