Russians close in on Kyiv but meet strong resistance

Russian assaults on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv have been met with fierce resistance, as the Ukrainian military says it fought off several attacks.

The military said in a Facebook post early on Saturday that an army unit managed to repel Russian forces near its base on a major city street.

In a new video, President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “We won't lay down our arms. We will defend our state.”

Meanwhile, fighting continues near several other Ukrainian cities.

According to a report by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kyiv officials put out a statement asking people to stay in shelters and to stay away from windows if they were at home.

But Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council Oleksiy Danilov told Ukrainian news site Lb.ua that the army was "in control" of the situation.

“We are stopping the horde using all means available. The army servicemen and citizens are in control of Kyiv,” said Mr Danilov.

In his self-shot video, Mr Zelensky could be seen walking around Kyiv's government district in an apparent effort to dispel rumours he had called on the army to surrender to Russian troops.

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“There's a lot of fake information online that I'm calling on our army to lay down arms, and that there's evacuation,” he said against a backdrop of Kyiv's Gorodetsky House.

“I'm here. We won't lay down our arms. We will defend our state.”

Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, said a missile had hit a block of flats in the city, posting a picture on Facebook showing at least four apartments destroyed.

He added on Telegram that 35 people, including two children, had been wounded as of 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT).

“There are no Russian troops in the city,” he claimed, adding that people should stay in shelters as more air attacks were expected.

The people of Kyiv have just spent another long anxious night in bomb shelters and basements.

Above them, there were periods of street fighting as Russian forces attempted to probe the city's defences.

The Ukrainian army said it had repelled an attack along one of the main roads in the west, early this morning.

And it says it's managed to prevent a Russian attempt to land airborne troops at an airport south of Kyiv - even saying a large plane carrying troops had been shot down.

Elsewhere, Russian troops and armour continue their slow advance along a number of routes. Ukraine's cities all seem to be in government hands.

But, on Friday, a Russian amphibious landing west of the port city of Mariupol suggested Moscow is determined to link Russian-annexed Crimea with territory held by pro-Russian separatists in the east.

Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine's air force command also reported heavy fighting near the Vasylkiv air base, southwest of Kyiv, adding that it was under attack by Russian paratroopers.

Separately it claimed one of its fighters had shot down a Russian transport plane. The BBC was unable to verify this.

Mr Zelensky acknowledged Russian forces had inflicted casualties, he maintained "the enemy has sustained very serious casualties", too. The BBC cannot verify this claim.

As Russian troops closed in on Kyiv, Ukraine urged the West to take faster and tougher sanctions to punish Moscow for its attack.

Among the demands was an effort to cut off Russia from Swift - the system used for global business transactions.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also urged the West to block Russia from the payments system to "inflict maximum pain on President Putin and his regime".

It comes after Ukraine's defence minister urged anyone able to hold a weapon to join the effort to repel Russia.

Anna, a mother of two, told the BBC she was prepared to run to the basement in the event of shelling- but was also making plans to defend Ukraine.

As her husband prepares to fight, she lives with a rifle and pistol on a window ledge next to her children's toys.

“I'm scared for my life, for my kids, I'm scared for my country. But this is the fear that is transformed into anger that makes you do something to defend your country and protect yourself,” she said.