Heavy fighting is underway in Ukraine’s second city as Russian troops entered Kharkiv in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Major attacks overnight included a gas pipeline outside Kharkiv that was set ablaze by Russian troops, and an oil depot in Vasylkiv near Kyiv that was destroyed by a Russian missile strike.
Toxic fumes from the explosion prompted the Kyiv authorities to ask citizens to stay indoors and keep windows shut.
The capital Kyiv otherwise appeared relatively calm, and remains under the control of Ukrainian forces, said deputy mayor Mykola Povoroznyk.
As the Kremlin claimed Russian delegates had arrived in Belarus for peace talks with Ukrainian officials, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready for discussions, but rejected the offer to hold them in Belarus, calling it an invasion staging ground.
Meanwhile in another economic blow to Russia, the Swift international payments system said it was preparing to implement western nations’ new measures targeting Russian banks in coming days.
