- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights multi-front war
- Mexican mayor murdered days after taking office
- Intensifying to Category 5, Hurricane Milton targets Florida
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
- Man Utd battling to improve fortunes, says Evans
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
RBGPF | -1.97% | 58.94 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.2% | 24.65 | $ | |
SCS | -0.7% | 12.88 | $ | |
BCC | 0.48% | 139.569 | $ | |
GSK | 0.06% | 38.845 | $ | |
NGG | -1.28% | 65.66 | $ | |
BCE | -0.33% | 33.6 | $ | |
RIO | -0.13% | 69.61 | $ | |
BTI | -0.02% | 35.284 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.45% | 6.88 | $ | |
RELX | -0.6% | 46.015 | $ | |
JRI | -0.38% | 13.23 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
BP | 0.74% | 33.125 | $ | |
AZN | -0.36% | 77.19 | $ | |
VOD | 0.21% | 9.68 | $ |
Fighting in Kyiv as Ukraine says 198 civilians killed
Ukrainian forces repulsed a Russian attack on Kyiv but "sabotage groups" infiltrated the capital, officials said Saturday, as Ukraine reported 198 civilians deaths, including children, following Russia's invasion.
A defiant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed his pro-Western country would never give in to the Kremlin even as Russia said it had fired cruise missiles at military targets.
With explosions echoing around Kyiv on the third day of Russia's assault, Zelensky spoke in a video message, wearing olive green military-style clothing and looking tired but determined.
"I am here. We will not lay down any weapons. We will defend our state, because our weapons are our truth," he said.
"Our truth is that this is our land, our country, our children and we will protect all of this."
Ignoring warnings from the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed a full-scale invasion that the UN refugee agency said has forced almost 116,000 people to flee to neighbouring countries.
Tens of thousands more are estimated to be displaced within Ukraine, with many on the move to less affected western areas of the country.
In Kyiv, residents took shelter in the subway system and in cellars and basements.
"We thought something like this might happen but we were hoping until the end that it wouldn't," Irina Butyak told AFP in one shelter.
"We were hoping that common sense and common decency would prevail. Well, it didn't," said the 38-year-old teacher, who hoped she would be able to escape soon to western Ukraine.
Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said 198 civilians, including three children, had been killed in the conflict and 1,115 wounded.
In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the world must brace for a long war.
"This crisis will last, this war will last and all the crises that come with it will have lasting consequences," Macron said.
"We must be prepared".
After speaking to Macron, Zelensky tweeted to thank "partners" for sending weapons and equipment.
Several NATO members have sent weapons and ammunition to Ukraine in recent weeks, including Britain, the United States and ex-communist countries in Eastern Europe.
In another video address, the 44-year-old leader also said that his country had "derailed" the Russian plan of overthrowing him and establishing a puppet state in Ukraine.
- Air raid sirens and birdsong -
In the early hours of Saturday, AFP reporters in Kyiv heard occasional blasts of what soldiers said were artillery and Grad missiles being fired in an area northwest of the city centre.
There were also loud explosions in the centre.
Emergency services said a high-rise apartment block was hit by shelling overnight, posting a picture that showed a hole covering at least five floors blasted into the side of the building.
Kyiv's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said the building had been hit by a missile.
"The night was difficult, but there are no Russian troops in the capital," he said.
"The enemy is trying to break into the city, in particular from Gostomel, Zhytomyr, where the aggressors are neutralised," he said, referring to two settlements to the northwest and west of the city.
"Now in Kyiv there are, unfortunately, sabotage groups, there were several clashes," he said.
Hours later, AFP saw a destroyed Ukrainian military truck in the city centre and a civilian volunteer digging a trench for soldiers.
Ukrainian army tanks were also seen manoeuvring all over the centre but the streets were mostly empty and the centre silent except for the sound of air raid sirens and birdsong.
The city said it was toughening a curfew in place and anyone on the streets after 5:00 pm would be considered "members of the enemy's sabotage and reconnaissance groups".
- Russian plan 'derailed' -
Zelensky on Saturday said that Ukraine had "derailed" Russia's attack plan and urged Russians to pressure Putin into ending the war.
When he announced the assault in a pre-dawn television statement on Thursday, Putin called it a "special military operation" aimed at defending Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The separatists have been fighting Ukrainian government forces in the east for eight years in a conflict in which more than 14,000 people have been killed.
Russia's communications regulator on Saturday told independent media to remove reports describing it as an "assault, invasion, or declaration of war".
In a statement, the regulator accused the media outlets of spreading "untrue information" about the shelling of Ukrainian cities by the Russian army and civilian deaths.
- 'Point of no return' -
But Russia has brushed off international condemnation and increasingly stringent sanctions adopted by the United States, Canada, Britain and the European Union, including against Putin himself and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Russia said sanctioning the pair was "a demonstration of the complete impotence of the foreign policy" of the West.
"We have reached the line after which the point of no return begins," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
The impact of sanctions has been far-reaching.
French naval forces on Saturday said they had intercepted in the Channel a cargo vessel loaded with cars bound for Russia.
The Russian-flagged Baltic Leader ship is suspected of belonging to a sanctioned company.
Zelensky has called on Western allies to expel Moscow from the SWIFT banking transfer system.
But a number of EU countries, including Germany, Hungary and Italy, have been reluctant over fears Russia could cut off gas supplies.
In the latest development, Poland on Saturday said it was refusing to play its 2022 World Cup play-off against Russia on March 24.
burs-dt/as/jv
O.Johnson--AMWN