Live Update: 4th Day Of Russian Invasion- Street Battles In Kharkiv

NEW YORK (VINnews) — On the fourth day of Russian’s invasion of the Ukraine, a number of cities in the country are encircled by Russian forces but they have not yet succeeded in conquering any major city and are meeting fierce resistance from local Ukrainians, even in the city of Kharkiv which has a largely indigenous Russian population. Currently the Russians have broken into the city, the second largest in the Ukraine, but have come under heavy fire from the Ukrainian army and armed local residents.

Diplomatic efforts have continued despite the fighting, with Russia saying it is ready to meet the Ukrainians in the Belarus town of Gomel and Ukraine refusing the offer. Ukraine is accusing Belarus of serving as a military base for Russia to initiate operations against Ukraine.

08:07 GMT — Local authorities in Kharkiv say some light Russian vehicles have managed to enter the city from its from the northeast, according to Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from Dnipro, in central Ukraine.

Fighting in Kharkiv pic.twitter.com/tb8OTThMwj

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) February 27, 2022

Ukrainian soldiers engage Russians who escaped from bombed convoy in Kharkiv

https://twitter.com/Mohit_Raiyani/status/1497869912890818560

Russian column destroyed in Kharkiv

“It seems the city, from what we understand, is now surrounded from all sides by the Russians and it is difficult for civilians to get out of there,” Abdel-Hamid said.

“Kharkiv is so close to the Russian border, about 40 kilometres (24 miles) from there, and a lot of people that live there are ethnically Russian,” she added.

“There are a lot of commercial links between the two sides and even family links between the two sides, and I think the Russians were quite surprised to see that that city has put up a fight and is resisting.

“The Russians want to use Kharkiv as some sort of a rear base and from there head south, maybe towards here, Dnipro, which is a city that they would like to take.

Ukrainian civilians stand in front of tanks and prevent them from advancing

07:11 GMT — Ukrainian forces claim to have intercepted a cruise missile launched by a Russian Tu-22 strategic bomber from the territory of Belarus, Valery Zaluzhny, the chief commander of the armed forces, says.

06:22 GMT — Russia claimed  that its troops had “entirely” besieged the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson and the southeastern city of Berdyansk, as the Russian army pressed on with the invasion of the pro-Western country.

“Over the past 24 hours, the cities of Kherson and Berdyansk have been completely blocked by the Russian armed forces,” defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

06:04 GMT — “The Russian enemy’s light vehicles have broken into Kharkiv, including the city centre,” Sinegubov said. “Ukraine’s armed forces are destroying the enemy. We ask civilians not to go out.”

Videos published by Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection showed several light military vehicles moving along a street and, separately, a burning tank.

5:50 GMT — Ukrainian Major General Borys Kremenetsky told reporters in Washington Saturday that Ukraine had captured around 200 Russian soldiers who were “badly equipped.”

“We captured around 200 Russian soldiers, some of them 19 years old, not trained at all, badly equipped. We treat them according to Geneva Convention, according to international humanitarian law,” Kremenetsky, who is a defense official at the Embassy of Ukraine in the US said, according to a report by CNN.

He also said the soldiers were allowed to “call their parents” and were given food and water.Kremenetsky said he is working closely with the Pentagon, but Ukraine still needs more support with military aid.

“There is list of crucial requirements, and we still need more capabilities. I can assure you that what we received already were used in a proper way,” he said.

Ukrainian forces are battling Russian troops on the streets of Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv, said regional governor Oleh Sinegubov.

2:46 GMT — A Ukrainian company in charge of building and maintaining roads says it is removing all road signs that could be used by invading Russian forces to find their way around the country.

“The enemy has poor communications, they cannot navigate the terrain,” the company Ukravtodor said in a Facebook update. “Let us help them get straight to hell.”

It posted an edited photo of a standard road sign in which directions to nearby cities have been replaced with profanities.

02:03 GMT — Russian missiles have hit the Ukrainian town of Vasylkiv southwest of Kyiv, setting an oil terminal ablaze, the town’s mayor said in a video posted online.

“The enemy wants to destroy everything around,” said Mayor Natalia Balasinovich.