Slaughtered as they begged for help: Four civilians are killed as Russian shelling hits a humanitarian centre in Kharkiv... but Ukrainian troops push enemy forces away from Kyiv in new setback for Putin's army
- At least four people have died and another three wounded in Russian shelling on the city of Kharkiv today
- Artillery hit aid centre 'with no military facility nearby', officials said, implying the attack was a war crime
- Came as Ukrainian forces continued to counter-attack, recapturing two villages to the east of capital Kyiv
- Attacks also took place on Kherson, in the south, and on village of Malynivka in the Zaporizzhizhia region
- But Chechen special forces claimed to have captured Mariupol town hall as they push deep into the city
By CHRIS PLEASANCE FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 20:01 AEDT, 25 March 2022 | UPDATED: 22:36 AEDT, 25 March 2022
Russia has shelled a humanitarian aid centre in the city of Kharkiv, leaving at least four civilians dead, though continued to suffer battlefield defeats elsewhere as Ukrainian forces pushed Putin's men back from Kyiv.
Kharkiv, which has been bombarded by Russian forces since the early days of the war, came under fresh attack overnight an early Friday - leaving four dead and three wounded after an aid centre was struck in the early hours of Friday. 'There is no military facility nearby,' authorities said, indicating the attack amounts to a war crime.
But there was success elsewhere for Ukrainian forces which succeeded in recapturing the village of Lukyanivka, 35 miles to the east of central Kyiv, as troops were filmed occupying the settlement amid the ruins of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles. Lukashi, another nearby town, was also reported to be under Ukrainian control.
Meanwhile heavy fighting was underway in Borodyanka, around 30 miles from downtown Kyiv to the west, as Ukraine's forces try to wrest control of the city away from Russia. If successful, it leaves Russian troops at Bucha and Irpin - thought to number in the thousands - at risk of being surrounded with the potential for mass surrender.
Kherson, in the south west, also appears to have been attacked by Ukrainian forces who thwarted a Russian assault on Mykolaiv. Kherson airport, where Russia has repeatedly tried to station its aircraft and helicopters, appeared to be hit by Ukrainian artillery overnight.
Malynivka, a small town around 65 miles north of Mariupol, was also reportedly recaptured by Ukrainian forces in an effort to thwart a Russian pincer movement aiming to surround its armies in the Donbass. Heavy fighting was also underway in Izyum, 100 miles to the north, to halt the other arm of the pincer.
But the situation in Mariupol itself appeared grim, with the BBC reporting that councillors have now been evacuated and are running the city from outside after Russian forces pushed into the centre. Chechen special forces, which uploaded footage of fighting in the city on Thursday, claimed to have captured city hall.
Firefighters battle a blaze in Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine, after the city was hit by shelling in the early hours of Friday - hitting a humanitarian aid centre which killed at least four people
A man flees with his belongings as fire engulfs a vehicle and building following artillery fire on the 30th day on the invasion of the Ukraine by Russian forces in the northeastern city of Kharkiv
Civilians flee from the city of Kharkiv, in north east Ukraine, against the backdrop of a burning vehicle which was destroyed by Russian shelling attacks on Friday
A Ukrainian firefighter walks amid the ruins of a building in Kharkiv, north-east Ukraine, after it was destroyed by Russian shelling which struck in the early hours
A destroyed Russian T-72 tank (left) and armoured vehicle (right) are seen in the village of Lukyanivka, around 35 miles to the east of Kyiv, after a successful counter-attack by Ukrainian forces
A Ukrainian soldier (left) stands next to the wreckage of a T-72 tank after it was destroyed in counter-attacks east of Kyiv
Counter-attacks continue to the east and west of Kyiv, with the village of Lukyanivka back in Ukrainian hands on Friday morning while heavy fighting has been reported at Borodyanka as Kyiv's men try to encircle Russian troops there
A Ukrainian soldier walks beside the ruins of Russian armour that was destroyed during a counter-attack east of Kyiv
A Russian soldier with a heavy machine gun walks in front of the ruins of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles east of Kyiv
A Ukrainian soldier walks past the ruins of a damaged Russian armoured vehicle after a counter-attack to the east of Kyiv
With Russian advances at a standstill across Ukraine, Kyiv's men are increasingly looking to go on the counter-attack - striking to the west and east of Kyiv, attacking Kherson from Mykolaiv, and trying to blunt a Russian pincer movement to encircle troops in the Donbass at Malynivka and Izyum
Members of the band Antytila, singer and bandleader Taras Topolia (centre), keyboardist Serhii Vusyk (left), and guitarist Dmytro Zholud (right) pose on the frontlines in Kyiv
A Ukrainian soldier is seen guarding a defensive position to the north of Kyiv, as Russian forces are pushed back
Serhii Volosovets, a commander in the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces, fires a pistol during a training camp for volunteers in Brovary, northeast of Kyiv
Ukrainian troops are pictured carrying British/Swedish NLAW anti-tank weapons on the frontlines near Kyiv
Civilian volunteers attend a training camp of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces in Brovary, northeast of Kyiv
A Ukrainian soldier checks cartridges for a machine gun at a position on the front line in the north Kyiv region
Ukrainian troops reposition British/Swedish NLAW anti-tank weapons in trenches near the capital Kyiv
A Ukrainian rocket artillery truck is seen on a road near the capital Kyiv, as Russian forces are pushed back from the city
A Ukrainien serviceman stand guard near a burning warehouse hit by a Russian shell in the suburbs of Kyiv
Should the city fall, it would mark the biggest scalp yet claimed by Russia and would establish a land corridor from occupied Crimea to the Donbass region - which Moscow insists is independent from the rest of Ukraine. The move is thought to be one of the key objectives of Putin's invasion.
Capturing the city would also free up Russian forces dedicated to the siege to mount attacks elsewhere in the country - further threatening Ukrainian forces in the Donbass with encirclement.
As fighting wears into its second month, US President Joe Biden will travel to a town near the Polish-Ukrainian border Friday - a sign of America's commitment to defend NATO territory and a warning to Vladimir Putin not to allow the war to spread further into Europe.
Air Force One will jet into the eastern Polish town of Rzeszow - bringing the US president less than 50 miles from the war-zone.
Fearing further escalation, cautious European Union, NATO and G7 leaders in Brussels shied away from Ukraine's request for more advanced weapons systems and a blanket embargo on Russian oil and gas at a trio of Brussels summits Thursday.
That prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to pointedly question whether some allies - particularly those in Europe - were doing enough, quickly enough.
'You have applied sanctions. We are grateful. These are powerful steps. But it was a little late,' he told EU leaders via video link, suggesting the invasion and untold bloodshed could have been prevented.
With his calls for fighter jets, missile defence systems, tanks, armoured vehicles and anti-ship missiles seemingly stalled, he warned Europeans about the cost of further delay.
Naming each EU member state in turn, he thanked countries including Poland and Estonia for their support, noted German backing came 'a little later' and singled Hungary out for censure.
'You have to decide for yourself who you are with,' Zelensky told Hungary's rightwing populist leader Viktor Orban, who has close ties to Moscow.
Zelensky said more weapons and more pressure on Moscow were urgently needed to help besieged Ukrainian cities.
'Listen, Viktor, do you know what's going on in Mariupol?' he said. 'There is no time to hesitate. It's time to decide already.'
Some in the West fear transferring ever-more lethal weapons to Ukraine could spark further escalation from Moscow that might prove cataclysmic.
cial forces record themselves fighting in Mariupol, in the south of Ukraine, as they claimed to have captured the city hall on Friday morning
Mariupol is in danger of falling to Russian forces which are now fighting in the centre of the city (pictured above)
Mariupol has been surrounded and besieged for almost a month, with Russian forces now pushing into the city centre
A Russian armoured vehicle with a 'Z' invasion symbol painted on the front is seen driving into Mariupol, as large parts of the city fall under the control of Putin's forces
Russian forces are pictured rolling into Mariupol as civilians file out, after the city was largely destroyed by bombardment
Russian armoured vehicles unload troops on the outskirts of Mariupol as the city falls further into Moscow's hands
Pro-Russian troops are seen atop of an armoured vehicle with symbols 'Z' painted on its side in Mariupol
Russian forces roll into the city of Mariupol, large parts of which are now under the control of Putin's men
A Russian soldier stands guard as Ukrainian civilians are evacuated from Mariupol, amid reports some are being kidnapped or forcibly deported to far eastern Russia
Russia is already accused of using phosphorus bombs and indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas - something the United States has branded a war crime.
And the Kremlin has pointedly refused to rule out using nuclear weapons, while producing a steady flow of disinformation about chemical and biological weapons that Washington says could be used as cover for their deployment by Moscow.
NATO leaders on Thursday decided to bolster their chemical and nuclear defences and announced the deployment of further troops to Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria in case Russia expands its attack beyond Ukraine.
In Poland, Biden will meet members of the US 82nd Airborne Division, part of NATO's increasingly muscular deployment to its eastern flank.
He will also receive a briefing on the dire humanitarian situation in Ukraine, which has seen more than 3.5 million people pour out of the country, mostly to Poland.
The UN believes that more than half of Ukraine's children have already been driven from their homes, 'a grim milestone that could have lasting consequences for generations to come', according to Unicef chief Catherine Russell.
'Every day it's 20, 30 times we go to the basement (to shelter),' said a sobbing 37-year-old Vasiliy Kravchuk in the garrison town of Zhytomyr.
'It's difficult because my wife is pregnant, I have a little son.'
While Ukrainian forces have stalled the initial Russian invasion and even launched some successful counterattacks, there are early signs that both sides are digging in for a long and bloody war that neither can easily win.
'It is obvious that the operation will continue until the objectives set by the president of the country are achieved,' former president and top security official Dmitry Medvedev told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
In Mariupol about 100,000 civilians are said to be trapped in the southern port city with dwindling supplies of food, water and power, and with encircling Russian forces slowly grinding the city to dust.
Russia's highly censored media has broadcast aerial footage that appeared to be from Mariupol, showing a hellscape of charred and pocked apartment blocks spread across a singed and blackened wasteland.
Presenters blamed the devastation on Ukrainian 'nationalists'.
The city is a treasured prize for Russia as it would enable a land bridge between Russian-annexed Crimea and regions already controlled by Russian proxy forces in eastern Ukraine.
Kremlin-allied Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov on Thursday claimed his forces had pierced Ukrainian defences to take Mariupol's city hall and hoist Russia's flag.
Anatoliy Mykolayev, 65, who was injured by glass as a result of shellfire, sits on a sofa in a hospital in Kyiv
Viktoria, who was injured with shelling debris, rests in a bed in a hospital in Kyiv on Thursday
Displaced people fleeing the suburbs have their IDs checked in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv
Injured people receive treatment at a hospital after surviving Russian attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine
Injured people receive treatment at a hospital after surviving Russian attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine
Injured people receive treatment at a hospital after surviving Russian attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine
That claim was not verified, and Ukraine's armed forces said Russia was still trying to sack Mariupol 'without success'.
While some civilians have been able to flee to Ukrainian-controlled territory, local officials said as many as 15,000 Mariupol residents have been forcibly deported to Russia.
In recent days Ukraine has also shown its ability to go on the counter-attack, seemingly pushing Russia's military out of some towns near Kyiv and hitting valuable Russian targets in the south.
Ukraine on Friday claimed it had destroyed or damaged a small flotilla of Russian warships in the port city of Berdyansk.
According to the Ukrainian armed forces, Russian landing ship the 'Saratov' was destroyed, and the landing ships 'Caesar Kunikov' and 'Novocherkassk' were damaged.
Images from the scene showed a large Russian warship ablaze at dockside, with other vessels steaming away from the inferno.
British military intelligence said the attack on 'high-value' targets also destroyed an ammunition storage depot and was part of a broader strategy of Ukraine targeting vulnerable Russian supply lines.
'Ukrainians will continue to target logistical assets in Russian-held areas,' the UK Ministry of Defence said.
'This will force the Russian military to prioritise the defence of their supply chain and deprive them of much-needed resupply for forces.'
But it is far from clear that Ukraine can push the Russian forces out.
For now, the West seems content to squeeze Russia's economy and Putin's inner circle.
The European Union and the G7, also meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, pledged to block transactions involving the Russian central bank's gold reserves, to hamper any Moscow bid to circumvent Western sanctions.
And a series of countries announced asset freezes and travel bans on more Kremlin-connected individuals.
There was no agreement to halt oil and gas imports from Russia, which fill Moscow's war chest to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per day.
The night sky lights up as Ukrainian troops launch rocket attacks on the airfield in Kherson overnight
Kherson comes under counter-attack by Ukrainian forces which appeared to be striking the airfield