KIEV: Explosions and gunfire erupted in a northern district of the Ukrainian capital Kiev today, an AFP reporter on the ground heard, as invading Russian forces closed in.
Pedestrians ran for safety as small arms fire and explosions were heard in the Obolonsky area.
The larger blasts could be heard as far away as the city centre.
Russian forces first arrived on the outskirts of Kiev yesterday when helicopter-borne troops assaulted an airfield just outside the city, close to Obolonsky.
The Ukrainian military claims to have repulsed the attack on the Gostomel airbase, but Russian ground forces have also been pushing down the west bank of the Dnieper river from Belarus.
As they arrived in Obolonsky, within the city, the defence ministry’s Facebook page urged civilians to resist.
“We urge citizens to inform us of troop movements, to make Molotov cocktails, and neutralise the enemy,” it said.