Fierce Ukrainian resistance has so far held off Russian attempts to capture the nation’s capital, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said
Rescuers work at the site of a shopping centre in Kyiv’s Podil district which was damaged by bombing (Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Reuters)By Emily Ferguson
March 21, 2022 7:53 am(Updated 7:54 am)
Russian military leaders remain intent on capturing Kyiv as they continue to heavily shell the capital and other major Ukrainian cities, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.
In its latest intelligence update, the MoD said Russia’s attempts to capture Kyiv have stalled due to “fierce Ukrainian resistance”.
But it warned Kyiv remains Russia’s primary military objective and forces will attempt to encircle the city over the coming weeks.
“Heavy fighting continues north of Kyiv,” the MoD said. “Russian forces advancing on the city from the north-east have stalled.
“Forces advancing from the direction of Hostomel to the north-west have been repulsed by fierce Ukrainian resistance. The bulk of Russian forces remain more than 25 kilometres from the centre of the city.
“Despite the continued lack of progress, Kyiv remains Russia’s primary military objective and they are likely to prioritise attempting to encircle the city over the coming weeks.”
Russia continued its shelling offensive on the capital in the early hours of Monday morning, with houses and a shopping centre among the buildings hit.
At least four people have been confirmed dead after a blast in Kyiv’s Podil district, Ukrainian officials said.
The city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said: “According to the information we have at the moment, several homes and one of the shopping centres [were hit].”
Rescue teams worked overnight to put out a large blaze at the shopping centre.
It comes after Russia demanded Ukrainian forces give up their defence of Mariupol in exchange for safe passage for those still in the besieged city.
Moscow demanded a response from Kyiv by 5am (2am GMT), blaming Ukrainian “nationalists” and “bandits” for the “humanitarian catastrophe” unfolding in the city.
Mariupol has been bombarded by relentless Russian shelling since the first days of the invasion, making it almost impossible for people to flee or aid to enter.
Moscow said any fighters left after its deadline would face a “military tribunal”, but Ukraine’s deputy prime minister has refused the offer.
Iryna Vereshchuk said early on Monday: “There can be no question of any surrender, laying down of arms.
“We have already informed the Russian side about this.”
Mariupolin southern Ukraine on the Sea of Azov, is a key strategic battleground. Capturing it would help create a land corridor between Crimea and the parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions controlled by Russian-backed separatists.
Gen. David Petraeus explains how Ukraine keeps picking off Russian generals
"Russia is suffering troop losses and has been unable to take Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv as of yet, but the Russians are expanding their attacks," trying to break out of their current stalemate, CNN's Jake Tapper said Sunday. "What is going wrong for the Russians?" he asked David Petraeus, the retired four-star general and former CIA director. "Well, an awful lot, actually," Petraeus said. "It's a stalemate, but we should note it's a bloody stalemate," not a truce.
"The Ukrainians say they have killed five Russian generals in Ukraine," Tapper said, noting that "CNN has not independently confirmed that" but the U.S. lost only one general over the entire Afghanistan War, and that was from an inside attack. "It's very, very uncommon" for U.S. generals to die in battle, Petraeus agreed, and "this is in the first three weeks, and these are quite senior generals."
"The bottom line is that their command and control has broken down, their communications have been jammed by the Ukrainians, their secure coms didn't work, they had to go to single channel," then cellphones, then stolen cellphones, Petraeus explained. "So what happens is the column gets stopped, an impatient general is sitting back there in his armored —or whatever — vehicle, he goes forward to find out what's going on because there's no initiative" among junior officers, "he gets up there, and the Ukrainians have very, very good snipers, and they've just been picking them off, left and right. And at least four of these five are absolutely confirmed, and I think the fifth we'll hear today."
Petraeus also gave a broader overview of the Ukrainian war, including the strategic importance of Mariupol, Odessa, and ultimately Kyiv for both Ukraine and Russia. Mariupol "is the first place where the Russians are having to do no-kidding urban fighting," at great cost, he said. And how long the besieged Ukrainians can hold out is "very important," because "if they do surrender, these forces will be freed to go back up" to try and capture Kyiv or join other key battles.
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