Russian troops sent by Vladimir Putin have attacked with force this Friday the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. On the second day of Europe’s first major war in decades, the Russian president attacked civilian infrastructure to force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate and surrender. The Ukrainian government reported dozens of deaths and injuries in attacks across the country. Russian special forces and airborne troops advanced towards the capital. From the south and east, they are also trying to encircle the Ukrainian army in the Donbas region, where the Kiev secret service believes Moscow might as well infiltrate paramilitary groups to attack from within and gain complete control of the region. The plan could be repeated, they said, in other parts of the country, including in Kiev, where the goal of the Kremlin chief is to behead the government. Thousands of people have fled from the east, closer to the Russian border, and from the capital, to the west, to cities such as Lviv, near the border with Poland, where warning sirens for attacks have also sounded this morning. . Tens of thousands of citizens are trying to leave the country for Poland and Hungary.

The shooting of the Russian plane over Kiev, which hit a residential building in the capital, has caused a huge fire. This is a 10-story building, about 10 kilometers from the center of the capital, report Luis de Vega from Kiev. At least five were injured, one very seriously. In his address to Ukrainian citizens, President Zelensky confirmed several Russian missile strikes in different parts of the country and assured that military aggression is targeting civilian and military infrastructure. “They are killing people and turning peaceful cities into military targets,” he said.

By Maria R. Sahuquillo

Photo: Hundreds of residents took refuge at the Kiev metro station this Thursday. (Emilio Morenatti/AP)

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