The Ukrainian capital Kyiv dawned in complete silence after a long and sleepless night. Intense fighting broke out and dozens of explosions erupted in the city in the dark hours of street clashes, including near government buildings.

It is reported that a rocket hit the building of the Kyiv municipality and a projectile hit an apartment building in the capital. Fighting began hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of an expected Russian assault.

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov told a Ukrainian news site that the Ukrainian army was controlling the situation in Kyiv.

Russian forces have taken the town of Melitopol in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, according to Interfax.

The Russian army has carried out coordinated missile and artillery attacks on Ukrainian cities, including in the capital Kyiv. The Ukrainian military command said Russia had fired Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea against the cities of Sumy, Poltava and Mariupol.

Battles are being fought near Mariupol, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odessa.

This morning, Ukrainian President Zelensky made another video address:

“Good morning to all Ukrainians. There has been a lot of false information online lately that I am calling on our army to drop its weapons and I to evacuate. Listen. I'm here. We will not surrender our weapons. We will defend our country. Our weapon is the truth. And the truth is that this is our land, our country, our children. We will defend all this.”

The energy system in Ukraine is working stably.

Earlier this morning, an air alert was issued in the most populous city in western Ukraine, Lviv, as well as in another city in the Lviv region. Earlier, air-raid sirens in Kharkiv were turned on.

The United States is ready to help Zelensky leave Kyiv, the Washington Post reported, citing US and Ukrainian officials. Zelensky is the number one goal of the Russians, the publication believes. However, the Ukrainian president has rejected the offer and is in Kyiv.

Russia, meanwhile, has blocked a UN Security Council resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and Russia's Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzia has called the text anti-Russian and anti-Ukrainian.

/BNR

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