LONDON – Heavy fighting continued north of kyiv as Russian forces persisted in their blockaded effort to encircle the Ukrainian capital, the British Ministry of Defense said on Monday.
Russian advances from the north-east of the city have been blocked, the ministry said in a Monday social media update, while troops advancing from Hostomel to the north-west had been repelled by staunch Ukrainian resistance. The bulk of the Russian forces were more than 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the city center.
“Despite the continued lack of progress, kyiv remains the main Russian military target and it is likely that they will prioritize the encirclement of the city in the coming weeks,” according to the British authorities.
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LEOPOLIS, Ukraine – Emergency workers have contained an ammonia leak at a chemical plant that has contaminated a wide area in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, authorities said Monday.
Sumy region governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyy did not say what caused the leak, which spread within a radius of 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the Sumykhimprom plant.
The plant is on the outskirts of the city, which has a population of about 263,000 people and has come under frequent attack by Russian troops in recent weeks.
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kyiv, Urania – Shells fired into a kyiv neighborhood have devastated a shopping mall, which was left a still-smoldering ruin Monday morning amid multi-story towers.
Emergency services reported at least six dead in the Sunday night attacks near the city center. The force of the explosion blew out all the windows in the neighboring block and twisted their metal frames.
Artillery fire could be heard in the distance as firefighters toiled through the destruction in the populous Podil district.
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