Day 17 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Russians are Encircling Kyiv

Today, the 17th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, fighting continues northwest of Kyiv, with Russian ground forces located about 25 km from the center of the Ukrainian capital. The cities of Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Sumy were surrounded and subjected to heavy shelling.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden reiterated that his country would not interfere directly in hostilities against Russia in Ukraine. He warned that if American forces were fighting Russia, it would mean World War III.

At a meeting of the UN Security Council, Russia made allegations - without evidence - of US actions with biological weapons in Ukraine.

Day 16 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Russian Forces Advance towards Kyiv

Air raid sirens sounded in more than 15 regions of Ukraine early this morning, including in Kyiv, Odessa in the south, Sumy in the north, Kharkiv in the east and Dnipro in the southeast, local media reported.

Humanitarian corridors for the northeastern city of Sumy have been agreed for this morning, the head of the Regional State Administration, Dmitry Zhivitsky, told Telegram. The evacuation began at 9 a.m. local time with vehicles departing from six locations in the region. All convoys will head to the central city of Poltava and are expected to arrive there between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.

Yesterday, Russia expanded its offensive in Ukraine by attacking the cities of Lutsk, Ivano-Frankivsk and Dnipro.

Russian forces Destroyed Military Airports in Ukraine, DPR troops Capture Volnovakha

The Ukrainian president also thanked Poland for the support during the war with Russia:

“We are together in this struggle and we are strong. Our two nations number 90 million people and we are capable of everything in this historic mission. Poland and Ukraine to be Europe's leaders in bridging the abyss. More than 1.5 million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, do not feel that they are abroad, that they are in someone else's house without you asking for anything in return.”

In his address, Zelenski also thanked Poland for its readiness to support military action by providing its aircraft.

Zelensky accused Russia of not allowing civilians to leave the besieged city of Mariupol and said that today the Ukrainian authorities would try to deliver food and medicine to the people there. Authorities say more than 1,500 people have been killed in the city, and those who remain face sub-zero temperatures and a lack of electricity.

In another video, Zelensky said Moscow relied on terrorist tactics and accused Russia of holding the mayor of Melitopol hostage. According to him, for any democratic state, it is clear that the legally elected mayor of the city is the true representative of the people. “It's usually not about ideology and politics, it's about the lives of people in a community. Maybe Russia has already lost the habit of doing so during the years of autocratic rule,” Zelensky said.

“We have a democratic world here. Therefore, the capture of the mayor of Melitopol is a crime not only against a specific person. Not only against a certain community. And not only against Ukraine. This is a crime against democracy as such. I assure you that 100% of people in all democracies will understand. The actions of the Russian invaders will be equated with the actions of ISIS terrorists.”

At a meeting of the UN Security Council, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu said there was no information on any “biological weapons program” in Ukraine. The meeting was convened by Russia to discuss Moscow's claims that Ukraine is developing chemical weapons.

According to the UN, more than 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine and about 2 million have been internally displaced.

So far, Russian troops have destroyed 3,491 Ukrainian military infrastructure buildings and facilities in Ukraine. This was stated by the spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov, quoted by Russian news agencies. “Russian forces are continuing the offensive in Ukraine on a broad front,” Konashenkov said.

/BNR

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