The sound of gunfire reverberated around Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, as Russian tanks were seen for the first time entering the city.
Videos of the tanks entering the Ukranian capital were shared on social media.
Overnight, the city was jolted by explosions, destroying at least one block of apartments and injuring a number of citizens.
Russia has denied that it has carried out any strikes.
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According to Reuters, an anonymous source in Russia’s defence ministry also claimed that a plane shot down above Kyiv was Ukrainian. Ukraine has confirmed that the plane was Russian.
Moscow, which is invading Kyiv from the east, north, and south, appeared to have Kyiv firmly in its sights as the second day of action began.
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Earlier videos of Russian tanks heading towards Ukraine via Belarus were also seen.
Clashes have been reported between the two sides, with Ukrainian soldiers blowing up a bridge in an attempt to delay Russia’s approach. Russia was building a “overwhelming force” to take control of the city, according to Western intelligence officials.
On Friday, local officials in the northern Obolon district warned residents to stay at home to prevent “active military operations,” according to Reuters. Obolon appears to be the same location where tanks were spotted earlier in the day.
On its Facebook page, the Ministry of Defence had already urged inhabitants of the neighbourhood to “inform us of troop movements, to make Molotov cocktails [firebombs] and neutralise the enemy.”
Overnight, families took shelter in Kyiv’s metro stations as aerial attacks struck the city, including the densely populated Pozniake area, injuring at least eight.
One Kyiv resident told the BBC’s Nick Beake, “We want to see Putin slaughtered like an animal.”
“How we can live through it in our time?” as she cleaned up broken glass from one blast, Oxana Gulenko asked a Reuters correspondent. “What should we think. Putin should be burnt in hell along with his whole family.”