Russian troops prepare to lay siege to the Ukrainian capital – which has been hit with missiles and in whose surroundings there is intense fighting. Zelenski accuses Putin of targeting civilians and laments a lack of military support from the West. “We were left alone to defend our state.”

“Terrible missile attacks on Kyiv. The last time our capital suffered something similar was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany,” wrote the head of Ukrainian diplomacy on the social network Twitter.

Dmitro Kuleba added that in his time “Ukraine defeated evil and will defeat it now”.

“We have to stop (Russian President Vladimir) Putin. Isolate Russia. Break all contacts. Drive Russia out everywhere,” he added.

This morning, on the second day of the war, the Ukrainian capital was rocked by powerful explosions, which officials say were caused by air defense fire to repel a Russian missile attack.

Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine at dawn on Thursday, with ground forces and bombing targets in several cities, which has already claimed at least half a hundred deaths, 10 of them civilians, in Ukrainian territory, according to Kyiv.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the “special military operation” in Ukraine aims to “demilitarize and denazify” its neighbor and that it was the only way for the country to defend itself. of its “results” and “relevance”.

The attack was immediately condemned by the international community in general and prompted emergency meetings of several governments, including the Portuguese, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the EU, and the UN Security Council.

Source: with agencies