From dawn until dusk, Kiev, capital of Ukraine, was the target of numerous attacks from the Russian invader, visibly in a hurry to bring President Volodymyr Zelensky and his government to their knees.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Observations by the media and news agencies report attacks from several sides to grip the capital, located in the center north of the country, about 170 kilometers south of the border with Belarus, an allied country of the Russia from where part of the invasion began.
“After an initial phase of strikes across the country aimed at gaining air superiority and paralyzing enemy command centers, Russian troops deployed on the ground are now advancing along several axes of penetration from the north, east and southern Ukraine. But the main military effort is focused on Kiev, where the first fighting broke out,” said a text from Agence France-Presse.
PHOTO EMILIO MORENATTI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ukrainian soldiers took position under a bridge during a firefight with Russian troops in Kiev on Friday.
“The main effort is clearly in the direction of Kiev, using the ‘high-speed attack’ method,” Colonel and military historian Michel Goya wrote on his Twitter page.
“In my opinion, the biggest offensive comes from the southeast, where Russian forces have landed west of Mariupol. Their goal is to create a strategic corridor between the already occupied Crimea and the so-called separatist republics of Lugansk and Donetsk”, nuance Lubomyr Luciuk, professor in the department of political science at the Royal Military College of Canada, in Kingston.
PHOTO SERGEI SUPINSKY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The bodies of Russian soldiers lie inside and next to a vehicle after they were shot during a skirmish in Kiev on Friday, according to Ukrainian service personnel on the spot.
The latter indicates that if Kiev falls quickly, it will have the effect of a massive blow on the morale of the Ukrainians. But we are not there yet. “The resistance of the Ukrainians is much greater than we thought,” observes Mr. Luciuk, who is of Ukrainian origin. “It’s a big surprise for everyone. The Russians may take time to achieve their goals. »
At dawn, the suburbs
According to The GuardianRussian forces began attacking the outskirts of Kiev from dawn on Friday, mainly on the eastern and northeastern flanks.
The Russian Defense Ministry said during the day that troops had managed to take control of the strategic Gostomel (Hostomel) airport, a claim disputed by the Ukrainians.
Elsewhere, there are reports of gunshots near bridges spanning the Dnieper River, which divides the city into two parts. Some 200 soldiers took up positions on and around one of them.
Shots and explosions were heard in several areas of the city until the evening. According to the Associated Press, the sound of an explosion was heard around 8 p.m. local time (1 p.m. in Montreal), near Independence Square.
Around the same time, Acadian-born journalist and BBC Kyiv correspondent Lyse Doucet wrote, incoming missiles on his Twitter feed.
Political strategy?
Alongside the attacks, Russian President Vladimir Putin was leading the charge on the political front by inciting Ukrainian soldiers to overthrow President Zelensky and enter into talks with him. Surprising?
“Not really,” replies Étienne Schmitt, assistant professor in the department of political science at Concordia University and specialist in European policies. “In our Western societies, apart from the assault on the Capitol, there is no political violence. Whereas, in the Russian tradition, this political violence exists. Political opponents went to jail [Alexeï Navalny en est le plus récent exemple]. I am therefore not surprised to see Vladimir Putin going directly to the Ukrainian army to dislodge the current president. »
What will Ukrainian civilians do?
President Zelensky, for his part, encouraged the population to participate in the counter-attack by reporting the movements of Russian troops, and even throwing Molotov cocktails at them.
According to Lubomyr Luciuk, this resistance has already begun. “I spoke to a friend of mine who lives in Kyiv with her husband and for the past two months they have been training home defense every weekend,” he said.
If the Russians attempt to impose an occupation of Ukraine, they will meet hellish resistance! Remember that after World War II, the anti-Soviet uprising of Ukrainians lasted for a decade.
Lubomyr Luciuk, Professor in the Department of Political Science at the Royal Military College of Canada
Étienne Schmitt has a similar thought. “When the Bolsheviks took power, a significant part of the Ukrainian population was against it and rebelled for three years. The Ukrainians have risen several times against Moscow. Even if the Russians win on the field, [les Ukrainiens] say they can resist for weeks, months, years. »
“A friend from Kiev told me yesterday that there are no queues in front of grocery stores,” says Lubomyr Luciuk. It’s in front of the gun shops and recruiting centers. »
With The Guardianthe Associated Press and Agence France-Presse