The bombardment by Russian forces approached near the center of Kiev on Tuesday, as a series of shells hit residential areas of the capital. Powerful explosions were heard Tuesday at dawn.
Officials say they were artillery strikes. It seems that the attack of Russian forces on Kiev is becoming more systematic.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said artillery shells hit four multi-storey buildings in the city causing dozens killed. Tuesday’s strikes in a region west of Kiev put an end to a few days of calm in the city, since the long convoy of Russian armored vehicles was blocked near the city in the early days of the war.
The bombings caused a large fire in a 15-storey building. The mayor of Kiev Vitali Klitschko announced a state of curfew for a period of 35 hours, which will last until 7 am on Thursday.
The International Organization for Migration said on Tuesday that the number of Ukrainians fleeing the country exceeded 3 million. The UN says this is the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.