A mushroom cloud has been seen billowing in the sky after an explosion at a gas pipeline near a Ukrainian city.
Russian armed forces are believed to be targeting key infrastructure sites in the main cities as they carry out their brutal and bloody invasion.
On Saturday evening the cloud was seen near Kharkiv, the second biggest city of Ukraine, which is to the east of capital Kyiv.
The two cities, Kharkiv and Kyiv, have come under intense pressure from Kremlin troops overnight, which is expected to continue tonight, as Ukrainian forces ferociously try to hold onto the key territories.
In Kyiv civilians have been given AK-47s to defend themselves and urged to create Molotov cocktails (petrol bombs) so they can fight off the Russians.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has refused an offer from Western allies to flee Kyiv and has pledged to fight alongside his countrymen against Russian forces, according to Mirror Online.
The UK Ministry of Defence has said that Russian forces “are not making the progress they had planned”.
“They are suffering from logistical challenges and strong Ukrainian resistance,” a short statement released on Twitter reads.
There are also reports this evening that an oil depot in Vasylkiv, a city in the Kyiv region, has been hit by a Russian rocket.
Local media reported both the city’s mayor Nataliia Balasynovych, as well as Ukraine government adviser Anton Geraschenko, have confirmed the hit.
Footage on social media shows huge flames billowing from the terminal.
People living nearby have been told to close their doors and windows to keep out the acrid and possibly dangerous smoke.
Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said the Russian advance had been temporarily halted – and denied Moscow’s claim that it had captured the south-eastern city of Melitopol.
President Zelensky, meanwhile, also staged a dawn address to tell EU leaders: “This might be the last time you see me alive.”
He added: “The occupiers wanted to block the centre of our state... we broke their plan.
“We will fight as long as it takes to liberate the country.”
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