UKRAINIAN troopers fought off a blitz from Russian troops to carry a vital street junction in a historic and brave present of resistance.
Troops, dug in alongside the E40 freeway close to Beresteiska Metro Station 5 miles west of Kyiv metropolis centre, had been subjected to a withering bombardment.
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Ukrainian vans and armoured autos erupted in flames underneath a hail of shells and rockets as Vladimir Putin’s elite particular forces swept in.
Myself and photographer Doug Seeburg had pushed to Lviv alongside that street earlier, previous their makeshift fortress, and watched in awe at their resolve.
Simply hours later, we realized they’d come underneath that bloody assault — and the aftermath of their combat was laid naked in these footage.
But nonetheless, a motley however magnificent band of brothers — starting from particular forces commandos and machine gunners to civilian pensioners toting rifles — one way or the other managed to repel the assault in street-to-street preventing.
The busy junction on the freeway heading west to Poland had been thronged with hundreds of refugees fleeing the preventing in a gridlocked tailback of autos.
However Russian troops and tanks then surged into the realm underneath cowl of darkness yesterday, trying to tighten their stranglehold on Kyiv.
But they didn’t depend on the preventing spirit of the Ukrainian forces we had seen doggedly digging in hours earlier.
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Embattled President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the Beresteiska fightback had helped push the warfare into a vital part.
The important thing battle got here after fierce preventing through which a number of cities had been put underneath all-out assault.
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However by final night time, the Russian tyrant’s henchmen had nonetheless to safe the very important foothold he craves within the capital.
On Friday, as we crawled by this level in gridlocked tailbacks amongst hundreds of refugees, I noticed Ukrainian fighters hurriedly put together their defences.
Photographer Doug captured a string of poignant photos of troopers getting ready for battle amid refugee panic.
A chubby reservist in helmet and fight gear stifled a nervous yawn as he puffed on a fag.
A a lot older defender, swathed in fading camouflage gear and a inexperienced beanie hat, grimaced as he shuffled into place shut by, clutching an assault rifle.
Anxious younger males guarding bridges shared jokes to calm their worry as a mum in a scarlet coat bolted to affix households fleeing with suitcases alongside the freeway beneath.
{And professional} fighter comrades nervously scanned the horizon as they mustered round an armoured personnel service mounted with a 30mm canon.
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This was the scene we witnessed at round midday — the calm on the eve of Putin’s firestorm — earlier than harrowing footage emerged from the identical spot at daybreak yesterday.
The brand new pictures revealed autos that had been blown to items and blazing wreckage littering the street within the shadow of residential blocks filled with cowering households. As sunr
As dawn revealed the battlefield — which three days earlier had been a bustling and affluent commuter hub — the hopelessly outgunned Ukrainian pressure was one way or the other nonetheless standing.
A skinny pall of smoke hovered above a blast web site subsequent to a army truck emblazoned with a Ukrainian crest as troopers tended to a wounded comrade shut by.
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Extremely, and in opposition to all odds, Ukrainian forces nonetheless managed the intersection and had come by way of “the toughest night time” predicted by their commanders.
It’s troublesome to think about a situation through which among the males we watched digging in earlier than didn’t make “the final word sacrifice” because the battle raged.
However as a gaggle, they’d stood agency and — like comrades throughout this besieged metropolis — continued to confound army strategists and the bloodthirsty pariah who triggered this insanity.
Because the darkness, which locals have come to dread, fell final night time, they had been taking on their defences as soon as once more.
The sound of air raid sirens and bombs rang out throughout Kyiv yesterday amid waves of Russian assaults.
However Ukrainian authorities officers confused they nonetheless totally managed the capital and vowed to combat on to cease Putin’s plan to “decapitate” their democracy.
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