Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been moved to a bunker as Russian forces converge on the capital Kyiv, an international news outlet reported.
According to reports, Zelensky was moved to a secret location within the central part of Kyiv following his address to the nation. In a video posted to his Facebook account on Thursday evening, the Ukrainian president said that 137 soldiers had been killed and 316 wounded since Russia attacked the nation.
Zelensky cautioned that he and his family were being targeted by Russian sabotage units which aimed to destroy Ukraine by eliminating the head of state. He said he was staying in the government quarter along with other leaders in the capital.
The same day, President Zelenskyy imposed a martial law on the country, saying “Ukraine will fight back”. In a national address, he said that Russia conducted strikes on Ukraine’s military infrastructure, and blasts could be heard in many cities of Ukraine.
The Russian Defence Ministry had stated that it was targeting Ukraine’s air defences and military infrastructure and not Ukrainian cities.
Early morning on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced that he had made the decision of a military operation against Ukraine. The Russian president stated that he did not intend to occupy Ukraine but Russia’s goal was to defend the people who had fallen victim to the “abuse and genocide” of Kyiv.
The military operation came months after the west’s repeated warnings that Russia was posturing itself to attack Ukraine after it amassed thousands of forces at its border with Ukraine.
