KYIV, Ukraine — As night fell in Ukraine on Saturday, military forces and thousands of armed volunteers fought fiercely to maintain control of their capital against Russian troops after a day of sporadic explosions and gunfire that shook parts of the city, leaving a missile-hit high-rise tower partially destroyed, a citywide curfew in place and residents crowded into subway stations as they sought protection from further attacks.
Ukraine’s outgunned military desperately sought to fend off an advance by invading Russian forces on Kyiv’s northern outskirts. Skirmishes were reported in other parts of the beleaguered city. Shops were closed, nervous reservists clutched battered AK-47s in the streets and makeshift checkpoints made of piled-up tires sprang up to slow anticipated Russian infiltration. Huddled in bomb shelters, Kyiv residents stuffed old wine bottles with flammable liquid to prepare Molotov cocktails.
Some signs suggested Ukrainians were succeeding in fighting beyond the expectations of Russia, which U.S. officials said has sent in the majority of the 150,000 troops it had amassed near Ukraine’s borders.
