The Russian Defense Ministry has warned residents of the Ukrainian capital (Kyiv) of its intention to strike with high-precision weapons against military and security facilities, while the Russian army continues for the sixth day its hostilities in Ukraine amid international fears of an approaching urban war.

Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the Russian Defense Ministry vowed - in a statement - to bomb the media operations center of the Ukrainian army, the State Security Unit, and the 72nd headquarters of the Political Security Service in Kyiv.

The spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Igor Kanashenkov, announced that these expected raids are aimed at suppressing media attacks against Russia, noting that with the start of the special military operation, the number of media attacks on various state institutions in Russia increased.

Last Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a special military operation in Donbass (southeast of Ukraine), following the official request of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics to support Russia in confronting the Ukrainian army.

Putin stressed that Russia does not plan to occupy Ukrainian territory, explaining that Russia's goal is to protect people who, over the past 8 years, have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime.

Advance towards Kyiv

Earlier, the Russian army sent large military reinforcements towards the capital, Kyiv, which included tanks, personnel carriers, logistical equipment and fuel trucks.

And the website "Mixar", which specializes in satellite images, published new pictures about the progress of Russian forces towards the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

The pictures showed the movement of a Russian military convoy near Antouf Airport for a length of more than 60 km, and military equipment and units with two or three vehicles moving side by side on the road.

Since the beginning of the Russian war on Ukraine, Antonov Airport has witnessed fierce battles, as the attacking forces seek to control this strategic facility in order to facilitate its control of the Ukrainian capital (Kyiv).

For his part, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak said that Russia is directing missile and artillery strikes at residential neighborhoods and targeting civilians.

The authorities in Kyiv also declared an air alert in the capital, and called on everyone to urgently enter the civil defense shelters.

In turn, the mayor of Kyiv - Vitali Klitschko - announced that the army and the city's residents are ready to defend it, stressing the placement of barriers at the entrances to the capital to impede the progress of Russian forces.

Pictures posted by activists on social media showed the moment a Russian plane was shot down near the capital, Kyiv, last Thursday.

fierce battles

Away from Kyiv, fierce battles erupted on various axes in Kharkiv, and a missile landed in front of the district council building, and the Russian bombing also targeted power stations in the city.

In Kherson, the mayor of the city said that the Russians were on its outskirts after advancing from the airport to the Nikolaev highway.

In Sumy, 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed by a Russian targeting of a military unit, according to the head of the Ukrainian Regional State Administration.

Neighboring Belarus is witnessing additional deployments of ground forces and attack helicopters less than 35 km north of the border with Ukraine.


Russian progress

On the other hand, the "TASS" news agency quoted the Russian Defense Ministry as saying - today, Tuesday - that the Russian forces isolated the Ukrainian army from the Sea of ​​Azov (north of the Black Sea).

The Russian RIA news agency quoted the ministry as saying that the Russian-backed separatist forces had reached the borders of Ukraine's Donetsk region, and had joined the Russian forces.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that it had destroyed 1,325 Ukrainian military sites since the beginning of the military operation.

As for Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, he said that his country's forces are continuing their military operations in Ukraine.

Shoigu added, at a meeting of the leaders of the armed forces, that the goal is to protect Russia from the military threat posed by Western countries.


Western support

For its part, CNN quoted senior US officials as saying that the United States is exchanging intelligence information with Ukraine on the movements of the Russian army, and to help the Ukrainians on the battlefield.

The network said that US intelligence and defense officials believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin still has a number of options that he has not used yet, and that could lead to the destruction of the Ukrainian resistance.

An American intelligence source believes that from a military point of view, Russia has the manpower and military power to occupy Kyiv, regardless of the resistance shown by the Ukrainians.

In turn, the office of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that Britain provides arms shipments to the Kyiv government on an almost daily basis across the borders of Ukraine.

He added that the British government decided to freeze the assets of 4 high-ranking commanders in the Belarusian army due to undermining the integrity and independence of Ukraine.

As for German Chancellor Olaf Schulz, he confirmed that his country decided to provide support to Ukraine through military supplies so that it could defend itself in the face of the Russian attack.

For his part, European Union foreign policy and security chief Josep Borrell called for arming Ukraine in a coordinated manner, not unilaterally.

He added that he had told Putin twice that the European Union would not abandon its defense of freedom and human rights because of its need for Russian energy.