Russia-Ukraine war: Hundreds dead as fighting enters fourth day
Russian forces struck Ukrainian cities with artillery and cruise missiles on Saturday, as the invasion continued into its third day.
Ukrainian forces were putting up "very determined resistance" to Russia's invasion, a US defence official said, as President Volodymyr Zelensky struck a defiant tone on the streets of the capital, Kyiv.
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"We have withstood and are successfully repelling enemy attacks. The fighting goes on," Zelensky said in a video message posted on his social media. "We have the courage to defend our homeland, to defend Europe."
Meanwhile, the US, Britain, Europe and Canada moved to block Russia's access to the Swift international payment system as part of another round of sanctions against Moscow as it continues its assault against Ukraine.
The measures, which will also include restrictions on the Russian central bank's international reserves, will be implemented in the coming days, the nations said in a joint statement late on Saturday.
On the ground, over half of the more than 150,000 Russian troops who had massed around Ukraine have now entered the country, but Russia remains "increasingly frustrated by their lack of momentum" as they face stiff Ukrainian resistance, a Pentagon official said.
Russian forces continued to pound Kyiv and other cities with artillery and cruise missiles in a campaign that has sent hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing westwards towards the European Union, clogging major highways and railway lines.
According to the UN high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, more than 150,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries since Russia began its invasion.
Israel and Turkey navigate crisis
Top Russian security official and ex-president Dmitry Medvedev said military operations would be waged relentlessly until President Vladimir Putin's goals were achieved, ratcheting up Moscow's rhetoric.
Russia said it had paused its offensive on Friday in anticipation of talks between Moscow and Kyiv, but resumed attacks after Ukraine refused to negotiate, according to the Russian defence ministry as quoted by RIA news agency.
Ukraine denied suggestions that it was refusing to negotiate a ceasefire with Russia but said it was also not ready to accept ultimatums or unacceptable conditions.
Later on Saturday, the New York Times reported that Zelensky had called Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, asking Israel to mediate a ceasefire and host talks.
Meanwhile, a senior Turkish official denied that Turkey had agreed to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to Russian warships, after a tweet from Zelensky suggesting they had, telling MEE's Ragip Soylu: "President Erdogan didn't promise to close the straits... Turkey hasn't made a decision to close the straits to Russian ships yet."
The Ukrainian border guards service said on Saturday that Russia had closed off the northwestern part of the Black Sea to navigation.
For its part, Ukraine's embassy in Turkey said that Ukrainian forces had struck a Russian military convoy in Kherson, in the south of the country, using Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones.
The Ukrainian defence ministry said TB2s were hitting Russian forces near Hostomol airport near Kyiv.
Since Thursday, at least 198 Ukrainians, including three children, have been killed as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and 1,115 people wounded, according to the head of the Ukrainian Health Ministry, as quoted by the Interfax news agency.
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