Tag: External Affairs Minister

London [UK], March  : The Russian advance on Kyiv has made little progress over the past 24 hours, said UK Defence Ministry on Tuesday as the war continues to rage in Ukraine. Russian military invasion which started last week turned into in large conflict with casualties running into thousands. Fighting in Ukraine has so far pushed more than 500,000 people across the country's borders, according to the UN refugee agency. "The Russian advance on Kyiv has made little progress over the past 24 hours probably as a result of continuing logistical difficulties," the UK Ministry of Defence said. According to the UK defense assessment, Russian forces have increased their use of artillery north of Kyiv and in the vicinities of Kharkiv and Chernihiv. "The use of heavy artillery in densely populated urban areas greatly increases the risk of civilian casualties." It also said that Russia has failed to gain control of the airspace over Ukraine prompting a shift to night operations in an attempt to reduce their losses. This assessment comes as satellite images have emerged showing a long convoy of Russian military vehicles snaking along roadways northwest of Kyiv, CNN reported. Hundreds of tanks, towed artillery, armored and logistical vehicles can be seen in the image released by a US-based space technology company. Russia continues to maintain that the operation of their Armed Forces in Ukraine has no goal of inflicting harm to the local population, TASS news agency reported. "We address Kiev residents held by radicals in the city as the human shield. The Russian Defense Ministry confirms that all non-combatants in Kiev can freely leave the Ukrainian capital over the Kiev-Vasilkov route," Russian envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said. "We reiterate: the special operation of the Russian Armed Forces does not have occupation of Ukraine or inflicting harm to local population as its objective," the Russian envoy said.