Siege of the Cities

 » Fighting rages on Kyiv outskirts  » UK Government offers payment to take refugees  » Defiant President vows to battle to the very end

- CHRIS HUGHES Defence and Security Editor in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, JOHN SIDDLE and NIGEL NELSON Political Editor

UKRAINE was last night facing an “escalation of horror” as Vladimir Putin prepared for a brutal assault on its capital Kyiv – and continued his merciless onslaught of cities across the devastated country.

Russia was feared to be making final preparations to lay siege to Kyiv after gaining ground in its outskirts, with troops said to be less than 15 miles away.

But as air-raid sirens and volleys of shelling rang out over the city Ukrainians vowed they will stand up to Russia.

The country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, warned Putin would only take Kyiv if he razes it to the ground.

Its youngest MP, Sviatoslav Yurah, 26, vowed: “Nobody is going to surrender.”

As they prepared to fight, experts warned the battle for Kyiv could lead the Russians to use “irregular weapons”.

But Britain last night offered some hope to Ukrainians fleeing their country.

The UK Government announced a settlement scheme for refugees with financial help for people in Britain who take them into their homes.

Yesterday, the 17th day of Putin’s senseless and relentless war…

Intense fighting raged in multiple areas around the capital city.

Russian forces captured the eastern outskirts of besieged Mariupol, where mass graves have been dug for more than 1,500 people.

A strike on an ammunition depot in the satellite town of Vaslkyiv triggered hundreds of smaller detonations, while the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Sumy were encircled.

Loud explosions were reported in the cities of Dnipro, Mykolaiv and Nikolaev.

Fresh attempts to evacuate innocent civilians from fighting flash points were again hampered by constant shelling.