40-mile Russian military convoy nearing Kyiv

LATEST Feb. 28, 11 a.m. The latest images from American space technology company Maxar shows a 17-mile column of Russian troops nearing Kyiv.

According to Maxar, which operates satellites around the world, the Russian convoy is now about 20 miles north of the Antonov Airport on the outskirts of the capital city. On Sunday, the Maxar images showed the convoy 40 miles away from Kyiv and about 3 miles long.

Photos taken from satellites operated by Maxar Technologies captured hundreds of Russian military vehicles in a more than 3-mile column driving toward Kyiv. The New York Times reported that the images were taken about 40 miles north of Ukraine’s capital city.

Maxar has been tracking the buildup of Russian troops along Ukraine’s border for weeks. The company is based in Westminster, Colorado, with offices in San Jose and Palo Alto.

The news will make for another tense night in Kyiv, where civilians have been gearing up to fight. In an interview on Sunday, after a grueling night of Russian attacks on the outskirts of the city, Mayor Vitali Klitschko was silent for several seconds when asked if there were plans to evacuate civilians if Russian troops managed to take Kyiv.

“We can’t do that, because all ways are blocked,” he finally said, speaking in English. “All ways are blocked and right now we are encircled — everywhere is Russians and we don’t have a way to evacuate the people. And everyone who had plans to evacuate himself already moved.”

Klitschko himself later backed away from his earlier assessment, saying on his Telegram channel that, “In the evening, Russian Internet publications spread information with reference to me that Kyiv is allegedly surrounded and evacuation of people is impossible. … Do not believe lies! Trust information only from official sources.”

A Klitschko-ordered curfew began around sundown Saturday and is to extend until at least 8 a.m. Monday. His order pointedly stated that any unauthorized person outside could be considered a saboteur. The mayor confirmed to the AP that nine civilians in Kyiv had been killed so far, including one child.

“We are hunting these people, and it will be much easier if nobody is on the street,” Klitschko explained, saying that six Russian “saboteurs” were killed Saturday night.

I am text block. Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

In a video address late Monday, Zelenskyy says that “the talks were taking place against the backdrop of bombing and shelling of our territory, our cities. Synchronizing of the shelling with the negotiating process was obvious. I believe Russia is trying to put pressure (on Ukraine) with this simple method.”

The president gave no details about the hours-long talks themselves. But he says Ukraine is not prepared to make concessions “when one side is hitting each other with rocket artillery.”

Zelenskyy says that Kyiv, the capital, remains “a key goal” for the Russians and that Russian forces have also shelled the city of Kharkiv with rocket artillery.