Civilians take up arms in Ukraine, Russia’s attack on Kiyv continues

KYIV – A missile struck a Kyiv apartment building on Saturday in Ukraine. Civilian volunteers wore canary yellow armbands after taking up arms in Kyiv’s streets against Russian troops in uniform and Russian operatives in civilian clothes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked allies to cut Russia from the SWIFT international electronic bank payment system, and asked Germany and Hungary to show “courage.” His office later reported the Russians blew up a gas pipeline in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city.

“The real fighting for Kyiv is ongoing,” Zelensky said in a video message after declining a U.S. offer to evacuate.

After German officials announced the support of some SWIFT restrictions and the delivery of more weapons and supplies to Ukraine, the U.S., the European Union, and the United Kingdom agreed to cut some Russian banks out of SWIFT.

Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s deputy head of the security council chaired by Putin, wrote on Russian social media that the U.S. and the European Union sanctions showed “political impotence.”

In Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, a crowded train arrived every hour. There were mostly women and children. Some were carrying their pets. Long lines of cars clogged border crossings. According to the United Nations, nearly 120,000 civilians had fled Ukraine as of Friday.

Complete coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict

• Russians push toward Ukraine’s capital; residents take cover
• US, EU, UK to sanction Russian central bank, block SWIFT

• Crime watch: ICC prosecutor is monitoring Ukraine invasion
• Sorting fact, disinformation after Russian attack on Ukraine

• War via TikTok: Russia’s new tool for propaganda machine
• Finland, Sweden brush off Moscow’s warning on joining NATO
• Russia vetoes UN demand that Russia stop attacking Ukraine

• Sanctions swing toward Putin himself as Ukraine anger grows
• EXPLAINER: What does Ukraine invasion mean for energy bills?
• Protests resume as Russia seeks to quash invasion critics

• Poland, Sweden refuse to play Russia in World Cup playoffs
• China is Russia’s best hope to blunt sanctions, but wary
• Prayers and despair: Ukrainians in the US decry invasion

• Russia vetoes UN demand that Russia stop attacking Ukraine
• India walks tightrope over calls for Russia’s isolation
• Delta suspends codesharing with Russia’s Aeroflot carrier

• Potent protest: Bars drop Russian vodka, promote Ukraine’s
• Anti-war sentiment grows in Russia despite govt crackdown
• ‘No war’: Russian athletes Rublev, Ovechkin call for peace

• Domestic woes overshadow European war for some US voters
• EXPLAINER: A look at West’s toughest sanctions yet on Russia