Russia holds 2 villages of Bucha & Gostomel - gateways to Ukraine's capital city Kyiv

As the Russian war against Ukraine stepped into day 27, Russian invaders have captured two villages of Bucha and Gostomel, which are the gateway to the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv. The Ukrainian forces have continued to hold the Russian invaders off from crossing the Irpin river into the capital city, head of Kyiv Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Pavliuk. However, he added, stationed at a strategic point, Ukrainian forces are "unable to chase the Russian" forces.

"So far under occupation - that Bucha, that Gostomel*, that the whole region, there is no action we can not yet," head of Kyiv Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Pavliuk said during an interview with Radio Svoboda.

"We need to keep the enemy in his attempts to cross the river Irpin and go on the offensive in Kyiv," he added.

Pavliuk also underscored that the potential of Ukrainian Armed forces only allowed them to move to "offensive actions" in the direction only locally. "We increase the potential, and the enemy decreases it," he added. Meanwhile, Russian forces have also held the land corridor with Crimea, effectively blocking access to the Sea of Azov, an operational report by the Ukrainian military released on Monday said.

The city of Sumy and Kharkiv have also been partially blocked as artillery shelling continued to devastate civilian infrastructure and human lives. The report further mapped that Russia has been intensifying "aggressive propaganda campaigns" aimed at Belarusian armed forces to join the military invasion of Ukraine, The Guardian reported.

“It is expected that the enemy will continue to launch an insidious missile and bomb strikes and carry out artillery shelling of critical infrastructure of Ukraine using jet artillery, aircraft, high-precision weapons, and indiscriminate munitions.” the report stated.

[Russian deployed artillery seen in Talakivka, northeast of Mariupol, Ukraine. IMAGE: AP]

Russia continues to justify Ukraine's invasion

On multiple occasions, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his cabinet have attempted to justify the invasion of Ukraine, calling it "denazification and demilitarisation" of Ukraine from Azov nationalists and neo-Nazis. Last week Putin also claimed that the invasion was necessary "for the right to be and remain Russia." He said, "The struggle we are waging is a struggle for our sovereignty, for the future of our country and our children. We will fight for the right to be and remain Russia," Russian President Vladimir Putin said, as quoted by Ukrpravda News.

Infuriated at Kremlin's repeated attempts to justify the war, chief advisor to Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Podolyak on Monday stated that Moscow is spreading fabricated stories about Nazi battalions and devastating artillery shelling of Donetsk. Taking to Twitter, Podolyak wrote, "Russian persistently lying to legally justify massive aggression against Ukraine, stories about bio-laboratories, Nazi battalions and selling of Donetsk by heavy artillery with thousands of victims. All this is an absolute lie, which is rejected by the world watching the war live."

As the war continues, an overwhelming exodus of Ukrainians has been forced to leave their homes and huddle in neighbouring European countries. According to UN estimates, nearly 3 million have been compelled to migrate. Separately, Podolyak claimed that the Russian invasion has led to the internal displacement of 11 to 13 million people.

(Image: AP)