As Russian forces encroach on Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his workforce proceed to mission a picture of confidence amid dire circumstances.

On Saturday, Mikhail Podolyak, a serious advisor to Zelensky, tweeted a video of himself and two others on a espresso run within the embattled metropolis. In keeping with a tag within the tweet, one of many different males was Ukrainian Parliament Majority Chief David Arakhamia. All through the 26-second video, all three seem cheerful and relaxed.

"Kyiv is at all times lovely," Podolyak wrote. "Even throughout a wartime.. [President Zelensky's] workforce is completely on the working locations."

In the same present of confidence, Zelensky, responding to Russian rumors that he had fled, shared two movies of himself on Tuesday, exhibiting that he was nonetheless in his workplace within the capital.

"I am not hiding," he wrote on Fb. "And I am not afraid of anybody."

On Saturday, Newsweek reported that in accordance with Western intelligence sources, Russian navy forces are at present working to encircle the capital metropolis. Sources throughout the U.S. authorities additionally beforehand informed Newsweek that the nation's resistance to the Russian invasion would possible finish ought to Kyiv fall.

Satellite tv for pc imagery taken on Friday appeared to point out that the 40-mile lengthy, beleaguered Russian convoy north of Kyiv had largely dispersed and moved to smaller cities and forests after the column had been stalled as a consequence of provide points for per week.

ukrainian aides coffee run kyiv
A significant advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted a video of himself and two different aides on a espresso run in Kyiv on Saturday. Above, Ukrainian servicemen stand on patrol at a safety checkpoint on February 25 in Kyiv.Anastasia Vlasova/Getty Photographs

"Parts of the massive Russian column north of Kyiv have dispersed," the U.Okay. Ministry of Defence tweeted on Saturday. "That is prone to assist a Russian try and encircle the town. It may be an try by Russia to cut back its vulnerability to Ukrainian counter assaults, which have taken a big toll on Russian forces. Past Kyiv, the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mariupol stay encircled and proceed to undergo heavy Russian shelling."

U.S. officers have been much less eager to ascribe to the actions of the convoy. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby steered Friday that the strikes could possibly be in response to the fixed assaults towards the convoy by Ukrainian forces.

Social media posts indicated that two oil depots close to the Vasylkiv Air Base, which is south of Kyiv, have been on hearth after Russian missile strikes.