Ukrainians bolster their defenses around Kyiv as confrontations approach the city

Ukrainian soldiers reinforced defenses around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Sunday, digging trenches, blocking roads and coordinating with civil defense units, as Russian forces shelled surrounding areas and attacked nearby towns and villages.

Ukrainian soldiers reinforced defenses around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Sunday, digging trenches, blocking roads and coordinating with civil defense units, as Russian forces shelled surrounding areas and attacked nearby towns and villages.

As armed forces and civilian volunteers began excavation work, thousands of people continued to try to flee the city of 3.4 million people as fears of an all-out attack spread.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, focusing its fiercest attacks on the south and east of the country, besieging cities including Mariupol and Kharkiv with artillery fire and air strikes, causing extensive damage and casualties.

Kyiv has avoided the worst battles so far, but the surrounding towns and villages are witnessing fierce battles, and the Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday released footage of some of its military vehicles moving near the capital.

A video clip recorded by the Ukrainian armed forces on Saturday in the capital, Kyiv, showed the efforts of Ukrainians to defend their city using piles of sandbags and concrete slabs across a main road, while Ukrainian soldiers carefully examined passing cars.

A smaller road was blocked by metal anti-tank barriers and machine-gun positions were erected. Civilians vowed to join the battle to protect Kyiv and Molotov cocktails were seen on the roadside.

An unidentified soldier said in the video: "We are 100 percent ready. The sites are ready and we are just waiting to meet them here. Victory will be ours."

Russia describes its actions in Ukraine as a "special operation" aimed not at occupying territory but at destroying its neighbor's military capabilities and capturing what it describes as dangerous nationalists.

Exodus

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi , said on Sunday that the fighting has driven more than 1.5 million people to leave Ukraine for neighboring countries in the refugee crisis that is the fastest growing in Europe since World War Two.

Millions of internally displaced people are heading to relatively safe areas in western Ukraine.

Fighting-age men were ordered to stay, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on his people to do everything in their power to repel the Russians.

London announces a 6-point plan to stop the Russian attack against Ukraine know its details

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged other leaders on Saturday to join a six-point plan to respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine that ranges from providing humanitarian support to inflicting maximum damage on the Russian economy.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged other leaders on Saturday to join a six-point plan to respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine that ranges from providing humanitarian support to inflicting maximum damage on the Russian economy.

Johnson said before meetings with leaders from Canada, the Netherlands and central Europe in London this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion must fail and be seen as a failure.

"It is not enough to express our support for the rules-based international order, but we must defend it against a persistent attempt to remake those rules by military force," Johnson said in a statement.

Johnson stated his goals, which included creating an international humanitarian coalition for Ukraine, supporting its self-defence, and maximizing economic pressure on Moscow.

Johnson also called for diplomatic paths to de-escalation with the full participation of the Ukrainian government, the strengthening of security in the Euro-Atlantic region and an end to the "creeping normalization" of Russian activities in Ukraine.

After meeting the prime ministers of Canada and the Netherlands on Monday, Johnson is scheduled to host on Tuesday leaders from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, countries experiencing an influx of refugees from the invasion.

Britain plans to move faster to punish Russian businessmen with new legal measures that will be sent to Parliament on Monday.

Contrary to the Foreign Ministry's position, a British military official calls for no fighting in Ukraine

A British military official stressed Sunday that the movement of UK citizens to Ukraine to fight is "illegal and unhelpful", calling on them to look for other means to support it in the face of the Russian invasion.

The comments of the Chief of Staff of the British Armed Forces, Admiral Tony Radakin, contradict the position of Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who expressed her support for those willing to volunteer to fight, and to respond to an appeal in this regard made by President Volodymyr Zelensky to foreigners.

"We have been very clear that it is illegal and unhelpful for the British army or the British people to go to Ukraine," Radakin told the BBC.

He added: "Support from the UK, support whatever you can. But this (going to fight) is not something you want to rush into, in terms of the sound of gunfire."

The Trust said last week it would "definitely" support Britons wanting to go to Ukraine, although an unspecified number have already moved there.

Radakin suggested that Trass was showing "we all understand this feeling, and this feeling should be directed to support Ukraine, but we say, as military professionals, that (going to fight) is not necessarily the sensible thing to do."

Zelensky had called on foreigners wishing to help confront the Moscow forces, to go to the Kyiv embassies and register their names to join an "international squad" of volunteers that will be formed.

He urged "foreigners who wish to join the resistance of the Russian occupiers and protect international security to come to our country and join the ranks of the defense forces," considering this a "basic expression of your support for our invaded country" since February 24.

The British Foreign Office recommended its citizens not to travel to Ukraine, and asked those present to leave it if it was safe to do so.