Kyiv 'like apocalypse movie' after Russian shelling of residential block leaves two dead

14 March 2022, 10:55 | Updated: 14 March 2022, 15:19

The devastating scenes unfolding in Kyiv have been compared to an "apocalypse movie" after continued Russian shelling targeted residential areas.

Ukraine's minister of defence said there have been "deaths of people, destruction not only of cities but democracy, rights and freedoms" in the country's capital.

Calling Kyiv one of the "most beautiful cities in the EU, Oleksii Reznikov compared it to a "frame of an apocalypse movie" on Monday.

It comes after two people were killed and many were feared trapped under rubble after a Russian shell struck a block of flats in the Obolonskyi district.

Emergency services in Ukraine said the bodies of two people were found in a nine-storey residential building in the Obolonskyi district on Monday.

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Ukrainian authorities work to extract residents from Kyiv building after Russian shelling

Three people were hospitalised and nine people were treated on the spot, the State Service of Ukraine for Emergencies said.

Fifteen people were rescued and 63 were evacuated, with the search for people feared missing under the rubble ongoing.

Shocking pictures show people being rescued from the building, which was engulfed by flames after it was struck by the Russians.

Ukrainian authorities worked to extract terrified residents using ladders.

The attack comes as Russia aims to encircle Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine where its president Volodmyr Zelenskyy has remained throughout.

The general staff of Ukraine's armed forces said on Monday morning that Russian troops have not made major advances over the past 24 hours, despite expanding strikes to the west.

In one such attack, Russian missiles pounded a military base in western Ukraine on Sunday, killing 35 people in a facility that served as a crucial hub for co-operation between Ukraine and the NATO countries supporting its defence.

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A fourth round of talks is expected on Monday between Ukrainian and Russian officials via video conference to discuss getting aid to cities and towns under fire, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said.

The talks will involve the same higher-level officials who met earlier in Belarus, aimed at "assessing preliminary results" of talks so far, Mr Podolyak said.

Previous talks have not led to major breakthroughs or a solution for getting aid or evacuation convoys to the desperate, strategic city of Mariupol.

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