Russia-Ukraine war: Russian forces blow up gas pipeline in Kharkiv; two large explosions in Kyiv

As Russian forces started moving towards the Ukrainian capital from all sides, two large explosions were heard south of Kyiv in Vasylkiv early on Sunday, according to news agency Reuters.

The Ukrainian President’s office on Sunday said Russian troops have blown up a natural gas pipeline in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Ukraine’s state service of special communications and information protection said that the explosion, which looked like a mushroom cloud, could cause an “environmental catastrophe” and advised residents to cover their windows with damp cloth or gauze and to drink plenty of fluids, news agency AP reported.

A mushroom-shaped explosion was shown in a video it posted on the Telegram messaging app.

It was not immediately clear how important the pipeline was and whether the blast could disrupt gas shipments outside the city or the country. Despite the war, Ukraine continues to ship Russian natural gas to Europe.

Ukraine's top prosecutor, Iryna Venediktova, said the Russian forces have been unable to take Kharkiv, where a fierce battle is underway.

The city of 1.5 million is located 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Russian border.

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin snuffed out any hope of diplomacy to end the fighting in Ukraine and ordered Russia’s military advance to press ahead, as western nations rushed aid to help the government in Kyiv defend itself, Bloomberg reported.

Speaking on a conference call Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Kyiv had refused to conduct negotiations, after the two sides failed to reach agreement on a format or a location for any talks. “Because the Ukrainian side in effect refused negotiations, the main Russian forces resumed their advance according to the plan of the operation,” he said, declining to provide more details.

A video which apparently shows a Ukrainian man attempting to block a Russian military convoy has gone viral online, with comparisons being drawn to the “tank man” of Tiananmen Square. The 30-second clip, shared by Ukrainian news outlet HB, shows a man standing in front of what appear to be military vehicles. As the vehicles try to swerve around him, the man jockeys to the side, seemingly in an attempt to block their progress.

• Kharkiv
• Russia-Ukraine war
• Russian forces
• blow up
• gas pipeline
• two large explosions
• Kyiv