Russia warn Kyiv residents to flee now as TV tower hit by missile strike

Russian troops have told Kyiv residents to flee their homes ahead of an anticipated bombardment after an attack on a television tower in the city left five people dead.

As a 40-mile long armoured convoy of Russian troops approached the city, Moscow's defence ministry warned it was planning targeted strikes on buildings in Kyiv used by Ukraine's security services.

The ministry claimed that "high-precision" strikes would be aimed at buildings where “psychological and information operations” were taking place.

It told residents near such sites to evacuate, while giving no information about where in the city of 3million people the targets were located.

Kyiv residents continue to flee the city, with long queues forming at stations as people packed onto evacuation trains to Lviv.

Oz Katerji, a journalist in Kyiv, described the atmosphere to Yahoo News UK: “Morale is high in the sense that that people are committed to the fight. They’re determined to persevere and they’re showing remarkable strength and resilience.“Things are reaching a critical point but the humanitarian situation is starting to deteriorate.

"Supply lines are becoming really strained - shop shelves are becoming bare and queues for bread and basic supplies are becoming long. I spent two hours in a queue in a pharmacy today.

“Everyone is afraid of what a potential Russian victory in Kyiv looks like and that’s why people are fighting so hard.”

The British Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that Vladimir Putin's forces have made "slow progress" in their attempts to take Kyiv as Ukrainians put up a fierce fight to protect their capital.

A senior US defence official also said Moscow's attempt to seize Kyiv has stalled as its forces struggle with basic logistics challenges, including shortages of food and fuel, with some units appearing to be gripped by low morale.

"One reason why things appear to be stalled north of Kyiv is that the Russians themselves are regrouping and rethinking and trying to adjust to the challenges that they've had," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Read more: Ukraine, rights groups say Russia used cluster & vacuum bombs

Elsewhere, rocket strikes on the city of Kharkiv killed at least 10 people and wounded 35, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said.

Similar strikes that killed and wounded dozens in the city the previous day are understood to have involved cluster bombs, experts added.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Ukrainian president made an impassioned plea to the European parliament as he asked them to provide more support.

Read more: Video shows building engulfed in fireball after Russian missile strike

"We have proven our strength. We have proven that, as a minimum, we are exactly the same as you," said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"So, prove that you are with us. Prove that you will not let us go. Prove that you indeed are Europeans.

"And then life will win over. And light will win over darkness. Glory be to Ukraine."

Diplomats from the UK, EU and US walked out of UN Human Rights Council meeting as the Russian foreign minister began to speak.

Boris Johnson warned Putin is using “barbaric and indiscriminate tactics against innocent civilians” during a trip to Poland to discuss the ongoing situation.

He said the Russian president was prepared to “bomb tower blocks, to send missiles into tower blocks, to kill children, as we are seeing in increasing numbers”.

Speaking in Warsaw, Johnson said Putin had “fatally underestimated” the resistance of the Ukrainians and the resolve of the West to act.

The prime minister paid tribute to the “leadership and courage” of Zelenskyy.

“I think he has inspired and mobilised not only his own people, he is inspiring and mobilising the world in outrage at what is happening in Ukraine,” Johnson added.

Watch: Children in Kyiv sing while hiding in a bomb shelter during rocket fire

A statement added the Russians are having to reorganise to "remedy poor planning and execution based on erroneous assumptions about Ukrainians’ will and ability to resist."

Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab said the invasion has become more of a "perilous misadventure" than Putin may have bargained for, but warned he could respond to resistance in Ukraine with “even more barbaric tactics”.

He told Sky News: “We know that Putin will react to this, or we fear that he will react to this, with even more barbaric tactics, that’s why we must be prepared that this could be a long haul."

The former foreign secretary added: “This is turning into a much, much more perilous misadventure for Putin than I think he realised and it has a demoralised effect on Russia forces and it has had the effect of steeling the will of the Ukrainian people.

“That’s how we will ensure Putin fails in Ukraine and we’re there for the long haul.”

Watch: 40-mile-long Russian convoy heading for Kyiv