Ukrainian forces keep grip on Kyiv despite Russian onslaught

KYIV, Ukraine — As a tense Ukraine awaited daylight early Sunday, military forces and thousands of armed volunteers fought fiercely to protect their capital against Russian troops after a day of explosions and gunfire that shook parts of the city, leaving a missile-hit high-rise tower partially destroyed and residents crowded into subway stations for shelter.

Ukraine’s outgunned military desperately sought to fend off an advance by invading Russian forces on Kyiv’s northern outskirts. Overnight, the skies lit up after two explosions were reported about 20 miles south of Kyiv near Vasylkiv — a city with several fuel tanks and an air base — as nervous residents wondered how close Russians might be getting.

Skirmishes were reported in other parts of the beleaguered city. Shops were closed, nervous reservists clutched battered AK-47s in the streets and makeshift checkpoints made of piled-up tires sprang up to slow anticipated Russian infiltration. Huddled in their makeshift bomb shelters, Kyiv residents stuffed old wine bottles with flammable liquid to prepare