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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed a military commander on Tuesday to lead the defense of Kyiv, as Russian-led armored columns advanced on the capital.
xe2x80x9cThe defense of our capital is now our most important priority,xe2x80x9d Zelenskyy said in a video address posted on his Telegram channel.
The defense of Kyiv will be led by General Mykola Zhernov, said Zelenskyy, in collaboration with the cityxe2x80x99s elected mayor, former heavyweight boxing champion Vitaly Klitschko.
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xe2x80x9cI decided to appoint a professional military man as the head of the Kyiv city military administration for the duration of the war,xe2x80x9d Zelenskyy said. xe2x80x9cTo guarantee the defense of the city, to block the enemyxe2x80x99s intrigues in our capital, so that the people of Kyiv have all that they need.xe2x80x9d
Zelenskyy denounced what he said was a cruise missile strike on the regional administrative headquarters in the northeastern city of Kharkiv as xe2x80x9can outright, undisguised act of terror.xe2x80x9d
xe2x80x9cRussia is a terrorist state. No one will forgive. No one will forget,xe2x80x9d said the president, who was unshaven and wore a khaki T-shirt, which has become a hallmark of his wartime leadership.
The Russian strikes on military and civilian command centers, coupled with the bombardment of residential areas in northeastern cities like Kharkiv and Okhtyrka, bode ill for the Ukrainian political leadership as it readies for a last-ditch defense of the capital.
Satellite imagery showed miles-long Russian armored columns stretching along highways to the northwest of Kyiv. These forces were joined in battle on Tuesday by Belarusian troops who crossed the border at Chernihiv toxc2xa0the northeast. This means that forces loyal to Russian President Vladimir Putin are now advancing towards the capital on both sides of the Dnipro River.
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