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Fighting breaks out on streets of Kyiv as Russia assaults city

Fighting has broken out on the streets of Kyiv as Russian and Ukrainian forces battle for control of the capital city.

Ukraine's Interior Ministry said "active fighting" is taking place in the city as it warned residents to be careful.

Images are also coming out of Kyiv showing a residential building which has been hit by a missile or rocket.

READ MORE: Former Ukrainian President returns to streets to fight Russia

Person evacuated from Kyiv apartment building

The images, some of which have been published on Facebook by Ukraine's Internal Affairs Ministry, show residents being evacuated from the building, which has had a large hole blown in it on one corner.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains in the capital, despite being urged by the United States to take up an offer to evacuate the city.

Mr Zelenskyy said "The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride," according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation, who described him as upbeat.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

The President later posted a video on Twitter of him outside his office in Kyiv, vowing Ukraine will not lay down weapons and will instead continue to fight off the Russian advances.

"We will not lay down any weapons," he said in the early-morning video.

"We will defend our state because our weapons are our truth, and our truth is that this is our land, our country, our children, and we will defend it all."

In a later post, Mr Zelenskyy said he had talked with French President Emmanuel Macron, and that weapons are "on their way to Ukraine".

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Battle for Kyiv begins

The fight to hold back Russia's assault on the capital intensified in the early hours of Saturday morning (local time, Saturday afternoon Australian time).

"This night will be very difficult, and the enemy will use all available forces to break the resistance of Ukrainians," Mr Zelensky warned in a late-night video message.

READ MORE: Ukraine's capital under threat as Russia presses invasion

A deserted street during the second day of the Russian invasion in central Kyiv.

"This night we have to stand ground. The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now."

Videos from eyewitnesses showed explosions taking place in an area north-west of Kyiv, an area where there is a military base.

CNN teams in the capital also reported hearing loud explosions to the west and south of the city. Shortly afterwards, Ukraine's State Service of Special Communications said clashes were underway in an eastern suburb, as Russian forces closed in on the capital from multiple sides.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian armed forces reported heavy fighting around the city of Vasylkiv, some 30 kilometres southwest of Kyiv.

READ MORE: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says kindergartens attacked by Russia

A window is protected with tape and sandbags against explosions in Kyiv, Ukraine.

"Heavy fighting is currently underway in the town of Vasylkiv in the Kyiv region, where the occupiers are trying to land a landing party," the armed forces said.

Russia's military claimed its forces had already staged a "successful landing operation" to capture the strategically important Hostomel airfield on Kyiv's outskirts.

As Russian troops advance, US intelligence officials are concerned Kyiv could fall under Russian control within days, according to two sources familiar with the latest intelligence.

READ MORE: UN Security Council resolution to stop invasion in Ukraine vetoed by Russia

A family sit in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine.

However, the latest British defence intelligence assessment said Russia had made "limited progress" in its attack.

"Ukraine retains control of key cities. Ukrainian MOD reports that Russian forces have arrived in the suburbs of Kyiv," the UK Ministry of Defence tweeted.

For now, Ukraine's democratically elected government remains intact but President Zelensky warned that "enemy sabotage groups" had entered this city and he is their number one target.

"They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state," he said.

Huge concrete pier breaks loose on Brisbane River amid wild weather

A huge piece of a concrete pier is currently floating along the Brisbane River, sparking warnings for boaters.

Queensland Police said a large piece of a concrete pier estimated to be about 40 metres long has broken away as the region is inundated with heavy rain.

It is currently floating eastbound along the Brisbane River towards the Gateway Bridge.

LIVE UPDATES: Kindergartens attacked by Russia: Zelenskyy

A 40-metre piece of a concrete pier is floating down Brisbane River.

It was first spotted at Hamilton.

"Please secure your boats, there are concerns of a collision," Queensland Police said in a statement.

Boat owners have been urged to secure their vessels as the concrete floats down the river amongst other debris from the rising floodwaters.

READ MORE: Two killed, two missing as fears grow floods could match horror of 2011

https://twitter.com/QldPolice/status/1497359353904459777

It comes as authorities are concerned the severe weather event currently battering the state will be worse than the 2011 floods, when dozens of people died.

Floodwaters are expected to continue rising this weekend as heavy rainfall continues.

The flood death toll has reached four, as two people sadly lost their lives in floodwaters overnight.

READ MORE: Ukraine and Russia's militaries are David and Goliath, how they compare

Floodwaters in Brisbane.

Rain records have been broken, including in Brisbane City where 206mm was recorded in the 21 hours to 6am this morning.

"Usually in Brisbane we see an average of 150mm so essentially we've seen a month's worth of rainfall in one day," meteorologist David Grant said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says kindergartens attacked by Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russian forces of attacking childcare centres and other civilian infrastructure during their invasion of Ukraine.

In an address aimed at the people of Russia earlier today, Mr Zelenskyy said such targets have been shelled by invading forces.

"There is nothing that could possibly explain why the kindergartens and civilian infrastructure are being shelled," Mr Zelenskyy said.

READ MORE: US President personally sanctions Putin and foreign minister

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

"What kind of war is this against the Ukrainian children? Who are they? Are they also neo-Nazis? Or are they NATO soldiers that imposed a threat to Russia?"

Vladimir Putin has frequently made the baseless and untrue assertion that the Ukrainian Government is a Nazi regime, claiming "denazification" as a justification for launching the invasion on Thursday.

Mr Zelenskyy also warned tonight would be the "hardest" for Ukraine, warning Russia would use "all available means to break our resistance. This night they will launch an assault".

"This night will be harder than the day. Many cities of our state are under attack: Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, our boys and girls in the Donbas, the cities of the south, special attention to Kyiv," he said.

"We can't lose the capital."

READ MORE: 'All of us are here': Ukraine President in Kyiv to 'defend independence'

Ukrainian soldiers take positions in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022.

Mr Zelenskyy also claimed Russian casualties have been "very grave".

"Our main goal is to finish this slaughter. The enemy losses are very grave — today there were hundreds of killed soldiers who crossed our border and came on our land," he said.

He also reiterated a plea for faster international aid and for Western nations to do more to stop Russia, including cutting it off from banking network SWIFT.

"Europe has enough strength to stop this aggression," he said.

READ MORE: Harrowing footage shows Russian tank run over Ukrainian civilian car

Russia vetoes UN Security Council resolution

In an unsurprising move Russia has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that demands Moscow cease its attack on Ukraine and withdraw all troops.

The vote was 11 to one, with China, India, and the UAE abstaining.

It highlights that wide-ranging, but not complete opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine from global actors.

READ MORE: Ukraine's capital under threat

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya says he will not dignify any of Russia's false claims with a response.

The US along with other countries predicted the resolution was unlikely to pass, but argued it would illustrate Russia's growing isolationism in the international sphere.

The failure of the resolution means its supporters can vote on a similar measure in the UN General Assembly.

In the General Assembly none of the 193-member states are able to veto a resolution being put forward.

At this stage there no time has been scheduled for a potential General Assembly vote.

In a heated exchange during today's UN Security Council meeting, Ukraine's representative Sergiy Kyslytsya has rebuked claims from Russia's representative that images and footage emerging from the conflict in Ukraine are false.

READ MORE: US President personally sanctions Putin

Russia's UN Ambassador Russia Vasily Nebenzya said a lot of the images and footage emerging from the conflict in Ukraine are false.

"There are videos alleging Russian strikes targeting residential areas, which were filmed in other parts of the world and have nothing to do with Ukraine," Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said.

"I will not dignify the Russian diabolical script that is rather a letter of application for a rather up-scaled seat in hell," Mr Kyslytsya replied.

US representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield joined Mr Kyslytsya in condemning Russia's accusations.

"I'm not going to respond to the atrocious lies and propaganda, and misinformation that you've heard from our Russian colleague," Ms Thomas-Greenfield said.

Then Kyslytsya called on the entire UN Security Council to "dedicate a moment of complete silence to pray or to meditate, if you do not believe in God, for peace."

"To pray for the souls of those who have already been killed. For souls of those who may be killed.

"And I invite the Russian ambassador to pray for salvation."