The war is expanding and Russian airstrikes reach the cities of western Ukraine

Russian airstrikes hit three cities in Ukraine on Friday – including two in the country’s west – as the scope of its military offensive widened.

The raids hit airfields in Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk, far from the main areas of conflict, and residential buildings in the strategically important city of Dnipro, which sits on the Dnieper River.

The air raids came as new satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed that a 40-mile convoy that had been approaching the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, had dispersed as tanks and artillery moved to what appeared to be firing positions to the north-west of the city.

The Ukrainian military said Russia was trying to “block” Kyiv by taking out defenses to the west and north of the capital, adding that there was also a risk to Brovary on the east.

As the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said that about 2 million people, half the population of the metropolitan area, had left the capital, preparations continued for its defense. “Every street, every house is being fortified,” he said.

“Even people who in their lives never intended to change their clothes, now they are in uniform with machine guns in their hands.”

Ukrainian soldiers described fierce fighting for control of the main highway leading into the capital, while missile strikes were reported hitting Velyka Dymerka just outside Kyiv’s city limits.

The war is expanding and Russian airstrikes reach the cities of western Ukraine