Here we go again:: Russian forces now in control of territory to the north-west of Kyiv continued their assault on the capital on Saturday, with reports of a rocket fired at an apartment block and street fighting around the edge of the city. The president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in a video message that Ukrainian forces were in control of the city and key areas. The US government urged Zelenskiy to evacuate from Kyiv but he turned down the offer, according to a senior American intelligence official.

What happened on Friday?

Russian forces reached the outskirts of Kyiv and carried out an amphibious assault from the Sea of Azov near Mariupol, a day after attacking Ukraine from three sides on a massive scale.

In the capital, air raid sirens wailed and heavy gunfire and explosions were heard in a number of districts as Russian military vehicles approached from the north-west. The defence ministry in Moscow claimed its forces had taken control of the strategic Hostomel airfield to the north-west after a day of fighting. Pressure was also intensifying around Chernihiv, about 90 miles (145km) north-east of Kyiv, Ukraine’s military said, with Russian forces trying to bypass the city and head to the capital down the E95 road to Kozelec and ultimately Kyiv’s eastern suburbs. Further east, about 125 miles from the capital, the city of Konotop was lost to Russian forces.

According to the Pentagon, 10 amphibious landing ships unloaded thousands of naval infantry to the west of Mariupol, potentially cutting off the port city on the Sea of Asov. Fighting was reported to be continuing around Kherson on the Dnieper River and in Melitopol.

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s forces were believed to be holding firm in the eastern Donbas region, while the eastern city of Kharkiv, which has a population of more than 1 million, was gradually being surrounded.

What happened on Thursday?

Russia attacked Ukraine along multiple axes, bringing to a calamitous end weeks of fruitless diplomatic efforts by western leaders to avert war. Fighting and other military activity took place around and on the way to Kyiv, including an ambitious attack by helicopters on the Hostomel military airbase.

Ukraine lost control of the Chernobyl nuclear site in the north, where fighting raged after Russian troops crossed the border from Belarus. One Russian line came through the Senkivka border crossing near Chernihiv. A substantial attack was also aimed towards the eastern city of Kharkiv.

Russian forces also headed north and east from Crimea. Social media footage showed them reaching Kherson on the Dnieper, 80 miles (130km) inside Ukraine.