Ukraine's military said on Friday Russian forces had reached the capital Kyiv, as Moscow pressed on with its advance on the pro-Western country for a second day.
Russian forces reached the outskirts of Kyiv on Friday, with the government saying the city was hit by "horrific rocket strikes" in the early hours.
"Airborne assault troops of the Ukrainian armed forces are fighting in the areas of the settlements of Dymer and Invankiv," Kyiv's army said on its Facebook page.
Dymer is around 45 kilometres north of Kyiv, while Ivankiv is about 60 kilometres northwest of the Ukrainian capital.
Ukraine's Defence Ministry said shortly afterwards "the enemy" was in the district of Obolon, about 10km north of Kyiv's parliament in the city centre.
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"We urge citizens to inform us of troop movements, to make Molotov cocktails, and neutralise the enemy," the ministry added.
The AFP news agency said one of its reporters heard explosions and gunfire in the area, as pedestrians ran for safety.
Russian forces first arrived on the outskirts of Kyiv on Thursday when helicopter-borne troops assaulted an airfield just outside the city, close to Obolon.
The Ukrainian military claims to have repulsed the attack on the Gostomel airbase, but Russian ground forces have also been pushing down the west bank of the Dnieper river from Belarus.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that Moscow's forces were also targeting civilian areas and praised his countrymen for their "heroism".
"They say that civilian objects are not a target for them. But this is another lie of theirs. In reality, they do not distinguish between areas in which they operate," Mr Zelenskyy said in a video.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a military operation against Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday, confirming widespread fears Moscow was planning to invade its western neighbour.
