Russian forces looked to be making gradual advances from northeast Ukraine to the capital city of Kyiv, as tanks and artillery bombarded previously besieged areas with pounding so fierce that inhabitants of one city were unable to bury the growing number of dead.
As the war enters its 17th day, UK’s defence ministry stated that the Russian army is now around 25km away from Kyiv. Russian air and missile forces have conducted strikes in Lutsk and Ivano Frankivsk, located in western Ukraine, the ministry said.
Cities such as Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kharkiv, and Lviv woke up to air raid sirens on Saturday morning. Meanwhile, Russia has warned that the International Space Station could crash if western sanctions are not lifted.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Russian have struggled way more than it expected against gritty Ukrainian fighters.  The Kremlin forces appeared to be regrouping and regaining momentum after encountering stiff resistance and suffering huge losses during the previous two weeks. Russia is attempting to reset and "re-position" its soldiers in preparation for operations against Kyiv.
Artillery shelling on civilian areas near Kyiv appears to be captured in new commercial satellite photographs. T  the photographs show gunshots and smoke from large guns, as well as impact craters and burning residences near the town of Moschun, 33 kilometres from Kyiv.
Ukraine’s second-biggest city Kharkiv is being seized by Russian, even as efforts were made to build new humanitarian corridors around it and other major areas so that aid could enter and citizens could leave.
Russia is using the same strategy it used in previous wars in Syria and Chechnya, it used to smash armed resistance with continuous and nonstop bombing and shelling that destroyed populated areas. A similar kind of attack has cut off Ukraine’s port city in Mariupol and Kyiv and other parts of the country are likely to meet the same fate if the war continues. 
Uninterrupted salvoes have repeatedly prevented attempts to bring in food and water, as well as to evacuate stranded inhabitants, in Mariupol. According to the mayor's office, more than 1,500 were killed in the conflict. 
Digging of trenches for mass graves has been hit due to ongoing shelling and workmen are forced to stop the work. Burying of the dead is stopped, the mayor's office said. 
According to World Health Organization, more than a dozen hospitals suffered attacks from the Russian military since the invasion of Ukraine began. Numerous residents have stuck in Mykolaiv, a city west of Mariupol located at a distance of 489 km. The Russian artillery did not spare a cancer hospital, also said the officials.  A doctor said several hundred patients escaped the artillery fire and no one was killed in that attack.