Russian column threatens Kyiv

A 65-kilometres-long Russian military convoy was massing on the outskirts of Ukraine's capital on Tuesday as Moscow prepares for a push for Kyiv after a night of intense bombardment of the country’s second largest city.

The mobilisation of the convoy has increased fears that Russian forces were set to launch a devastating assault aimed at taking control of Kyiv and other major cities.

Satellite images showed a long build-up of armoured vehicles, tanks, artillery, and other military equipment, starting 29 kilometres north of the city and covering the entire road from near Antonov airport outside Kyiv to the town of Prybirsk, US satellite imaging company Maxar said.

The Russian army has been regrouping and massing its forces over the past 24 hours "primarily to encircle and take control of Kyiv and other major cities," the general staff of Ukraine's armed forces wrote on Facebook.

Eastern city Kharkiv's mayor Igor Terekhov, quoted by Ukrainian media, warned that Moscow's armoured vehicles and tanks are "everywhere around the city".

Russian shelling of Kharkiv killed at least 11 civilians in residential areas, according to Terekhov.

Meanwhile, more than 70 Ukrainian servicemen were killed on Sunday by Russian shelling of a base in the northeastern town of Okhtyrka, between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the regional governor said on Facebook.