Russian forces appeared to be making a renewed offensive toward Kyiv, with Ukrainian troops engaging in a firefight on the outskirts of the capital on Thursday.

Video footage appeared to show Ukrainian troops, carrying RPGs and anti-tank weapons, taking cover before firing into a wooded area in a village near Kyiv.

“According to our intelligence, there’s a battalion there,” one soldier told Radio Free Europe.

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As the war in Ukraine entered the third week, Russian forces appear to be expanding the offensive by striking new areas, as well as positioning troops around Kyiv.

In Lviv, which has been largely spared of fighting so far, air-raid sirens were heard for the first time in several days.

The city in western Ukraine is near the Polish border and has been used as a hub for people trying to leave the country since the war began.

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Russian military closes in on the capital

A senior US defence official said that Russian forces have moved about three miles closer to Kyiv in the last 24 hours, suggesting a new direction of war.

Russia’s military advance has stalled for a number of days but it could be as close as nine miles (15km) from the city centre, with troops advancing on the northwest route and along two parallel lines east of the capital.

US intelligence indicated some troops may have turned back toward Sumy, in the northeast, but it is not clear why.

Chernihiv, which is northeast of the capital, is now isolated but Russia’s military has not moved past the city.

However, there is a strong belief among Ukrainians that Russia will not be able to capture Kyiv.

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Inna Sovsun, who is the deputy leader of the Holos Party and an MP in Kyiv, said she is “convinced” Russians will not capture the capital and Vladimir Putin’s forces face “huge logistic problems”.

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‘Spectre of chemical weapons may start to appear’

Retired British Army General Sir Richard Barrons explained two new developments in the movement of Russian forces toward Kyiv.

“Over the last 10 days or so we have seen Russian forces moving toward Kyiv from the northwest, which was the convoy that was stuck on the road for a long time and also from the northeast,” he explained.

“What we are seeing now is two new developments over time. The first is they are getting closer toward Kyiv and beginning to encircle more of the city.

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“The second thing is they are coming off the road and beginning to deploy into battle positions, which would indicate if they are going to assault Kyiv that would be quite soon.”

He added that as Russian forces advance to the capital, “we’d expect to see armoured forces leading, supported by artillery” on the outskirts.

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General Barrons said they will be met with “stiff Ukrainian resistance” as they advance to the urban areas.

“The nature of the force will change, the infantry will lead, particularly infantry schooled in how to fight in an urban area, which is very difficult, with the tanks and an awful lot of artillery behind them,” he said.

“This is where the spectre of chemical weapons may start to appear if the Russians find it hard to break into Kyiv and they get stalled.

“One way they may resort to try and unstick that is by resorting to chemical weapons, with all the horror that would accompany that.”

Western allies worried about chemical weapons

Warnings of Russians using chemical weapons have come this week from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Western leaders.

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Speaking on Sky News’ Beth Rigby Interviews programme, Boris Johnson said he fears Vladimir Putin may deploy chemical weapons, which would be “straight out of Russia’s playbook”.

The White House also said it has similar concerns, while Mr Zelenskyy warned Russia not to use chemical weapons and rubbished accusations from the Kremlin that Ukraine is developing weapons of mass destruction.

Further outside of Kyiv, satellite imagery showed what are believed to be Russian rocket launchers gathering near Berestyanka.

According to General Barrons, this could mean Russian forces are “coming off the line of march and that looks like a battery of six rocket launchers.

Berestyanka is 35km from Kyiv and General Barrons said they can hit the capital if used.

Millions still in Kyiv

Former heavyweight boxing champion and mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko said on Friday that he believed there were nearly two million people still left in the capital.

Kyiv is normally home to around 3.5 million people and Klitschko said there were enough vital supplies to last a couple of weeks and the supply lines in and out remained open for now.

“We have right now electricity, heating, gas, we have water,” he told Reuter news agency.

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His brother Wladimir, also a former world heavyweight boxing champion, added in the joint interview that some of the men and women who had accompanied their families to the relative safety of the west of the country were returning to take part in the city’s defence.

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