Photos: Ukraine's civilian forces grow as more enlist in the fight against Russia

By Marco Storel

Published February 27, 2022 at 9:29 PM CST

A Ukrainian Territorial Defense fighter examines a destroyed Russian infantry mobility vehicle after clashes in Kharkiv on Sunday. Ukrainian forces secured full control of Kharkiv on Sunday following street fighting with Russian troops in the country's second biggest city, the local governor said.

Updated February 27, 2022 at 1:32 PM ET

Editor's note: Graphic content

Russian military forces have invaded Ukraine.

The wide-scale invasion of Ukraine has dramatically changed the mood in Kyiv, the capital, as a nation woke up on Feb. 24, with the new reality that it is at war. Ukraine's military says Russia is taking casualties in fierce fighting, but Russia's military is telling a different story.

The Ukrainian military says thousands have already joined up; Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said the service is now accepting enlistees over age 60, as long as they're physically able.

"Many residents of Kyiv are trying to evacuate towards the West," NPR's Tim Mak said on Morning Edition from Ukraine. "There are long lines that we've observed all day at ATMs, gas stations and supermarkets. In fact, right now, as I speak to you, we're in line to get gas. Traffic is at a standstill leaving town, making it really difficult for people."

A Russian Armored personnel carrier is on fire during a fight with the Ukrainian armed forces in Kharkiv on Feb. 26.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry announced on the same day that it has begun the procedure to cut diplomatic ties with Russia at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and "in accordance with the norms established by international law."

U.S. officials have said for weeks that a Russian invasion of Ukraine was imminent, a warning that Russia, in turn, dismissed as scaremongering. President Biden warned of a "catastrophic loss of life and human suffering."

President Biden announced new sanctions on Russia's military and economy Thursday, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin and his country will bear the costs of the attack.

A woman walks in front of a destroyed building after a Russian missile attack in the town of Vasylkiv, near Kyiv, on Sunday.

Nigerian students in Ukraine wait at the platform in Lviv railway station on Sunday. Thousands of people massed at Lviv's main train station on Sunday, attempting to board trains to leave Ukraine.

A couple embraces before the woman boards a train leaving for western Ukraine, at the railway station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on Sunday. The U.N. refugee agency says nearly 120,000 people have so far fled Ukraine into neighboring countries in the wake of the Russian invasion.

Volunteers at a humanitarian center sort through clothes donated for evacuees in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Sunday.

A woman holds a child and a dog in a shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine on Sunday.

Firefighters work by a high-rise apartment block which was hit by recent shelling in Kyiv on Feb. 26. Ukrainian soldiers repulsed a Russian attack in the capital, the military said on Saturday after a defiant President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed his pro-Western country would not be bowed by Moscow.

Natali Sevriukova reacts next to her house following a rocket attack on the city of Kyiv on Feb. 25.

The body of a rocket is stuck in a flat after shelling on the northern outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Feb. 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, forcing residents to flee for their lives and leaving at least 40 Ukrainian soldiers and 10 civilians dead. — The body of a rocket is stuck in a flat after shelling on the northern outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Feb. 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, forcing residents to flee for their lives and leaving at least 40 Ukrainian soldiers and 10 civilians dead.

Mikhailo, 5, holds a stuffed animal as he waits in an underground shelter during a bombing alert in Kyiv on Feb. 26.

A resident checks on a damaged room of her apartment in a residential block hit by an early morning missile strike on Feb. 25, in Kyiv.

Ukrainian servicemen walk at fragments of a downed aircraft seen in in Kyiv on Feb. 25.

A view of a high-rise apartment block which was hit by recent shelling in Kyiv on Feb. 26. It started the third day since Russian leader Vladimir Putin unleashed a full-scale invasion that has killed dozens of people, forced more than 50,000 to flee Ukraine in just 48 hours and sparked fears of a wider conflict in Europe.

Firefighters rest after working extinguishing an apartment building damaged following a rocket attack, in Kyiv on Feb. 26.

Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuhuiv, near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, Feb. 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday, with explosions heard soon after across the country. — Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuhuiv, near Kharkiv on Feb. 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday, with explosions heard soon after across the country.

People take shelter at a building basement while the sirens sound announcing new attacks in Kyiv on Feb. 25.

Vladimir collects belongings in his bedroom damaged by a missile on February 25, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Vladimir was wounded on his face by an exploding window.

Empty bread shelves in a supermarket in Kyiv on Feb. 25.

People sleep in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter on Feb. 25. In Kyiv, many residents hurried underground for safety overnight Thursday and Friday as Russian forces fired on the city and moved closer.

Armed men patrol the streets of downtown Kyiv, near St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, on Feb. 26.

Ukrainian service members collect unexploded shells after a fighting with Russian raiding group in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in the morning of Feb. 26, according to Ukrainian service personnel at the scene.

Russian army military vehicles are seen in Armyansk, Crimea, on Feb. 25.

Ukrainian refugees walk along vehicles lining-up to cross the border from Ukraine into Moldova, at Mayaky-Udobne crossing border point near Mayaky-Udobne, Ukraine, on Feb. 26. The U.N. refugee agency says nearly 120,000 people have so far fled Ukraine into neighboring countries in the wake of the Russian invasion.

Local residents are running to catch an evacuation train driving to the west of Ukraine on Feb. 26, in Kyiv.

A woman hugs another women upon her arrival at the border crossing in Medyka, southeastern Poland, from neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 25.