Ukraine: Kyiv residents answer call to defend nation

The man tightly clutching a rifle at one roadblock could easily have been in his early 60s.

We saw other men, in jeans and trainers, taking up position: the luxury of camouflage protection not possible in this moment of crisis. Makeshift roadblocks had been assembled, reports BBC.

As we ventured out into the streets of Kyiv on Friday, we encountered these men and others who had answered the call to defend their nation.

We found a tractor and a delivery truck parked at strategic angles to block the path of any incoming attacker.

In other cities, steelworkers are reported to have welded new obstructions into place: forging their own defences.

And workers in a sewing factory who normally stitch uniforms have been making sandbags.

Across the country, patriotic Ukrainians are weaving their own narrative and hoping their collective effort will count for something in the face of Moscow's military might.

The urgency of all this tells you many fear it is a question of when - not if - they'll be face-to-face with the advancing Russian forces.

Today, in the heart of the capital, the streets are mostly deserted. There are few people to enjoy the church bells.

One man who may have well heard the soothing chimes in this darkest hour is Ukraine's president.

In the midst of what feels like an existential battle, Volodymyr Zelensky has been carrying out a personal mission of his own: touring the landmarks of this great city recording defiant video messages to the Ukrainian people, vowing to stay and fight.

Across this vast country, families have been sending their own hastily made films to their loved ones, reassuring them they are safe.

But there are no impressive architectural backdrops as in the president's videos. Instead you see the new subterranean existence many are being forced to endure: makeshift beds, piles of possessions, frightened pets.

Car parks, basements, metro stations are all now home for so many.

Daily life has been upended as they wait anxiously for the arrival of their would-be Russian occupiers.

However, it was new life that gave hope in one makeshift underground basement: a baby, delivered overnight, entering a world which has changed beyond recognition in barely 36 hours.

Kyiv imposes curfew amid sabotage fears

The mayor of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, has ordered citizens to stay indoors until Monday morning as Russian forces close in on the city.

A curfew imposed at 15:00 GMT on Saturday is to stay in force until 06:00 GMT on Monday.

All those venturing out "will be considered members of sabotage groups of the enemy", authorities warned.

The UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) also said that Russian saboteurs were thought to be in Kyiv.

The latest developments came on the third day of the Russian assault on Ukraine, as Russian forces continued to bombard the capital and other cities with artillery and missiles.

However, Western intelligence sources pointed to evidence that the invaders were not making as much progress as they had expected.

"The speed of the Russian advance has temporarily slowed, likely as a result of acute logistical difficulties and strong Ukrainian resistance," the MoD said in a tweet.

"Russian forces are bypassing major Ukrainian population centres while leaving forces to encircle and isolate them.

"Overnight clashes in Kyiv are likely to have involved limited numbers of pre-positioned Russian sabotage groups."

The capture of Kyiv remained Russia's main objective, the ministry added.

According to US sources, Russia has so far fired more than 250 missiles, mostly short-range, at Ukrainian targets, some of which have hit civilian infrastructure.

Early on Saturday, an apartment building in Kyiv was struck by a missile, leaving a hole covering at least five floors. It is thought that most of the occupants were in shelters.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had been fighting Russian troops in Kyiv, as well as Odesa in the south and Kharkiv in the north-east, but the capital was still in Ukrainian hands.

"The occupiers wanted to block the centre of our state," the president said. "We broke their plan."

In other developments:

Ukraine says it has repulsed an attack on the northern city of Kharkiv after heavy fighting, but shelling of Okhtyrka nearby has caused many casualties

The invasion has so far killed 198 Ukrainians, the health minister says

Russia says it has captured the city of Melitopol in the south

The UN estimates that 120,000 people have fled Ukraine in the past 48 hours

French police have impounded a Russian-flagged cargo ship suspected of breaching sanctions imposed because of the Ukraine war

Germany has approved delivery of 1,000 anti-tank rocket weapons to Ukraine, in a change to its long-standing policy of banning weapon exports to conflict zones.

Western analysts estimate that Russia's initial assault involved about half of the more than 150,000 troops it had massed on the border in the run-up to the invasion.

BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale says Russia has also not used its artillery and air strikes as intensively as expected.

However, our correspondent adds that it is normal for militaries to keep reserves as they adjust plans. Russia may need them for later phases of the invasion, he says.