Kyiv to impose curfew for 'difficult and dangerous' 35 hours

A fireman embraces a woman outside a damaged apartment building in Kyiv on March 15, 2022, after strikes on residential areas killed at least two people, Ukraine emergency services said as Russian troops intensified their attacks on the Ukrainian capital. A series of powerful explosions rocked residential districts of Kyiv early today killing two people, just hours before talks between Ukraine and Russia were set to resume. (Aris Messinis / AFP)

(AFP) - Kyiv will impose a 35-hour curfew from Tuesday night amid a "difficult and dangerous moment" after several Russian strikes, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The announcement came as Russia launched fresh attacks in Ukraine's capital, which has nearly been encircled by Moscow's troops in the third week of the invasion and that has lost an estimated half of its 3.5-million pre-war population.

"Today is a difficult and dangerous moment," former boxing champion Klitschko said in a statement on Telegram.

"This is why I ask all Kyivites to get prepared to stay at home for two days, or if the sirens go off, in the shelters."

The curfew from 8 pm (1800 GMT) on Tuesday until 7 am (0500 GMT) on Thursday was a "decision of the military command", he said.

It comes as the Polish, Czech and Slovenian prime ministers were travelling to Kyiv by train on Tuesday in the first visit by foreign leaders to the capital.

"Movement around Kyiv without special permits is forbidden. It is only allowed to go outside with the aim to get to the shelters," he added.

Kyiv imposed a similar curfew on February 26 just after Moscow launched its invasion.

© Agence France-Presse