War update: Kyiv imposes fresh 35-hour curfew; Biden meets Ukraine ministers in Poland

Vitalii Klitschko, Kyiv Mayor, said in an online post that a fresh and longer curfew has been imposed on the Ukraine’s capital Kyiv from Saturday evening till Monday morning.

Klitschko stated the Ukrainian military made the decision to impose a 35-hour curfew, without giving further details. "The military command made the decision to tighten the curfew. It  begins at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday and ends at 7:00 a.m. on Monday "On Telegram, he stated.

During the curfew, shops, pharmacies, gas stations, and public transportation will be closed, he further stated.

Over a month into Russia's war on Ukraine, the suburbs of Kyiv continue to be bombarded heavily. According to the governor of Kyiv region, Oleksandr Pavlyuk, Russian soldiers took control of a village where workers at the defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant lived, while combat was reported in the streets of the beleaguered southern port of Mariupol.

Two days ago, Russian explosives blew out the key bridge in Chernihiv, Ukraine, crossing the Desna River on the road to Kyiv. The remaining pedestrian bridge was rendered unusable by artillery shells on Friday, cutting off the last feasible route for people to go out or food and medical supplies to get in.

Russia continues to attack a number of important Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Mariupol, according to the British military ministry.

Meanwhile, US  President Joe Biden met with two Ukrainian ministers in Warsaw, Poland. It is  the first face-to-face meeting between the US president and top Kyiv officials since the Russian invasion began.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, and Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine's defence minister, on a rare journey outside the country, possibly signalling increased confidence in the fight against Russian soldiers. According to AFP, Biden was sitting at a long white table facing Kuleba and Reznikov, between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin. Flags of Ukraine and the United States flew in the background.

Earlier in the day, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a surprise video appearance at the Doha Forum in Qatar, urging the energy-rich nation and others to expand their energy output "so that everyone in Russia understands that energy cannot be used as blackmail." He claimed that Russia was threatening the world (indirectly) with its nuclear weapons. "They boast that they can destroy not only a certain country but the entire planet with nuclear weapons," Zelenskyy stated.