Kharkiv governor claims Russian troops repelled from city

Other footage suggested the Ukrainian military had inflicted losses. There were images of a destroyed Russian column and a skirmish in the south-east of the city. A group of Russian soldiers took refuge in an empty school, number 88, witnesses said, close to Traktornyi Zavod subway station.

Ukrainian soldiers armed with Kalashnikovs and grenade launchers sheltered behind a wall and trees, emerging to open fire. There was fighting reported around Shevchenko Avenue. In another part of the city, local fighters strolled around destroyed Russian vehicles, inspecting the damage and salvaging military equipment.

Volodymyrovich said he was hiding in a basement with 30 others, mostly women, children and elderly people. One of the group was an electrician who had fixed the power supply, allowing people to charge their phones. It was his third night in a shelter, he said.

At 5pm machine-gun fire could be heard in several parts of the city, including in Poltavskyi Shliach Street, in the centre.

It was too early to say on Sunday whether Moscow would mount a further attempt to capture Kharkiv. The brutal bombardment of a city of 1.4 million people showed Russia was deliberately shelling civilians in suburban areas, local people said.

Russian forces continued to slowly bear down on Kyiv, but forces were repelled in fighting in Bucha and Irpin, just to the north-west of the capital, after what appears to be a poorly coordinated attack by irregular forces.

There have been several days of heavy fighting in the area since Russia staged an airborne landing of forces in the nearby Hostomel military airport. Three bridges in the area have been reportedly blown up by Ukrainian forces to slow down Russian advances.

There were also signs of a switch in tactics, with Russia more actively targeting fixed infrastructure with missile attacks. An oil terminal was set ablaze in Vasylkiv, nearly 40km south-west of Kyiv. The blast sent huge flames and billowing black smoke into the night sky, social media showed.