kindergarten, apartment building and shoe factory. cnn is live on the ground there. the uk ministry of defense said russian forces continue to make limited progress in advancing towards kyiv and could be preparing for a fresh attack against the ukrainian capital here in the coming days. a senior u.s. defense official said some troops are now within nine miles of the capital city center with other units approaching from all directions. these new images from the outskirts of the city show the 30-mile-long convoy largely dispersed and redeployed. some repositions in the forests and tree-lined areas. in cher nave, there is heavy damage. it is encircled by russian troops, says the mayor. emergency services releasing a heart-stopping video showing the
military. the russians have run into the sand effectively being held back in a number of locations, even in mariupol, which they fully surrounded in the southeast of the country. still being held back there by ukrainian forces. the more they ve held back and more they ve struck out towards civilians, we ve seen that graphically in kharkiv and in kyiv, the capital. kate? sam, thank you so much. let s go to kyiv right now, just as sam was talking about, where russian forces are approaching the city from all directions. the uk said russia could be preparing for a fresh attack against the capital in the coming days and the 40 mile long russian convoy outside of the city has largely dispersed and been redeployed. cnn s matthew chance, he s live in kyiv for us at this hour. matthew, what s happening on the ground there? reporter: kate, thanks very much. you re right about that convoy. it s moved into more defensive positions, taking cover underneath trees and sort of broken up a little
threat with heavy fighting on several sides of the city. western defense officials warn russian forces are moving closer. some, just kilometers away. but some satellite images we can show you there. they show north of the capital which we are told now is isolated by russian troops. that s how it s been put. the ukrainian military claiming some victories, though, like the destruction of a russian tank regiment in the region just east of kyiv. the british defense ministry says it appears russian troops are now focused more on encircling major cities, as opposed to gaining new ground. and that massive russian convoy we ve reported on over the last days that was stalled outside kyiv. well, it s been largely dispersed. redeployed, it would seem, and you can see here on a map the growing amount of red marking the presence of russian troops, especially to the east of the capital. that is a fairly new development. now, a u.s. official also
russian convoy has now largely dispersed, redeployed, even hiding it seems in the trees. alex marquardt is in lviv. we watched this convoy for days, really. almost amazed and the various retired generals we talk to say, boy, that was bad planning, but now we re seeing it finally disperse. so much fascination with this convoy because it was so big, because it was so long, because of the kind of weaponry in there. lots of questions as to why it wasn t hit harder earlier on, and i think what we re seeing now again, the former officials and experts we t ss we talked t is a good sign for the ukrainians, they managed to disperse this convoy. you see some of the weaponry, some of the vehicles taking cover in the tree line. the ukrainian forces with this stiff resistance has managed to has managed to inflict some real damage on that convoy.
this for a few days we do expect an assault to come soon. russian troops are in position and now the mission of that convoy seems to be stalled. we don t know why it was stalled so long. it has redeployed and moved and comes a few days after having taken heavy hits javelin missiles wielded by forests. the company that has been monitoring says armored units that convoy are now seeing maneuvering in and through the surrounding towns close to the airport. elements of the convoy further north have repositioned and redeployed in forests alonging tree lines inspiring positions nearby. that is as cities around the country continue to be surrounded and bombed. the city. zelenskyy calling the russians terrorists. this is outright terror. blatant terror from experienced