The battle in Ukraine is intensifying and Russian forces are closing in on capital Kyiv.
Ukraine is under attack, launched by Russia, in which missiles have been raining from the sky and military bases destroyed. According to Ukrainian authorities, 137 people have died in the offensive launched by Moscow, which the West says is meant to annex Ukraine.
The attack has been launched from three sides, with Russia deploying tanks, naval ships and airstrikes.
As the battle intensifies, a video of a Ukrainian soldier has gone viral on social media. In the short video, the soldier is seen delivering a message to his family.
“Mom, dad, I love you,” the unidentified soldier says in the 13-second video.
Users on social media expressed concern after the video surfaced. “They are so young, they don't deserve any of this,” a user with handle sulkapallolol poster on Reddit. “Even if they were older, no one deserves this,” another user said in response.
Another Reddit user said, “We may not know you, but we love you.”
The video has been posted on other social media platforms too, like Twitter, and viewed thousands of times.
News agency AFP reported on Friday that explosions and gunfire erupted in a northern district of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv as invading Russian forces closed in.
Pedestrians ran for safety and small arms fire and explosions were heard in the Obolonsky area. The larger blasts could be heard as far away as the city centre.
According to Reuters, air raid sirens wailed over Kyiv, a city of 3 million people, where some were sheltering in underground metro stations.
An estimated 100,000 people fled as explosions and gunfire rocked major cities. Russian troops seized a former nuclear power plant in Chernobyl as they advanced on the capital city from Belarus.
US and Ukrainian officials say Russia aims to capture Kyiv and topple the government, which Putin regards as a puppet of the United States.