Kyiv [Ukraine]: Amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, air raid alerts were issued on Saturday morning in the capital city Kyiv along with other key cities of Chernihiv and Sumy, local media reported.

The first air raid warning was issued for the city of Chernihiv. “Air raid alerts in Chernihiv. Residents should go to the nearest shelter,” The Kyiv Independent tweeted.

Subsequent alerts were issued for the capital city Kyiv, followed by an alert for the entire Kyiv Oblast and the city of Zhytomyr, followed by an alert for the city of Sumy. Residents in all these places were requested to go to the nearby shelters.

A building of the military faculty of Sumy State University in Ukraine’s northeastern city Sumy was shelled on Thursday by Russian forces.

Meanwhile, Ukraine plans to hold the third round of talks with Russian officials to try a negotiated settlement to end the fighting triggered by Moscow’s invasion this weekend, said one of Kyiv’s negotiators.

The Mayor of the South-Eastern city of Mariupol Vadym Boychenko informed today that the city has been blockaded by the Russian forces, after days of sustained attacks.

Mariupol, with a population of 450,000 people, is of strategic importance to Russian forces, as by taking Mariupol, they can complete a land corridor that would link Crimea with southern Russia, reported CNN.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine’s breakaway regions, Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics followed by the announcement of a “special military operation” to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine.