The city of Kyiv covers 325 square miles (840 square km) and is divided by a broad river. It has about 500,000 structures ¡ª factories, ornate churches and high-rise apartments ¡ª many on narrow, winding streets. Roughly 2 million people remain after extensive evacuations of women and children.
To the northwest and to the east, tens of thousands of Russian troops are pressing toward the city, Ukraine¡¯s capital, backed by columns of tanks, armored vehicles and artillery. Inside Kyiv, Ukrainian soldiers and civilian volunteers are fortifying the downtown with barriers, anti-tank mines and artillery.
Kyiv remains the biggest prize of all for the Russian military; it is the seat of government and ingrained in both Russian and Ukrainian identity. But capturing it, military analysts say, would require a furious and bloody conflict that could be the world¡¯s biggest urban battle in 80 years.
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