
Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko declared that almost the entire city of Irpin, which has seen fierce fighting in recent weeks, is in Ukraine's hands.
Thousands of residents left Irpin, which is just 20km north-west of Kiev, in the second week of fighting.
Vitaly Klitschko told reporters that Ukrainian forces had pushed Russian troops there and also into the town of Makariv, west of Kiev. He said Ukrainian forces had "destroyed the Russian plan to surround Kiev."
The former boxer also said there were attacks taking place in the north and east of the city. When asked by the BBC's Lyse Doucet about the explosions that appeared to be approaching the city centre, he said, "They will never take Kiev."
He dismissed as "propaganda" Russian claims that a mall bombed earlier this week was being used as an arms depot.
Ukrainian troops have counterattacked Russian forces in several areas of the country, including the small southern town of Voznesensk, where Russian forces backed down and an armoured column was destroyed and in Kherson near the Crimean peninsula. peninsula.