NEW YORK, March 12 — Satellite images taken yesterday showed Russian military units were continuing to deploy closer to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and were firing artillery toward residential areas, a US private company said.

Maxar Technologies said multiple homes and buildings were on fire and widespread damage and impact craters could be seen throughout the town of Moschun, northwest of Kyiv. Reuters could not independently verify the images.

Maxar said one image showed elements of a Russian artillery battalion actively firing in a southeasterly direction, a bright muzzle flash coming from one of the guns. It said it could not confirm the battalion’s targets, but that the damage observed in Moschun was about 7 km (4.3 miles) southeast of the artillery deployment.

Another image showed long lines of cars carrying people trying to flee Kyiv, and another showed that fires continued to burn at Antonov Airport.

Russian forces bombarded cities across the country yesterday and appeared to be regrouping for a possible assault on Kyiv as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country had reached a "strategic turning point” in the conflict. — Reuters