section_path: Events/Initial invasion (24 February – 7 April 2022)/Kyiv and northern front
section_name: Kyiv and northern front
paragraph_text: Kyiv and northern front
  
  Russian tried to seize Kyiv quickly with a probative spearhead on 24 February, from Belarus south along the west bank of the Dnipro River, with Spetsnaz infiltrating into the city supported by airborne operations and a rapid mechanised advance from the north, but failed. The apparent intent was to encircle the city from the west, supported by two separate axes of attack along the east bank of the Dnipro: the western at Chernihiv, and from the east at Sumy. Russian forces advanced into Chernihiv Oblast on 24 February, besieging its administrative capital within four days of fighting. Travelling along highways, Russian forces reached Brovary, an eastern suburb of Kyiv, on 4 March.
  
  The US contacted Zelenskyy and offered to help him flee, lest the Russian Army attempt to kidnap or kill him on seizing Kyiv; Zelenskyy responded that "The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride." By early March, Russian advances along the west side of the Dnipro were limited by Ukrainian defences. As of 5 March, a Russian convoy, reportedly 64 kilometres (40 mi) long, had made little progress toward Kyiv. Advances from Chernihiv largely halted as a siege began there. Russian forces advanced on Kyiv from the northwest, capturing Bucha, Hostomel and Vorzel by 5 March. By 11 March, the lengthy convoy had largely dispersed and taken cover. On 16 March, Ukrainian forces began a counter-offensive. Unable to achieve a quick victory in Kyiv, Russian forces switched to indiscriminate bombing and siege warfare.
  
  On 25 March, a Ukrainian counter-offensive retook towns to the east and west of Kyiv. Russian troops in the Bucha area retreated north. Ukrainian forces entered the city on 1 April, and recaptured the region around Kyiv, and uncovered evidence of war crimes in Bucha. The Pentagon confirmed on 6 April that the Russian army had left Chernihiv Oblast; local authorities said Russian troops had left Sumy Oblast. NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said the Russian "retraction, resupply, and redeployment" of troops from the Kyiv area should be interpreted as an expansion of Putin's plans for concentrating his forces on eastern Ukraine.