Anatomy of attack: How Ukraine soldiers are battling Russians

In this representative image, a Ukrainian soldier keeps position sitting on a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun at a frontline northeast of Kyiv amid reports of Russian troop advance one week into their invasion of the Ukraine.

Men with long guns peered out of slow-moving cars last week after a night of booms and gunfire under Kyiv's state-of-war curfew -- imposed with shoot-on-sight orders.

An Ukrainian soldier holds an anti-tank launcher at a frontline northeast of Kyiv.

"We like our army," Olena's 23-year-old son Oleg told AFP  down in the basement.

"We love them because they are doing things that were not expected of them. They are doing so much," he beamed, proudly.

"We are the coolest nation in the world."

Yet the young man shows signs of strain and worry.

An Ukrainian soldier looks on as he holds a cup of tea at a frontline, northeast of Kyiv.

The mayor of Kherson, Igor Kolykhayev wrote on Facebook that the Russian army had set up checkpoints at all of the city's entrances, but said it "remains Ukrainian" and "will be able to resist".

Explosions were also reported in and around Brovary, a city on the outskirts of the capital.

In Kyiv, many were preparing for a fresh assault with makeshift barricades dotting the streets.

A Ukrainian soldier walks through debris on the west side of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv days after the Russian attack.

Ukrainian soldiers beat back a Russian attack in the capital Kyiv only hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky warns Moscow would attempt to take the city before dawn.

A Ukrainian soldier in an armoured vehicle waits on the west side of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv last week.

Ukrainian soldiers beat back a Russian attack in the capital Kyiv only hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Moscow would attempt to take the city before dawn last week.

Reports said Russian President Vladimir Putin had sent thousands of "Spetsnaz" special forces to Kazakhstan as protests hit the country after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev gave "shoot-to-kill" orders

Latest reports claim Russia's has at least 5,000 Spetsnaz soldiers as part of thousands of Belarus and Russian troops at the border ready to carry out sabotage operations.

Reports claimed the 14th Spetsnaz Brigade is headed to Belarus worrying Western governments who have vowed their own reinforcements.

The Biden administration has decided to send a "small number" of 5,000 US troops to Poland and Romania to bolster Europe's eastern front as Russian troops mass along Ukraine's border.

The dreaded special operations unit had played its part during Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Reports say Spetsnaz crack troops are now preparing to undertake operations against Ukraine.

Spetsnaz literally means "special assignment". It was formed in 1915 during World War-I as a sabotage and reconnaissance unit to disrupt the German army many of whom were Cossacks including Ukrainians, Buryats, Latvians and Russians. They were considered an elite fighting unit capable of carrying out special operations behind enemy lines.

They famously operated during the Afghanistan war from 1979 to 1987 and reportedly helped in the overthrow and killing Afghan President Hafizullah Amin, his son as they stormed the Tajbeg Palace.

According to the European Centre for Security Studies, "the Spetsnaz are not just a combat asset but also are a weapon of active measures and political warfare, able to operate in the murky intersection of conflict, politics, intelligence, and propaganda."

They were deployed in the Donbas since 2014 in the separatist-controlled area in eastern Ukraine which is a mining and industrial hub that is economically vital for Ukraine.

The unit continues to be the “tip of the spear”. It also has a Naval unit attached to Vladivostok, Pacific Fleet, Northern Fleet, Sevastopol, Black Sea Fleet and the Parusnoe, Kaliningrad, Baltic Fleet.