Ukraine capital hit by Russian shells
Kremlin forces eyes last piece of Lugansk
Explosions rocked Kyiv yesterday morning, a day after a flurry of missiles struck targets across Ukraine and Russian troops “fully occupied” the key industrial hub of Severodonetsk.
AFP journalists reported a residential complex near the centre of Kyiv had been hit, causing a fire and cloud of grey smoke. A colleague living in the complex heard a loud buzz preceding the explosions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who will address G7 leaders today, said cities as far away as Lviv, near the Polish border, had been struck by a wave of attacks on Saturday.
“This confirms ... that air-defence systems — the modern systems which our partners have — should not be on the sites or in storage, but in Ukraine,” he said in his daily address.
Four blasts in all were heard yesterday at around 6.30am local time in the capital, which had not come under Russian bombardment for nearly three weeks.
While there were no immediate casualty figures, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the “rescue and evacuation of residents” was under way in two apartment buildings.
As the war enters its fifth month, the capture of Severodonetsk in the embattled Donbas region marks an important strategic win for Moscow, which is seeking full control over the east of the country after failing in its early objectives.
Russia’s army had “fully occupied” the key Ukrainian city after weeks of fighting, its mayor said on Saturday.
The industrial hub was the scene of weeks of running battles before the Ukrainian army began withdrawing its outgunned forces to better defend the neighbouring city of Lysychansk.
“The city has been fully occupied by the Russians,” Mayor Oleksandr Striuk said on Saturday.
Hours earlier, pro-Moscow separatists said Russian troops and their allies had entered Lysychansk, which faces Severodonetsk on high ground across the Donets river. Its capture would give Russia control of Donbas’ entire Lugansk region.
“Street fighting is currently taking place,” a representative of the separatists, Andrei Marochko, said.