Officials warn of Russian firepower
As EU leader visits, Zelenskyy calls for stronger sanctions
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian and British officials warned Saturday that Russian forces are relying on weapons able to cause mass casualties as they try to make headway in capturing eastern Ukraine and fierce, prolonged fighting depletes resources on both sides.
Russian bombers have likely been launching heavy 1960s-era anti-ship missiles in Ukraine, the U.K. Defense Ministry said. The Kh-22 missiles were primarily designed to destroy aircraft carriers using a nuclear warhead. When used in ground attacks with conventional warheads, they “are highly inaccurate and therefore can cause severe collateral damage and casualties,” the ministry said.
Both sides have expended large amounts of weaponry in what has become a grinding war of attrition for the eastern region known as the Donbas.
Russia is likely using the 6.1-ton anti-ship missiles because it is running short of more precise modern missiles, the British ministry said. It gave no details of where such missiles are thought to have been deployed.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian governor accused Russia of using incendiary weapons in a village in the eastern province of Luhansk, southwest of the fiercely contested cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.
While the use of flamethrowers on the battlefield is legal, provincial Gov. Serhii Haidai alleged the overnight attacks in Vrubivka caused widespread damage to civilian facilities and an unknown number of victims.
“At night, the enemy used a flamethrower rocket system — many houses burnt down,” Haidai wrote on Telegram on Saturday.
His claim could not be immediately verified.
Sievierodonetsk and neighboring Lysychansk are the last major areas of Luhansk remaining under Ukrainian control. Haidai said Russian forces destroyed railway depots, a brick factory and a glass factory.
The Ukrainian army said Saturday that Russian forces also were to launch an offensive on the city of Sloviansk in Donetsk province, which with Luhansk makes up the Donbas. Moscow-backed rebels have controlled self-proclaimed republics in both provinces since 2014, and Russia is trying to seize the territory still in Ukrainian hands.
With the European Union’s top official in Kyiv on Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy called for a new round of “even stronger” EU sanctions against Russia.
Zelenskyy called for them to target more Russian officials, including judges, and to hamper activities of all Russian banks, including that of gas giant Gazprom, as well as all Russian companies helping Moscow.
Zelenskyy spoke during a brief media appearance with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the heavily guarded presidential office compound in Ukraine’s capital city. It was von der Leyen’s second visit to Ukraine since the invasion began on Feb. 24.
The pair discussed Ukraine’s aspirations for EU membership. Zelenskyy, speaking through a translator, said Ukraine “will do everything” to integrate with the bloc.
“Russia wants to divide Europe, wants to weaken Europe,” he said.
Von der Leyen said the EU’s executive arm was “working day and night” on an assessment of Ukraine’s eligibility as a candidate.
“You have done a lot on strengthening the rule of law but there still need to be reforms implemented to fight corruption, for example,” von der Leyen said to Zelenskyy.
The goal is to have the review ready to share with the bloc’s 27 existing members by the end of this week.
Ukrainian authorities on Saturday also reported that nearly 800 children have been killed or wounded since the invasion began.
According to a statement from the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, at least 287 children died as a result of military activity, while at least 492 more have been hurt. The statement stressed the figures were based on investigations by juvenile prosecutors.
The office said children in Donetsk province have suffered the most, with 217 reported killed or wounded, compared with 132 in the Kharkiv region and 116 in the Kyiv region.
Officials in the city of Odesa said Saturday that a man was killed by an explosion while visiting a beach on the Black Sea, where mines are a growing concern.
The city council said via Telegram that the man was there with his wife and son despite warnings to stay away from beaches in the area. He was testing the water’s temperature and depth when the explosion occurred.
Russia and Ukraine have accused the each other of laying mines in the sea.