Moskva Cruise: Russia hits kyiv and Kharkov after losing its flagship in the Black Sea | International

Two days after the sinking of the Moscow (Moscow), the flagship of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, Russian forces have bombed kyiv again and are fighting in the port and a steel factory for definitive control of the strategic city of Mariupol, in the southeast of the country. It is the Kremlin’s response to its biggest military setback since it launched its offensive against Ukraine on February 24.

In the capital, kyiv, the sound of anti-aircraft alarms has returned, after days in which more and more neighbors took to the streets and warnings of possible bombings had become anecdotal. They have been heard on several occasions between Thursday night and Saturday morning, in which the mayor, Vitali Klitschko, has confirmed on his Telegram channel an attack at dawn in the Darnitskii district, on the outskirts of the city. The mayor, who has not yet reported casualties, has asked the population not to ignore the anti-aircraft alarms and has insisted that the citizens of kyiv who fled at the beginning of the war not to return. “I ask you to refrain from coming back and stay in safer places,” he said.

In the quieter Lviv – in the west of the country and where many displaced people from the most affected areas of Ukraine live – explosions have been heard this Saturday, although there is no official confirmation that it was an attack.

The offensive also continues in the east. In Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city, seven people, including a child, were killed and 34 wounded on Friday in a shelling of a residential building, according to city authorities.

In addition, the besieged Mariupol, on the shores of the Black Sea, fundamental in the military campaign undertaken by President Vladimir Putin, is suffering the attacks of the Russian forces. In the port area, Russian units have launched assault operations and used Tu-22H3 long-range bombers for the first time, Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianik said on Friday. The spokesman then pointed out that there was still “active fighting” around Ilich – which Russia claims to already control – one of the city’s two metallurgical plants and the scene of the heaviest fighting in recent weeks. The Ukrainian government has denied Russian information about its conquest.

“The situation in Mariupol is difficult and tough. The fighting is taking place right now. The Russian Army is constantly bringing in new units to raze the city. But, for the moment, the Russians have not yet managed to fully capture the city,” Motuzianik said. The spokesman explained that the port and the Illich steel factory are the two points where the fighting continues, accompanied by aerial bombardments of the city. The Russian government has already announced in recent weeks the seizure of the airport, the municipal buildings and the theater.

In the capital, already in the early hours of Friday, the most important explosions were registered on the outskirts since the Russian troops withdrew from the area 15 days ago. After hard weeks, its inhabitants continued to take to the streets on Friday and the few shops reopened due to the relative calm did not close again. Although life has not come to a standstill, some activities have been moved to underground shelters.

Friday’s Russian bombardment with cruise missiles destroyed a factory on the outskirts of kyiv where, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, missiles, some of them anti-ship missiles, were manufactured and repaired. That same day the missile cruiser sank. Moscow. It was being towed after an explosion that Ukraine attributes to an attack by its troops and Russia to an unspecified fire that blew up the ammunition it was carrying.

Although it does not acknowledge that the ship was attacked, the Russian Defense Ministry has threatened a response. “The number and scale of missile attacks on targets in kyiv will increase in response to any terrorist attack or act of sabotage on Russian territory by the nationalist regime in kyiv,” he said in a statement.

This is also the forecast of the spokeswoman for the Armed Forces in southern Ukraine, Natalia Humeniuk. “We understand that the enemy will increase attacks, will try to take revenge, including missile attacks and artillery shelling, and we do not exclude a ground operation. We understand all the threats we face. It has been a major loss for the enemy. We are aware of the economic consequences and in terms of weapons, but also of image. It is a hybrid war and the image has a psychological impact that is also important. they won’t forgive him […]. Our troops have done something quite symbolic, ”he said this Friday in a video conference with journalists.

Large-scale attack in Donbas

Washington believes that the explosion of the military vessel was caused by two Ukrainian-made Neptun missiles, according to a senior US Defense Department official quoted by Reuters on Friday. The source claims there were victims, but the numbers “are not clear.” The Russian agency TASS pointed out that the crew of the Moscow has landed in Sevastopol, in the Crimea annexed by Moscow, after being rescued. The official note does not indicate if there are dead or wounded. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashenko said the cruiser’s captain, Anton Kuprin, was killed in the attack. kyiv also says that most of the crew, numbering around 500 people, failed to be evacuated in time.

Moscow, which says its main goal is the total takeover of the Donbas region, has sent a new column of thousands of troops east to launch what Ukraine anticipates will be a full-scale attack. Its start “will be a matter of days and not weeks,” said Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kirilenko on Friday. Local authorities have called on the population to leave their cities as soon as possible. “We have seen that the troops have regrouped in the eastern zone and that attacks are taking place,” he said. The spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also pointed out that the Russian Armed Forces are focusing their efforts on taking two other cities in the east of the country: Popásnaya and Rubázhnoye, in the pro-Russian separatist province of Lugansk.

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