It is responding to the US-announced delivery of missiles after the new shock to the Ukrainian capital, which had not been attacked since April 28.
A succession of explosions, the shrill sirens and the trail of dense clouds of black smoke in the sky. The shocks returned to Kiev in the form of Russian missiles. It had been more than a month since the Ukrainian capital had not been directly exposed to the stress of the invaders’ attacks. But in the early hours of Sunday, Tupolev Tu-95 bombers apparently flew over the Caspian Sea area again, albeit without a fatality.
The aggression came as Ukraine appeared to be regaining ground in Severodonetsk, the city that would give the Kremlin army the key to conquering all of Lugansk — or at least delay the incursions that seemed overwhelming until the weekend. And coinciding with the warning that Vladimir Putin launched in a televised interview about the consequences for the West of supplying long-range missiles to the government of Volodímir Zelensky.
The projectiles struck north of the capital at about 6 a.m. on Sunday. “One injured person has been taken to hospital. The services will continue to operate in the affected areas,” they assured Ukraine’s General Staff, who quantified their number at five, although they specified that it had managed to destroy one of those missiles when it flew over the Obukhov district.
From there messages and counter messages. While local authorities claimed the aim was to cause significant damage to the railway — even suggesting a missile flew very close to nuclear facilities — Moscow emphasized an alleged surgical success.
The Ministry of Defense congratulated itself on the destruction of an unknown number of T-72 tanks and other armored vehicles delivered to Ukraine as reinforcements from various Eastern European countries. And that they were in a ship intended to repair railroad cars.
Kiev hadn’t had any impact of these characteristics since the April 28 barrage — then coinciding with a visit by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. That day, one of the projectiles struck the home of Ukrainian journalist Vira Hyrych, causing her death.
There were no casualties this Sunday. But the feeling was heightened that the Kremlin may not have limited its objectives as it seems. And to make it clear, Putin returned to the scene. Hours after the coup in the Ukrainian capital, excerpts were broadcast from an interview that was to be broadcast last night on government channel Rossiya-1. The autocrat stated that if Ukraine receives long-range missiles “we will draw the right conclusions and use our weapons (…) to attack targets that we have not attacked so far,” he stated without going much further. The occasion of the message gave for many interpretations. But it was clearly aimed at Washington, which announced earlier this week that it would supply advanced missiles (albeit limited medium-range) to Ukraine.
The return of the missiles to the capital – along with the intensification of street fighting in the East – also crossed the verbal confrontation between Paris and Kiev in recent hours. Emmanuel Macron had again publicly advocated “not to humiliate Russia” when this is all over. He even praised the mediating role France can play at that time. Words that bothered in Ukraine. And to which Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba responded with unusual sourness: “Calls to avoid the humiliation of Russia can only humiliate France and all other countries that ask.” “It is better that we all focus on putting Russia in its place,” he added.
The front where the most intense fighting takes place (in the east and south of the country) saw new civilian deaths. At least three people have been killed and four more injured in Mikolaiv, according to local authorities. Meanwhile, Ukrainian counter-attacks in the strategic city of Severodonetsk are said to have gained ground. Serguei Haidai, governor of Lugansk province, drew a city divided in two, with the eastern part under the control of the invader. “The situation is still very difficult,” he stressed. One proposition, that of the “reconquest” endorsed by British intelligence in its latest update: Ukraine “weakens (in the area) the operational drive of Russian troops.”
Source: La Verdad
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