Russia launched airstrikes on Kyiv for the first time in five weeks on Sunday, claiming that it had destroyed Western-supplied tanks, while Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that more targets would be achieved if deliveries continued. ‘weapons.
On Sunday morning, several explosions were heard in the eastern suburbs of Kyiv from Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi, injuring one person. The strikes represented a change of direction by the invading forces.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the attacks had destroyed T-72 tanks that had been supplied to Ukraine by European countries that were stored in the buildings of a car repair company, although the claim did not go away. be able to verify immediately.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said “a victim was hospitalized” in the incident. Sergei Leshchenko, a member of the supervisory board of the Ukrainian railway company, added that its facilities had been demolished.
They were the first bombings in any part of the capital since the end of April and seem to represent an attempt to attack the supply lines from Kyiv to the east, where both sides are involved in an intense battle for control of the Donbàs.
Perhaps pointing to the new approach, Putin told state television Rossiya that Russia would achieve new targets in Ukraine if the US delivered the more powerful rockets it had promised in Kyiv last week.
If these missiles were supplied, “we will attack those targets that we have not yet been hitting,” said Putin, who is believed to be heavily involved in military decision-making. The Russian leader did not specify what would be achieved, although the logistical points would be among the most logical goals.
Russia has been outraged by the US decision to supply Ukraine with Himars truck-mounted multi-launch rocket systems, with missiles ranging from 20 to 40 miles, larger than anything in the armory. of Kyiv.
“All this fuss over additional arms deliveries, in my view, has only one goal: to prolong the armed conflict as much as possible,” Putin said in a televised interview.
Ukraine and the West believe that the rockets could help Kyiv prevent Russian forces from gathering behind the front lines for future attacks, but Putin argued that it would not mean a significant change in the military balance.
“We understand that this supply [of advance rocket systems] the United States and other countries are destined to make up for the loss of this military equipment, “Putin said.” This is nothing new. It doesn’t change anything in essence. “
Ukrainian nuclear power company Energoatom also warned that a Russian cruise missile had been dangerously approaching the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant in the south of the country at around 5.30am, apparently in the direction of Kyiv.
He said the missile “flew very low” over the site and that Russian forces “still do not understand that even the smallest fragment of a missile that can hit a unit of power in operation can cause a nuclear catastrophe and a radiation leak “.
The last time Kyiv was hit was on April 28, when a Russian missile killed a US-funded producer of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Moscow has since ignored the capital as it tries to oust Ukraine from the Donbas.
The British Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian forces had counterattacked in Sievierodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine, “probably diminishing the operational momentum that Russian forces had previously gained”, but did not offer any assessment of whether the effort was pushing back the invaders.
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On Saturday, Serhiy Haidai, the Ukrainian governor of Luhansk province, said his country’s forces had recaptured about 20 percent of the city of Donbas, which had been under attack for days sustained by Russian bombing and airstrikes. concentrates.
Haidai reiterated that statement on Sunday, adding that eight Russians had been taken prisoner and that the occupiers had “lost a large number of staff.” A humanitarian headquarters in neighboring Lysychansk had been hit with 30 shells overnight, the governor said.
Ukrainian forces were “successfully slowing down Russian operations” in the Donbas and were conducting “effective local counterattacks in Sievierodonetsk,” the Institute for War Study, a U.S. think tank, said overnight. .
The research group, which is closely monitoring the fighting, said that Russia “may still be able to capture Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk” and that it appears that “Ukraine’s defenses remain strong in this fundamental theater.”
The British Defense Ministry said Russia relied on the “poorly equipped and trained” Luhansk separatist forces to carry out the removal of the city, a tactic it said had previously been used by Moscow forces in Syria. . “This approach probably indicates a desire to limit the casualties suffered by regular Russian forces,” he added.
A Ukrainian presidential adviser urged European nations to respond with “more sanctions, more weapons” to missile attacks, and appeared to criticize French President Emmanuel Macron, who had said in an interview on Friday that Russia should not be humiliated. Ukraine, so that finally a diplomatic solution could be found.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the president’s office, tweeted: “While someone is calling for Russia not to be humiliated, the Kremlin is resorting to new insidious attacks. Today’s missile attacks in Kyiv have only one goal: to kill so many Ukrainians. as possible “.