Russia attacked Kiev again: it bombed the missile factory with which Ukraine sunk the ship “Moskva”

For the first time in two weeks, Kiev was once again the target of a Russian attack. The target was a factory on the outskirts of the capital where Neptune missiles are manufactured with which Ukraine claims to have sunk the Moskva.

AFP journalists found that the plant and the adjacent administrative building, located some 30 km south-west of Kiev, were heavily damaged.

The Russians carried out three attacks on Friday in the Kiev region, said its governor, Alexander Pavliuk, without specifying whether this included that of the company Vizar.

Shortly before, the Russian Ministry of Defense had threatened to increase “the number and magnitude of attacks” against the capital.

Coup to Russia

A US Defense Department official claimed that the 186-meter-long Russian cruiser Moskva was hit last Thursday by two Ukrainian missiles and called it a “big blow” for Russia. “We observed how the ships were trying to help, but even the forces of nature were on the side of Ukraine,” as “a storm prevented the ship's rescue and the evacuation of the crew,” said Natalia Gumeniuk, spokesman for the military command of southern Ukraine.

“We are perfectly aware that we will not be forgiven,” he added, referring to Russia and possible new attacks.

The loss of the “Moskva” is a serious blow to Russia because it “ensured the air cover of other ships during its operations, especially for the shelling of the coast and landing maneuvers,” explained the spokesman of the Odessa military administration, Sergey Bratchuk.

In this context, Ukrainian President Zelensky considered that “the whole world” should be “concerned” about the risk that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, cornered by his military setbacks in Ukraine, will use a tactical nuclear weapon.

Zelensky echoed the statements of CIA director William Burns, who this week considered that no one should “take the nuclear threat lightly” from Russia.

In fact, Germany and some European allies, due to alleged lack of support for Kiev, announced on Friday the unblocking of more than 1 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine.

In a new video message, Zelensky reiterated to Western countries that they can “make war much shorter” if they supply Kiev with the weapons it requests.

But in a diplomatic note, Russia warned the United States and NATO against sending “more sensitive” weapons to Ukraine, judging that such military equipment put “fuel in the fire” and could cause “unforeseeable consequences,” according to the Washington Post newspaper.

The White House announced this week a new $800 million military aid package that includes helicopters and armored vehicles.

Shooting at evacuees

The Kharkiv region, whose namesake capital is the second Ukrainian city, is under heavy bombardment. The prosecution reported on Friday that seven civilians were killed and 27 injured by gunfire at evacuation coaches.

In addition, at least ten people were killed, including a seven-month-old baby, in an attack on a residential area of Kharkiv, said the regional governor, Oleg Sinegubov.

In Bucha, a town near Kiev that became the symbol of the atrocities attributed to Russian forces, 95 per cent of those found dead were killed, said the chief of police of the Kiev region, Andrii Nebitov.

“During the (Russian) occupation people were shot in the streets (...) It is impossible to hide such crimes in the 21st century. Not only are there witnesses, but it was also videotaped,” he said.

The mayor of Bucha, Anatoli Fedoruk, said that more than 400 bodies had been found after the departure of Russian troops.

Attacks in Donbas

In eastern Ukraine, in the Donbas region, Donetsk was the scene of fighting “on the front line”, in which three people were killed and seven others were injured, according to the Ukrainian presidency.

Another area of this mining basin, Luhansk, was the target of 24 bombings, resulting in two deaths and 10 injuries, according to the same source.

Russia, whose major offensive announced in the Donbas has not yet begun, is having trouble fully controlling Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov that would allow it to link the Donbas with the Crimean peninsula, annexed in 2014.

This city, besieged for more than 40 days, could result in the worst balance of human losses of this war. The Ukrainian authorities fear that there will be some 20,000 dead.

After weeks of tightening the encirclement of the besieged city, Russian troops find resistance especially in the extensive industrial zone on the coast.

An AFP team was able to access Mariupol through a press trip organized by the Russian army and was able to verify the damage caused by the constant bombing of the city since the Russian invasion on February 24.

“Look at our beautiful buildings! People were burned inside,” said Galina Vasilieva, 78, noting a completely burned nine-storey building.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk noted that nearly 2,900 civilians had been evacuated from Mariupol and neighbouring Berdyansk to Zaporiyia, under the control of Kiev.

More than five million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

During a visit to Ukraine, David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP), which belongs to the United Nations, requested access to besieged areas and cities, where people are “starving”.

(With information from AFP)

KEEP READING: