The day after the shipwreck of its flagship in the Black Sea, Russia promised on Friday to intensify its bombardment against kyivand the first of them was against a factory of Neptune missiles, with which the Ukrainians say they have sunk the “Moskva”.
A US Department of Defense official affirmed that the Russian cruiser, 186 meters long, it was hit by two Ukrainian missiles and called it a “huge blow” for Russia.
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Russia had so far said that the “Moskva” was damaged on Wednesday by a fire after the explosion of their own ammunition and that the crew – some 500 men according to available sources – had been evacuated.
Some claims that a Ukrainian military officer denied. “We watched as the ships tried to help, but even the forces of nature were on Ukraine’s side,” since “a storm prevented the rescue of the ship and the evacuation of the crew“, said Natalia Gumeniuk, spokeswoman for the military command of southern Ukraine.
“We are perfectly aware that they will not forgive us,” he added, referring to Russia and possible new attacks.
The loss of the “Moskva” is a serious blow to Russia because “it ensured air cover from other ships during its operations, especially for the coastal bombardment and landing maneuvers“, explained the spokesman for the Odessa military administration, Sergei Bratchuk.
– Fear of a nuclear attack –
In that context, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyconsidered that “the whole world” should be “concerned” about the risk that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, cornered by his setbacks military in Ukraine, use a nuclear weapon.
Zelensky echoed the statements made the day before by CIA director William Burns. “(…) None of us can take lightly the nuclear threat of the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons“, he said in a speech in Atlanta.
This Friday, Russia made a direct warning: “The number and magnitude of missile attacks on places in kyiv will increase in response to all terrorist-type attacks and to the sabotage perpetrated on Russian territory by the nationalist regime in kyiv“, said his Ministry of Defense.
Early Friday morning, a missile factory on the outskirts of kyiv was hit by a Russian bombardmentverified AFP journalists.
The Vizar company manufactures Neptune anti-ship missiles with which the Ukrainians say they hit the Russian ship, UkrOboronProm, the state body that oversees Ukrainian weapons plants, said on its website.
The plant and the adjacent administrative building, located about 30 km southwest of kyivrecorded significant damage, found the AFP.
The Russians carried out three attacks on Friday in the kyiv region, said its governor, Alexander Pavliuk, without specifying whether this included the Vizar company.
– Shots fired at evacuees –
Russia also claims that Ukraine bombed Russian villages on the border, accusations rejected by Ukraine. According to the Ukrainians, it is the Russian secret services that carry out “terrorist attacks” in that region.
On the Ukrainian side, the The Prosecutor’s Office reported on Friday that seven civilians were killed and 27 were wounded in gunshots. Russians against evacuation buses in the northeastern Kharkov region, near the border.
In addition, at least ten people died, including a seven-month-old baby, and 35 were injured in Russian bombardments against a residential area of Kharkov, the regional governor, Oleg Sinegubov, announced on Friday.
In Bucha, a town near kyiv that has become a symbol of atrocities attributed to Russian forces, 95% of people found dead were killed, stated the police chief of the kyiv region, Andrii Nebitov.
“During the (Russian) occupation, people were being shot in the streets… It is impossible to hide this type of crime in the 21st century. Not only are there witnesses, but it was also recorded on video,” he said.
The mayor of Bucha, Anatoli Fedoruk, He assured that more than 400 bodies had been found after the departure of the Russian troops.
– Attacks in Donbas –
In the east of Ukraine, in the region of Donbas, Donetsk was the scene of fighting “on the front line”in which three people died and seven others were injured, the Ukrainian presidency reported on Friday.
Another area of this mining area, Lugansk, was the target of 24 bombardments, which caused two deaths and 10 injuries, according to the same source.
Russia, whose announced major offensive in Donbas has not yet started, has trouble gaining full control of Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov.
This city, besieged for more than 40 days by the Russian army, could have the worst balance of human losses in this war. Ukrainian authorities fear that there are about 20,000 dead.
Galina Vasilieva, 78, points to a completely burned nine-story building. “Look at our beautiful buildings! People burned inside,” laments this retiree as she waits in front of a organized humanitarian aid distribution truck by pro-Russian separatists.
During a visit to Ukraine, David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Programwhich belongs to the United Nations, requested access to the besieged areas and cities, where there are people who “die of hunger.”
An AFP team was able to access Mariúpol through a press trip organized by the Russian army and was able to see the damage caused by the constant bombing of the city since the Russian invasion on February 24.
The conquest of Mariupol would be an important victory for the Russian forces, since it would allow them to consolidate their position in the Sea of Azov, linking Donbas and the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
Now the fighting is limited to the extensive industrial area on the coast. Russian forces and their Donetsk separatist allies They prevailed and gradually tightened the siege.
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More than five million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
And meanwhile, tensions between Russia and Western countries show no signs of abating. Moscow announced the expulsion of 18 diplomats from the European Union representation in their country, in response to a similar measure taken by Brussels.
