Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) – Russia struck a large area of Ukraine on Thursday, including Kyiv, bombing the city while the UN chief was on a visit in the boldest attack on the capital since Moscow’s forces withdrew weeks ago.
At least one person was killed and several were injured in the attack on Kyiv, including some who were caught in the rubble when two buildings were hit, rescue officials said.
The bombing came just an hour after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a press conference with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said Ukraine had become “the epicenter of unbearable heartache and pain.” A spokesman said Guterres and his team were safe.
Meanwhile, explosions were reported across the country, in Polina in the west, Chernigov near the Belarusian border, and in Fastov, a major railway junction southwest of the capital. The mayor of Odessa in southern Ukraine said the missiles had been intercepted by the air defenses.
Ukrainian authorities have also reported intense Russian fire in Donbass – the eastern industrial center the Kremlin says is a major target – and near Kharkiv, a northeastern city outside Donbass that is considered key to the offensive.
In the devastated southern port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian fighters hiding in a steel plant that is the last pocket of resistance said concentrated bombings killed and wounded more people overnight. And authorities have warned that the city’s lack of safe drinking water could lead to outbreaks of deadly diseases.
In Zaporozhye, an important intermediate station for tens of thousands fleeing Mariupol, an 11-year-old boy is among at least three people injured in a rocket attack that authorities say was the first to hit a residential area in the southern city since the war began. Pieces of glass cut the boy’s leg to the bone.
Vadim Vodostoev, the boy’s father, said: “It only takes a second and you are left with nothing.
The new attacks came as Guterres examined the devastation in small towns outside the capital, which saw some of the worst horrors of the first attack of the war. He condemned the atrocities committed in cities such as Bucha, where evidence of mass killings of civilians was found after Russia withdrew in early April in the face of unexpectedly fierce resistance.
“Wherever there is war, the highest price is paid by civilians,” the UN chief complained.
Separately, the Ukrainian prosecutor accused 10 Russian soldiers of being “involved in the torture of civilians” in Bucha. Chief Prosecutor Irina Venediktova did not say her office had filed criminal charges and turned to the public for help in gathering evidence. Russia denies targeting civilians.
In the attack on Kyiv, explosions shook the city and flames erupted from the windows of at least two buildings – including a residential one – in the capital, which has been relatively unharmed in recent weeks. Streams of smoke could be seen above the city.
The blasts in the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv’s northwestern district have come as residents return to the city. Cafes and other businesses have reopened and more and more people are coming out and enjoying the spring weather.
“I was shocked to learn that two rockets had exploded in my hometown,” Guterres was quoted as saying by the BBC. “So this is a dramatic war, and we absolutely have to end this war, and we absolutely have to have a solution to this war.
It was difficult to get a complete picture of the unfolding battle in the east, as air strikes and artillery shelling made the movement of reporters extremely dangerous. Several journalists were killed during the third month of the war.
In addition, both Ukraine and Moscow-backed rebels fighting in the east have imposed strict restrictions on reporting from the war zone.
Western officials say the Kremlin’s obvious goal is to take over Donbass by encircling and crushing Ukrainian forces from the north, south and east.
But so far, Russian troops and their allied separatist forces appear to have made little progress, capturing several small towns as they try to advance into relatively small groups against strong Ukrainian resistance.
Russian troops were smeared in an unsuccessful attempt to storm Kyiv and had to regroup and re-equip. Some analysts say the delay in launching a full-fledged offensive could reflect Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to wait until his forces are ready for a decisive battle, instead of rushing in and risking another failure that could shake his rule. the deterioration of economic conditions. at home because of Western sanctions.
Many observers suspect that Putin wants to win a major victory in the East by Victory Day, May 9, one of the proudest holidays in the Russian calendar, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II.
As Russia pushes its offensive, civilians are once again taking the brunt.
“It’s not just scary. This is when your stomach shrinks in pain, “said Kharkiv resident Tatiana Pirogova. “When they shoot during the day, it’s okay again, but when the evening comes, I can’t describe how scary it is.”
The Ukrainian military said that Russian troops had subjected several places in Donbass to “intense fire” and that Ukrainian forces had repulsed six attacks in the region in the past 24 hours.
Four civilians were killed in heavy shelling of residential areas in the Luhansk region of Donbass, the district governor said.
Pillars of smoke could be seen rising in various places in the Donetsk region of Donbass, and artillery and sirens could be heard.
In Mariupol, a video posted online by the Azov Ukrainian Regiment at the steel plant shows people combing the rubble to pull out the dead and help the wounded. A regiment said the Russians struck a makeshift underground hospital and its operating room, killing an unspecified number of people. The video could not be verified independently.
Hundreds of thousands of Mariupol residents have fled. Authorities say about 100,000 who remain are at risk for diseases such as cholera and dysentery.
“Deadly epidemics could break out in the city due to the lack of centralized water supply and sewerage,” the city council said in a statement to the Telegram. He reported decaying bodies under the rubble and a “catastrophic” shortage of drinking water and food.
Strong strikes were also reported in the Russian region of Belgorod, bordering Ukraine, but there was no immediate explanation. In recent days, fuel and ammunition sites on Russian soil have been hit by explosions and fires, and suspicion has fallen on Ukraine.
Ukraine has called on its allies to send more military equipment to fend off the Russians. US President Joe Biden has asked Congress for an additional $ 33 billion to help Ukraine.
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Associated Press journalists John Gambrell and Juras Karmanau of Lviv, Mstislav Chernov of Kharkiv, Jesitsa Fish of Slavyansk, and PA officials around the world contributed to the report.
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