- One hospitalized in Kyiv, no immediate reports of death
- Putin warns the United States not to supply longer-range missiles to Ukraine
- Zelensky travels near the front line near Severodonetsk
- Ukrainian troops control half of Severodonetsk – Gaidai
Kyiv, June 6 (Reuters) – Russia hit Kyiv with missiles for the first time in more than a month, while President Vladimir Putin warned he would hit new targets in Ukraine if Western countries supplied the country with longer-range missiles.
In Severodonetsk, the main battlefield to the east, where Russia has concentrated its forces, Ukrainian forces are holding their ground after regaining half of the city, said Sergei Gaidai, governor of the city’s Luhansk province.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he had traveled to Lisichansk, south of Severodonetsk, and Soledar, a rare outing outside Kyiv since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, and may be closest to the front line so far. Read more
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“What you all deserve is victory – that’s the most important thing. But not at any cost,” Zelensky, wearing his khaki T-shirt, told Ukrainian troops in a video released Sunday night. Read more
Lisichansk and Severodonetsk are in the Luhansk region, and Soledar is in the Donetsk region. Both regions make up Donbass, Ukraine’s industrial heart, which Russia says has a mission to “liberate.”
One person was hospitalized in the attack in Kyiv, but there were no immediate reports of deaths. Dark smoke could be seen many miles after Russia’s attack on two remote areas on Sunday.
Ukraine said the strike had hit repair shops, while Moscow said it had destroyed tanks sent by Eastern European countries to Ukraine.
Alexander Kamishin, head of the Ukrainian Railways, confirmed that four missiles had been smashed at a railway car repair facility in Darnitsa in eastern Kyiv, but said no military equipment was available.
The strike was a sudden reminder of the war in Kyiv, where normalcy has largely returned after Russian forces were driven from its outskirts in March.
“The missile strikes on Kyiv have only one goal – to kill as many as possible,” adviser to Ukrainian President Mykhailo Podoliak said on Twitter.
Ukraine says Russia has struck Kyiv using long-range air missiles fired by heavy bombers all the way to the Caspian Sea.
Ukraine’s nuclear operator says a Russian cruise missile flew “critically low” over the country’s second-largest nuclear power plant. Read more
‘TO PROFESS THEM AS NUTS’
Sunday’s attack was the first major strike on Kyiv since late April, when a rocket killed a journalist.
Russia has recently focused its destructive power on east and south front lines, although it occasionally strikes elsewhere in what it calls a campaign to worsen Ukraine’s military infrastructure and block Western arms supplies.
Putin warned the West that Russia would hit new targets if the United States began supplying longer-range missiles to Ukraine, TASS reported on Sunday. Read more
The United States said last week it would send new, advanced medium-range missile systems to Ukraine.
In an interview with Russian state television, Putin said the missiles Washington had promised so far were comparable to Soviet-era weapons Ukraine already had, Putin said.
If Washington delivers longer-range missiles, “we will strike at targets we have not yet hit,” he said. He dismissed the impact of Western drones, saying Russia had “smashed them to pieces”.
Britain has said it will supply Ukraine with missile systems that can hit targets up to 80 km (50 miles) away. Read more
‘KEEP GOING NORTH SEVERODONETSK’
Heavy fighting continues in Severodonetsk and Russian forces are pushing for Slavyansk, the British Ministry of Defense said in an update on Twitter. Read more
Earlier, however, Governor Gaidai said Ukrainian forces continued to repel the Russians from Severodonetsk, about 85 kilometers (53 miles) east of Slavyansk. Read more
Allegations cannot be verified independently. Both sides say they have made huge casualties in Severodonetsk.
In Lisichansk, Russian forces shelled a bakery and several administrative and residential buildings, Gaidai said on Monday, adding that one civilian had been wounded.
The evacuations resumed from the Ukrainian-controlled part of Luhansk province on Sunday and 98 people fled, Gaidai said.
A Russian state media journalist said on Sunday that Russian Major General Roman Kutuzov had been killed in eastern Ukraine, adding to the series of high-ranking military casualties suffered by Moscow. Read more
Russia’s governor of the western Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said the border village of Tyotkino had been shelled by Ukraine this morning, targeting a bridge and some local businesses. There are no immediate reports of casualties.
The Ukrainian military said its forces repulsed seven attacks in Donetsk and Luhansk regions on Sunday, destroying four tanks and shooting down a combat helicopter.
Russian forces are “conducting intense artillery and mortar shelling of our positions” in the Kharkiv region of Donetsk, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Monday.
It says Russia is targeting civilian infrastructure in several cities. Moscow denies targeting civilians.
In a Sunday address in Rome, Pope Francis called the war a “denial of God’s dream.”
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Report by Natalia Zinets, Pavel Polityuk, Lydia Kelly and Ronald Popeski, written by Himani Sarkar; Edited by Michael Perry
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