KYIV: Russian forces pressed their offensive in south and east Ukraine on Friday after bombarding its capital during a visit by the United Nations’ chief.
At least three people were wounded in strikes late Thursday in the western part of Kyiv, the first in the capital in nearly two weeks, which came after Guterres toured Bucha and other suburbs where Moscow is alleged to have committed war crimes.
Three months into an invasion that failed in its short-term aim of capturing Kyiv, Russia is now intensifying operations in the breakaway eastern Donbas region, as Ukraine’s Western allies supply it with increasingly heavy armaments.
After Moscow’s retreat from Kyiv, dozens of bodies in civilian clothes were found and Ukrainian prosecutors said they have opened investigations into 10 Russian soldiers for suspected atrocities in Bucha and pinpointed more than 8,000 alleged war crimes cases.
Those cases involve “killing civilians, bombing of civilian infrastructure, torture” and “sexual crimes” reported during Russia’s occupation of various parts of Ukraine, prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova told a German TV channel.
In Washington, President Joe Biden on Thursday urged US lawmakers to approve a huge $33 billion aid package and proposed new laws to allow using luxury assets stripped from Russian oligarchs to compensate Ukraine for damage inflicted since Moscow invaded on February 24.
“The cost of this fight is not cheap. But caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen,” Biden said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed Biden’s proposal as an “important step” and “necessary.”
In a residential part of Kyiv, AFP correspondents saw one building in flames and black smoke pouring into the air after the Russian strikes.
“I heard the sound of two rockets and two explosions. It was a sound similar to a flying plane, and then two explosions with an interval of three to four seconds,” Oleksandr Stroganov, 34, told AFP.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said there had been “two hits in the Shevchenkovsky district”, with one hitting “the lower floors of a residential building”. Three people were taken to hospital, but the extent of their injuries was not immediately clear.
“It is a war zone, but it is shocking that it happened close to us,” Saviano Abreu, spokesman for the UN’s humanitarian office who was travelling with Guterres, told AFP, adding the delegation was safe.
Zelensky said the strikes, which came immediately after his talks with Guterres, were an attempt by Russia “to humiliate the UN and everything that the organisation represents.”
* Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss.
* Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
