Russia confirmed this Friday that it had attacked Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, the day before with “high-precision” weapons during the visit of the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.
In this attack, the producer and journalist of the station financed by the United States Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty died, following her home was hit by a missile.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that it launched a “high-precision long-range” airstrike on the workshops of the Artyom missile and space company in Kyiv.
The first shelling in the capital since mid-April came following Guterres visited Bucha and other cities on the outskirts of Kyiv.
“It’s a war zone, but it’s shocking that this happened close to where we were,” said Saviano Abreu, a UN spokesman accompanying Guterres.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky denounced the attack as an attempt to “humiliate the UN and everything this organization stands for.”
Germany criticized the attack as “inhumane” and said it shows that the Russian president Vladimir Putin “He has no respect for international law.”
AFP journalists saw a building on fire in a residential area of Kyiv, with a thick plume of black smoke escaping through broken windows.
“I heard the sound of two rockets and two explosions. It was a sound similar to that of an airplane in flight and then two explosions with an interval of three or four seconds,” Oleksandr Stroganov, 34, told AFP.
More than 8,000 alleged war crimes
The UN Secretary General condemned the attack as “evil” and following visiting Bucha asked Moscow to “cooperate” with the International Criminal Court in order to “establish responsibility” for the alleged crimes committed once morest civilians in this town.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova told Deutsche Welle that “more than 8,000 cases” of suspected war crimes have been identified.
He also noted that there is an ongoing investigation once morest 10 Russian soldiers suspected of committing atrocities in Bucha, where dozens of bodies in civilian clothes were found following the withdrawal of troops from Moscow.
The facts investigated, according to Venediktova, include “murders of civilians, bombing of civilian infrastructure, torture”, as well as “sexual crimes” reported “in the occupied territory of Ukraine”.
Hours before the bombing in Kyiv, US President Joe Biden asked Congress for $33 billion in additional aid to support Ukraine once morest Russian “atrocities and aggression.”
“The cost of this fight is not cheap. But giving in to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen,” Biden warned.
He rejected claims by Russian officials that Moscow is fighting the entire West.
“We are not attacking Russia. We are helping Ukraine defend itself once morest Russian aggression,” Biden said.
A senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the package Biden is seeking to broker is aimed at supporting the Ukrainian government and military through early October.
After weeks of conflict without the Russian troops being able to capture the Ukrainian capital, Moscow’s efforts are now focused on achieving a significant advance in the east and establishing its control in the southern area, around the port of Mariupol.
Bombing in Mariupol
The Ukrainian authorities indicated that they plan this Friday a plan to evacuate civilians trapped in the Azovstal plant, besieged by Russian forces in Mariupol.
Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians, including dozens of children, are sheltered in that plant.
From there, the Ukrainian Azov battalion indicated on Telegram that a military field hospital located in the industrial complex was bombed.
The operating room collapsed and the soldiers being treated were killed or wounded, he added, without giving a balance.
Meanwhile, Kyiv admitted that Russian forces have captured several towns in the Donbas region in the east.
The first phase of the invasion launched by Russia on February 24 failed to capture Kyiv or overthrow the Ukrainian government, following facing stiff resistance, which was reinforced by weapons sent to Ukraine by Western countries.
Now the Russian campaign is focused on capturing territories in the east and south of Ukraine and also using long-range missiles once morest areas in the west and center of the country.
Biden said the United States would send 10 anti-tank weapons for every Russian tank, but Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mikola Olechchuk said the country’s anti-aircraft system is unable to hit bombers at high altitudes.
“We need medium and long-range anti-aircraft systems” and “modern fighters,” said the military man.
So far, the conflict has forced 5.4 million Ukrainians to leave their country and more than 7.7 million people have fled their homes without crossing the border, according to a UN estimate, at a time when the Organization International Migration launched a request for aid for 514 million dollars.
“We only have one hope left: to be able to return home,” said Galina Bodnya, a retiree in the southern city of Zaporizhia.
