Russia fired two missiles at Kyiv on Thursday during a visit by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Ukrainian officials said, as Moscow pressed for an attack eastward, drawing new US military and humanitarian aid commitments. The rockets hit a central district in the Ukrainian capital and one of them hit a residential building, injuring at least three people, said Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Reuters witnesses said they heard two explosions, but their cause could not be immediately verified. Russia withdrew its invading forces from near Kyiv in early April after failing to seize the city, which has since hosted top-level visits from senior US and European allies. However, the blasts, which erupted shortly after Guterres’s talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, highlighted concerns that Kyiv remains vulnerable to Russian heavy weapons. “There was an attack in Kyiv; it shocked me, not because I am here, but because Kyiv is a holy city for Ukrainians and Russians,” Guterres told Portuguese television channel RTP when asked about the blasts. There was no immediate Russian comment on the blasts. Zelensky said that “they prove that we must not abandon our vigilance. “We must not believe that the war is over.” Guterres’s talks with Zelensky focused in part on evacuating Ukrainian fighters and civilians from a steel plant in the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol, Russia’s main target in the eastern Donbass region. Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed with the authorities on the involvement of the UN and the Red Cross in evacuating the plant during separate talks in Moscow with Guterres on Tuesday. Ukrainian officials are worried that Russia wants to arrest those trapped inside, a claim Moscow denies. The West believes that the battles for Mariupol and other eastern and southern regions could determine the outcome of the war. Russian forces are now entrenched in the east, where Moscow-backed separatists have held some territory since 2014, and also occupy part of the south they occupied in March. Ukraine’s general staff says Russia is stepping up its military offensive in Donbas. “The enemy is increasing the pace of the offensive operation. “The Russian occupiers are firing hard in almost all directions.” MURAT YUKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS Putin called Moscow’s actions a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine, defend Russian-speaking people from persecution and prevent the United States from using the country to threaten Russia. Ukraine denies Putin’s allegations of persecution, says it is fighting an imperial-style land grab that has razed Ukrainian cities, forced more than 5 million to flee abroad and killed thousands. In light of Ukraine’s repeated calls for heavier weapons, US President Joe Biden on Thursday asked Congress for $ 33 billion to support Kyiv, a huge leap in funding that includes more than $ 20 billion, and another $ 20 billion. military assistance. On April 28, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres toured the Kiev region of Borodyanka and Bucha, which were bombed and occupied during a Russian offensive in northern Ukraine before retreating to focus on the east. Reuters The package, designed to meet needs by September, is based on efforts by the United States and its allies to punish Russia for its February 24 invasion. “We need this bill to support Ukraine in its struggle for freedom,” Biden said on Thursday. “The cost of this fight – it’s not cheap – but giving in to aggression will be more expensive.” Washington, which along with its allies has imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow, hopes that Ukrainian forces can not only repel Russia’s attack in the east, but also weaken its military so that it can no longer threaten them. neighbours. Russia says this equates to NATO waging a “proxy war” against it and has made a number of threats this week with unspecified retaliation. It cut off gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday after refusing to pay in rubles, signaling Moscow’s toughest response to Western economic sanctions. Russia has also said it has carried out a series of Ukrainian attacks on Russian-bordered areas and has warned that such attacks could escalate into a major escalation. Two large explosions were heard in the Russian city of Belgorod near the border with Ukraine on Thursday, two witnesses told Reuters. It was not clear what caused them and whether there were casualties or damage. As smoke plumes rose above the Azovstal steel plant, where Ukrainian fighters are based in the southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol, on April 25, workers began clearing debris from buildings destroyed during the fighting, as the rest city remained quiet. Reuters Ukraine has not directly acknowledged responsibility for the strikes in Russia, but says the incidents are damping. Russia has been outraged by statements by NATO member Britain that it is legitimate for Ukraine to target Russian logistics. “In the West, they are openly calling on Kyiv to attack Russia, including the use of weapons by NATO countries,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters in Moscow. “I do not advise you to further test our patience.” Ukraine reported overnight explosions in the southern city of Kherson, the only regional capital occupied by Russia since the invasion. Russian troops in Kherson used tear gas and stun grenades on Wednesday to quell pro-Ukrainian crowds and bombard the entire area, attacking Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian officials said. Russian state media quoted an official of a self-proclaimed pro-Russian “military-political commission” in Kherson on Thursday as saying that the region would start using the Russian ruble currency from May 1. The US mission to the OSCE’s security service says the Kremlin could launch “fake referendums” in the occupied territories in the south and east of the country on February 24, using “a worn book to steal from the darkest chapters in history.” . “These falsified, illegal referendums will undoubtedly be accompanied by a wave of abuses against those seeking to oppose or undermine Moscow’s plans,” the US mission said. There was no immediate Russian comment. The Morning and Afternoon Newsletters are compiled by Globe editors, giving you a brief overview of the day’s most important headlines. Register today.
