Kyiv, Ukraine, April 30, 2022 (AFP) – Russia confirmed on Friday that it attacked the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, with “high-precision” weapons, during the visit of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The attack resulted in the death of a producer and journalist for the US government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty station after his home was hit by a missile.
Russia’s defense ministry said it had carried out a “high-precision long-range” airstrike on the Artyom space and missile manufacturing company’s facilities in Kiev.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack as an attempt to “humiliate the UN and everything that this organization stands for”.
Germany described the attack as “inhumane” and said it was a sign that Russian President Vladimir Putin “did not respect international law”.
The first bombing of the capital since mid-April came after Guterres visited Bucha and other cities on the outskirts of Kiev.
AFP journalists saw a burning building in a residential area of Kiev, with a dense column of black smoke from broken windows.
“I heard two rockets and two explosions. It sounded like a plane flying and then two explosions three or four seconds apart,” 34-year-old Oleksandr Stroganov told AFP.
– More than 8,000 war crimes allegations – The UN Secretary-General condemned the attack and urged Moscow to “cooperate” to “build responsibility” with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against civilians in Bucha.
“More than 8,000 cases of war crimes” have been identified, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Irina Venicetova told Deutsche Welle.
In addition, he said there is an ongoing investigation into ten Russian soldiers suspected of committing atrocities in Bucha, where dozens of bodies in plain clothes were found following the withdrawal of troops from Moscow.
Facts investigated include “killing of civilians, bombing of civilian infrastructure, torture” and “sex crimes” reported in “occupied Ukrainian territory”, according to Venicetova.
US Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “immorality” and questioned whether someone with an “ethical and moral sense” could justify bombing hospitals and extrajudicial killings of the innocent.
Hours before the Kyiv bombing, US President Joe Biden asked Congress for an additional $33 billion in aid to support Ukraine against Russian “brutality and aggression.”
“The price of this struggle is not cheap. But surrendering to aggression will be more expensive,” said the American president.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US wanted the war to end as soon as possible, but US military aid would extend beyond October.
– Diplomatic warfare in the G20 – The US has criticized Putin’s presence at the next G20 summit of industrialized and emerging powers, scheduled for November on the Indonesian island of Bali.
“We cannot pretend that nothing is happening regarding Russia’s participation in the international community and international institutions,” said Jalina Porter, Deputy Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he invited Putin, who confirmed his presence, as well as Zelensky.
– Bombing in Mariupol – Russia has not been able to capture Kiev since it began invading Ukraine on February 24, but has bombarded areas with long-range missiles while concentrating its troops in the east and south of the country, especially around Mariupol. in the west and in the centre.
Authorities are trying to evacuate civilians from Mariupol, which is trapped in the huge steelworks in Azovstal, where the last cores of resistance are concentrated.
The Ukrainian Azov battalion said in Telegram that a military field hospital located in the industrial complex was bombed.
The operating room collapsed and the soldiers receiving treatment died or were injured, but without giving the right balance. Meanwhile, Kyiv admitted that Russian forces had captured several towns in the eastern Donbass region.
AFP heard strong explosions with constant explosions in Azovstal during a press visit by the Russian army in Mariupol’s bombed-out port area on Friday.
The Ukrainian government admitted that Russian forces captured several towns in the eastern Donbass region.
Ukrainian forces, armed by the Western powers, also claimed some frontal victories.
A senior Pentagon official, who asked not to be named, said the Russian offensive was progressing slowly “a few days behind schedule” from the original estimate.
“They are far from establishing the link,” he said, between the troops entering the Kharkov region (east) and those arriving from the south of the country.
In the Kharkov region, the Ukrainians claimed to have recaptured Ruska Lozova, a city “important for Russian strategy”.
At a time when the International Organization for Migration (IOM) started, the conflict has so far forced 5.4 million Ukrainians to leave their country, with more than 7.7 million people leaving their homes without crossing the border, according to a UN estimate. $514 million aid request
burx-uh-bds/am/ob/dbh-an/mar/aa
source: Noticias
