The head of the United Nations said on Thursday that Ukraine has become “an epicentre of unbearable heartache and pain” — a description …
The head of the United Nations said on Thursday that Ukraine has become “an epicentre of unbearable heartache and pain” — a description underscored a short time later by the first Russian strike on the capital since Moscow’s forces retreated weeks ago.
Russia pounded targets all over Ukraine on Thursday. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities also reported intense Russian fire in the Donbas — the eastern industrial heartland that the Kremlin says is its main objective in the fighting.
Read about Friday’s events as they unfolded in our blog below.
Russia launches wave of missile attacks on Ukraine on Thursday evening, including on the capital, Kyiv.
This came barely an hour after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a news conference with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who said Ukraine has become “an epicentre of unbearable heartache and pain.”
Donbas subjected to “intense fire” over the past 24 hours
Ukraine’s military said that Russian troops were subjecting several places in the Donbas to “intense fire” and that over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian forces had repelled six attacks in the region, according to the Associated Press.
Four civilians were killed in heavy shelling of residential areas in the Luhansk region of the Donbas, according to the regional governor. Meanwhile, columns of smoke could be seen rising at different points across the Donetsk region of the Donbas, and artillery and sirens were heard on and off.
Many of the Russian troops who were in Mariupol have been leaving and moving to the northwest, a senior US defence official said Thursday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the US military assessment, didn’t have exact numbers but said a “significant number” of the roughly one dozen battalion tactical groups that were in the city were moving out.
Russian forces are making slow, incremental progress in the Donbas — gaining only several kilometres on any given day, the official said. As of Thursday, Russia had launched about 1,900 missiles into Ukraine – the vast majority fired from outside Ukraine’s borders. Most are strikes on Mariupol and the Donbas.
Biden signs new request to US Congress for more Ukrainian assistance
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden said he had signed a request to Congress for critical security, economic, and humanitarian assistance to help Ukraine continue to “counter Putin’s aggression” at what he described as a “very pivotal moment”.
“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. “We either back the Ukrainian people as they defend their country or we stand by as the Russians continue their atrocities and aggression in Ukraine.”
Russia launches wave of missile attacks, including on the capital, Kyiv
Russia pounded targets from practically one end of Ukraine to the other Thursday, including Kyiv, bombarding the city while the head of the United Nations was visiting in the boldest attack on the capital since Moscow’s forces retreated weeks ago.
Ukrainian emergency services said 10 people were wounded when a Russian missile hit a 25-story apartment building in Kyiv on Thursday evening and set off a fire, which partially destroyed the first and second floors.
The bombardment came barely an hour after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a news conference with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who said Ukraine has become “an epicentre of unbearable heartache and pain.”
A spokesperson said Guterres and his team were safe.
Meanwhile, explosions were reported across the country — in Polonne in the west, Chernihiv near the border with Belarus, and Fastiv, a large railway hub southwest of the capital.
The mayor of Odesa, in southern Ukraine, said rockets were intercepted by air defences.
(AP)
