Once again, residents in Kiev are in panic, after new explosions occurred in the southern suburbs a few hours after the missile attack in the centre of the Ukrainian capital at dawn. So far there is no further information on the new explosions. Explosions were also heard today in the city of Cherkassy in central Ukraine, the governor of the homonymous region, Oleksandr Skitsko, said in a message on the Telegram app, without giving further details.
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has inspected units of Russian troops involved in the war in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said, though it was not known whether he was visiting Ukraine for the first time.
Cherkassy has largely been spared from bombing since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February.
Five wounded
At least five people were wounded in the early morning by a Russian missile attack near central Kiev, Ukraine's police chief Ihor Klimenko told national television network.
A housing complex near the centre of the Ukrainian capital, which had been spared Russian strikes since early June, was hit early this morning by a new Russian bombardment, AFP reporters noted.
At least 4 people have been hospitalized, Kiev mayor Vitaly Klitschko said in a message on the Telegram app a short time earlier, stressing that there are still people trapped in the rubble, meaning the toll could rise.
Just before the NATO summit
It is being done "to intimidate Ukrainians (...) as the NATO summit approaches," Klitschko, who went to the affected site a few days before the Atlantic Alliance summit on the 28th and 30th in Madrid, also noted in statements to reporters.
Four explosions were heard around 06:30 (and local time) in Kiev, half an hour after anti-aircraft defence sirens sounded in the Ukrainian capital.
A 7-year-old girl was rescued from the rubble, the mayor added. "She is alive and rescue teams are now trying to save her mum," he continued."
An AFP team who went there saw the last three floors of the building on fire and its stairwell completely destroyed, while police cordoned off the district.
"A missile was shot down by anti-aircraft defenses in the Kiev region, its fragments fell on a village," the governor of the Kiev region, Oleksi Kuleba, also noted in a Telegram message.
"Our military are doing everything they can to prevent attacks against our city."
"Our military are doing everything they can to prevent attacks on our city. But unfortunately we cannot guarantee 100% security in Kiev or elsewhere in Ukraine as long as this attack continues," Klitschko stressed for his part.
14 missiles fell in Kiev this morning
At the same time, Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Gocharenko announced on Telegram that the Russians fired 14 missiles at Kiev and its region this morning.
In the area of the attack, many residents had come down from buildings and many were crying. "This is the third time they have bombed here. I woke up to the first explosion, went out on the balcony and saw missiles falling and heard a huge explosion and everything started vibrating," said Yuri, a 38-year-old resident of the area.
"Four missiles have fallen since 06:30," also said Edward Tskuta, who lives nearby. One building "was hit directly on the top floors and I saw with my own eyes wounded people coming out" from inside, he recounted.
A previous Russian strike in early June had targeted a factory on the outskirts of Kiev and injured one man.
In late April another Russian bombing had hit the same residential complex in the capital during a visit by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. A Ukrainian journalist from Radio Liberty was then killed in her apartment.
G7 summit
The new Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital came hours before the start of a three-day G7 summit in southern Germany, where the issue of Ukraine will be discussed, and as Russia makes progress in its conquest of Donbass.
The annual meeting of the leaders of the Group of Seven developed nations, including US President Joe Biden, begins today at 13:00 GMT in the Bavarian Alps.
Biden arrived in Europe yesterday, Saturday evening, with the aim of strengthening the ranks of the West against Moscow in the long term.
In addition to the G7 summit at which aid to Ukraine will be discussed, the US president will also travel from Tuesday to Madrid for the NATO summit.
Fifth month of war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last night that he plans to attend the G7 summit, noting that the conflict has entered its fifth month. He is expected to address the leaders of the world's seven most industrialised countries (the US, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and France) by teleconference on Monday and call again for heavy weapons to help his country counter Russian fire.
"This is such a stage in the war - morally difficult, emotionally difficult. (...) It is not just about the destruction of our infrastructure, it is also about cynical, calculated pressure on the feelings of the population," he noted. But "no Russian missile or bombing will break the morale of Ukrainians."
Zelensky again appealed for increased Western aid in arms and anti-aircraft systems, deeming the sanctions insufficient.
In Severonetsk
As the war enters its fifth month, Russian forces secured major military successes in eastern Ukraine yesterday, taking complete control, after fierce fighting, of the strategic city of Severonetsk and penetrating its neighbouring city of Lysychansk.
Severodonetsk has been completely taken over by the Russians, its mayor Oleksandr Stryuk acknowledged yesterday afternoon, the day after the Ukrainian army announced its withdrawal from this town, which numbered 100.000 inhabitants before the war, to better defend Lysychansk, which is located on the opposite bank of the Donets River.
The governor of the Luhansk region, Sherhiy Haidai, confirmed last night the occupation of Severodonetsk, stressing that the city had been "90% destroyed. It will be very difficult to survive there." According to him, the Russians have appointed a "commander" for this city and therefore it is not possible to escape "except by crossing the occupied territories."
Meanwhile, in the Ukrainian south, the Russian Defense Ministry announced yesterday that "more than 300 Ukrainian military and foreign mercenaries and 35 heavy weapons units (...) were eliminated in one day in the Mikolayev region."
The Russian operational command in the southern region announced overnight that the Russians were continuing their "defensive actions" by increasing the intensity of strikes, but "without targeting new targets".
At the same time in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city in the northeast, which has been resisting pressure from Russian troops since the start of the Russian invasion, rockets are again hitting the city center daily.
Source: in.gr
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