Poland on alert as western Ukraine, Kyiv hit by ‘huge’ Russian air assault | EUROtoday
Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and the western area of Lviv got here underneath a “massive” Russian air assault early Sunday, officers stated, and Polish forces have been additionally positioned on heightened readiness.
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Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a collection of lethal aerial assaults, with Sunday’s strikes additionally coming a day after the Russian navy stated it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske west of Bakhmut.
A militant assault on a Moscow live performance corridor on Friday that killed no less than 133 individuals additionally turned a brand new flashpoint between the 2 arch-rivals.
“Explosions in the capital. Air defence is working. Do not leave shelters,” Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko posted on Telegram on Sunday.
Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi stated Stryi district, south of town of Lviv, close to the Polish border, was additionally attacked.
Ukraine was earlier positioned underneath a nationwide air alert that warned of cruise missiles being launched from Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers. The alert was lifted about two hours later.
Sergiy Popko, head of the Kyiv metropolis navy administration, stated the missiles have been fired on the capital “in groups” within the third pre-dawn assault in 4 days.
Preliminary studies recommended there have been no casualties or injury, he stated, and town’s air defences had hit “about a dozen” missiles.
“The enemy continues massive missile terror against Ukraine,” Popko stated on Telegram. “It does not give up its goal of destroying Kyiv at any cost.”
US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink additionally famous the elevated frequency of current assaults.
For the third pre-dawn morning this week, all of Ukraine is underneath an air alert and has been suggested to hunt shelter. Russia continues to indiscriminately launch drones and missiles with no regard for thousands and thousands of civilians, violating worldwide regulation.
— Ambassador Bridget A. Brink (@USAmbKyiv) March 24, 2024
“Russia continues to indiscriminately launch drones and missiles with no regard for millions of civilians, violating international law,” Brink wrote on social media platform X.
Drones, missiles
In Lviv, Mayor Andriy Sadovy stated about 20 missiles and 7 Iranian-made Shahed drones have been fired on the area.
“They targeted critical infrastructure facilities,” Sadovy stated.
The Polish Armed Forces Operational Command (RSZ) stated its forces have been on a heightened state of readiness due to the “intensive long-range aviation activity of the Russian Federation tonight” and the missile assaults in Ukraine.
“All necessary procedures to ensure the security of Polish airspace have been activated and the RSZ is monitoring the situation continuously,” it stated.
Russia and Ukraine have elevated their air assaults in current weeks.
Kyiv, which has struggled to search out weapons and troopers after greater than two years of warfare, has promised to retaliate by taking the preventing to Russian soil.
Multiple air assaults Saturday on the Russian border area of Belgorod adjoining Ukraine killed two individuals and injured no less than seven, the regional governor stated.
Further east, a drone assault on the Samara area brought about a hearth at a serious oil refinery, the most recent in a collection of strikes towards Russia’s power business.
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram that two districts in his area, in addition to the regional capital, Belgorod, had been hit in drone and air assaults.
A person was killed when three balconies on an house constructing collapsed, Gladkov stated.
Russia stated later Saturday that it had repulsed a barrage of Ukrainian missiles fired on the metropolis of Sevastopol in Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
Sevastopol’s governor Mikhail Razvozhayev stated rocket fragments had killed a 65-year-old resident and 4 different individuals had been wounded.
“It was the biggest attack in recent times,” he stated.
Territorial beneficial properties
Moscow has escalated its personal strikes, firing dozens of missiles on Friday and launching dozens of explosive drones to destroy Ukraine’s power infrastructure.
Russian forces have additionally taken management of a string of frontline settlements in current weeks.
The seize final month of Adviivka, close to the Russian-held stronghold of Donetsk, was the primary main territorial acquire made by Russia for the reason that devastated metropolis of Bakhmut was seized 10 months in the past.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed that success as an indication that Russian forces are again on the offensive.
Putin has additionally sought to tie Kyiv to the Moscow live performance corridor assault, saying 4 “perpetrators” have been detained whereas travelling in direction of Ukraine.
Kyiv has strongly denied any involvement, saying that Russia was in search of excuses to step up the warfare.
The United States has stated it has seen no signal of Ukrainian involvement within the Crocus City Hall assault.
(AFP)
https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240324-poland-on-alert-as-western-ukraine-kyiv-hit-by-massive-russian-air-attack