Russia confirms attack on kyiv in full visit of the UN Secretary General

Russia confirmed this Friday to have bombed the day before Kyiv with weapons ofhigh accuracy”, during the visit to the Ukrainian capital of the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.

Producer and journalist Vera Gyrych of the US-funded radio station Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty died in that attack after her home was hit by a missile.

Look: In the crossfire: journalists killed in the war in Ukraine

The Russian Defense Ministry said it launched an airstrike “high precision long range” against the workshops of the space and missile manufacturing company Artyom.

The first bombardment of the capital since mid-April came after Guterres visited Bucha, where dozens of bodies were found earlier this month after Russian troops withdrew, and other cities on the outskirts of kyiv.

the ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskydenounced the attack as an attempt to “humiliate the UN”.

AFP journalists saw a building on fire in a residential area, with a thick plume of black smoke escaping from broken windows.

“I heard the sound of two rockets and two explosions. It was a sound similar to that of an airplane in flight and then two explosions with an interval of three or four seconds.”, Oleksandr Stroganov, 34, told AFP.

A view shows residential buildings destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the city of Irpin, outside kyiv, Ukraine. (REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/)

More than 8,000 alleged war crimes

The UN secretary general condemned the kyiv attack and called on Moscow to “cooperate” with the International Criminal Court in order to “establish responsibilities” about the alleged crimes committed against civilians in Bucha.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova said that they have identified “more than 8,000 cases” of alleged war crimes.

He also pointed out that there is an ongoing investigation against ten Russian soldiers suspected of committing atrocities in Bucha, where dozens of bodies dressed as civilians were found after the withdrawal of troops from Moscow.

The facts under investigation, according to Venediktova, include “assassinations of civilians, bombing of civilian infrastructure, torture“, as well as “sexual crimes” denounced “in the occupied territory of Ukraine”.

Hours before the kyiv bombing, US President Joe Biden asked Congress for $33 billion in additional aid to support Ukraine against “the atrocities and aggressions” Russians.

“The cost of this fight is not cheap. But giving in to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen.”he claimed.

Biden said the United States would send 10 anti-tank weapons for every Russian tank, but Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mikola Olechchuk said the country’s anti-aircraft system is unable to hit bombers at high altitudes.

“We need medium and long-range anti-aircraft systems” and “modern fighters”, the soldier stated.

The United States criticized the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the next G20 summit of industrialized and emerging powers, scheduled for November on the Indonesian island of Bali.

“You cannot act as if nothing happened regarding Russia’s participation in the international community and international institutions,” State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter said.

The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, reported that he invited both Putin, who has already confirmed his participation, and Zelensky.

Bombing in Mariupol

Russia failed to take kyiv after invading Ukraine on February 24, but then concentrated its troops in the east and south of the country, around the port of Mariupol in particular, while continuing to bombard western and central areas with long-range missiles .

The authorities try to evacuate the civilians of Mariùpol, trapped in the gigantic Azovstal steel plant, where the last pockets of resistance are concentrated.

The Ukrainian Azov battalion indicated on Telegram that a military field hospital located in that industrial complex was bombed.

The operating room collapsed and soldiers being treated were killed or wounded, the report added, without giving a casualty count.

The Ukrainian government has admitted that Russian forces have captured several towns in the eastern Donbas region.

Ukrainian forces, armed by Western powers, also claimed some front-line victories.

A senior Pentagon official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Russian offensive is moving slowly, with “several days late” regarding the planned plan.

“They are far from having made the connection” between the troops that entered through the Kharkov region (east), to the north of that region, and those that come from the south of the country, he said.

In the Kharkov region, the Ukrainians claimed to have recaptured Ruska Lozova, a village “important for strategy” Russian.

So far, the conflict has forced 5.4 million Ukrainians to flee their country and more than 7.7 million have fled and are internally displaced, according to a UN estimate.

Source: Elcomercio