The Russians plan to take Bahmut by Tuesday, so they have stepped up their shelling.
Russia has launched a wave of large-scale attacks on Kiev and other parts of Ukraine, Ukrainian officials announced early this morning. as Moscow prepares to celebrate Victory Day marking the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. At least five people were injured in Russian attacks on Kiev, according to Ukrainian officials, Russian missiles set fire to a food warehouse in Odessa on the Black Sea, and explosions were reported in several other Ukrainian regions.
The new attacks come as Moscow prepares for a Victory Day military parade on Tuesday, a key anniversary of President Vladimir Putin invoking the spirit of the Soviet army that defeated the forces of Nazi Germany and declaring that Russia would defeat Ukraine, which was allegedly in the hands of neo-Nazis.
Ukrainians say the Russians want to take Bakhmut by Tuesday
Russia has stepped up shelling of Bakhmut, hoping to capture it by Tuesdaysaid Ukraine’s top general in charge of defending the besieged city, after Russian mercenary group Wagner abandoned plans to withdraw, according to the latest information.
Three people were injured in explosions in the Solomyan district of Kyiv, and two more were injured when the remains of an unmanned aerial vehicle fell on the Svyatoshyn area, both west of the capital’s center, Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said in a message.
The Kyiv military administration said that the wreckage of the drone fell on the runway of Zhuliany airport, one of the two passenger airports of the Ukrainian capital, without causing a fire, but emergency services were called to the scene.
It is also reported that debris from a drone hit a two-story building in the central Kyiv district of Shevchenkovsky, but there is no information on possible casualties so far. Reuters reported that numerous explosions were heard in Kiev and that local officials claim that air defense systems repel the attacks. It is not known how many drones were launched at Kiev.
Shelling across Ukraine
Sergei Brachuk, a spokesman for the military administration in Odessa, posted on his Telegram channel photos of a large building completely engulfed in flames in what he said was a Russian attack on a food warehouse. After air raid sirens echoed for hours over roughly two-thirds of Ukraine, media also reported explosions in the southern Kherson region and Zaporozhye in the southeast.
Vladimir Rogov, a Russian local official in Zaporozhye, said Russian forces hit a warehouse and a Ukrainian troop position in Orikhov, a small town in the region. Reuters could not independently verify this. Russian forces shelled eight locations in the Sum region of northeastern Ukraine on Sunday, the regional military administration announced on Facebook.
In the past two weeks, attacks have also intensified against Russian-held targets, particularly in Crimea. Ukraine, while not confirming any role in the attacks, says the destruction of enemy infrastructure is preparation for its long-awaited counteroffensive.
Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, calling it a “special military operation” to defend Russia against neo-Nazis in Ukraine, but Kiev and its allies say it was an unprovoked land grab. The invasion sparked the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II, killing thousands and forcing millions to flee the country.
(WORLD)