(Paris) On the fifth day of the war in Ukraine, Kiev remains according to the Ukrainian authorities “the main objective” of the Russian forces, which also violently bombarded the second city of the country, Kharkiv, killing eleven civilians, according to the regional authorities.
Posted at 1:18 p.m.
Here is an update on the situation, built mainly on the Ukrainian declarations, Russia communicating very little about its offensive.
– Kiev: the Ukrainian capital remains “the main objective” of Russian troops, according to the Ukrainian Defense. According to the Ukrainian forces, the Russian army tried in the night of Sunday to Monday to storm the capital but the attacks were repelled, in particular in the locality of Slobojanski, south-east of Kiev.
– At least eleven people were killed in Russian bombardments on residential areas of Kharkiv, the regional governor announced on Monday, saying he feared “dozens of deaths”. According to a Western military source, Kharkiv is the scene of heavy fighting and “the Russians are hitting very hard and increasingly indiscriminately”.
The Russian army, for its part, assured that civilians could leave Kiev “freely” and accused the Ukrainian authorities of using them as “human shields”, raising the specter of a large-scale assault.
– Odessa: the battle is raging in the southwestern part of the Black Sea, around the ports of Odessa, Ochakiv and Chornomorsk, according to the statement from the Ukrainian army.
– Mariupol: according to Kiev, Russia is not giving up the attempt of a naval landing in the area of Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov. The capture of Mariupol would allow the Russian army to ensure territorial continuity as far as Crimea.
“Ukrainian troops are going to have problems because they are going to have the separatists of Donbass (East) facing them and behind them the Russians arriving from Crimea”, explains Olivier Kempf, associate researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research ( FRS).
– Also according to Kiev, Moscow launched up to thirty missiles and four airstrikes on Sunday, and in total around 180 Iskander missiles since the start of the offensive.
– Moscow for its part claims “air supremacy” over all of Ukraine after the destruction of the Ukrainian Buk M-1, S-300 systems and five combat aircraft.
– Russia also claims to have surrounded the city of Kherson (south, 290,000 inhabitants) and taken control of the city of Berdiansk, on the Sea of Azov, (110,000 inhabitants). The Russian army also claims to control “entirely the area surrounding the Zaporizhie nuclear power plant”, in the south-east.
– Military losses: Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky said on Monday that 4,500 Russian soldiers had been killed since the start of the offensive. Moscow admitted for the first time on Sunday to record human losses during the invasion, but without giving figures.
– Civilian casualties: since the beginning of the offensive, more than 350 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, including 14 children, according to Kiev.
“The Russian military campaign is becoming more and more brutal” according to the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell, who reported “many civilian casualties”
More than 500,000 civilians have fled the country to take refuge in neighboring countries, according to the UN.