Moscow targets military factory in kyiv
A military equipment factory manufacturing tanks in particular was targeted on Saturday morning by a bombardment in Darnytsky, in the suburbs of kyiv, noted an AFP journalist.
This bombardment, claimed by Moscow and which left one dead and several injured according to the mayor of kyiv Vitali Klitschko, comes the day after the warning by Russian forces that they were going to intensify their attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
“High-precision, long-range air-to-surface weapons destroyed production buildings of an arms factory in kyiv,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Telegram.
On Friday, a Russian strike hit a factory in the kyiv region manufacturing Neptune missiles that the Ukrainian military claimed it used to hit the Russian cruiser Moskva.
Refinery hit in the east
Russian forces on Saturday struck an oil refinery in Lyssychansk, a town near the front line in eastern Ukraine, local authorities said.
“The Russians systematically target her to exhaust the rescuers. There is no fuel there. Only hydrocarbon residues are burning,” said the Ukrainian governor of the Lugansk region.
End of negotiations with Moscow if Ukrainian soldiers are “eliminated” in Mariupol: Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Saturday that the “elimination” of the last Ukrainian soldiers present in the port city of Mariupol besieged by Russian forces “would put an end to all peace negotiations” with Moscow.
“The elimination of our soldiers, of our men (in Mariupol) will put an end to any negotiation” of peace between Russia and Ukraine, declared Mr. Zelensky in remarks reproduced by the information website Ukraïnska Pravda, warning that the two sides would then find themselves in “an impasse”.
Moscow warns Washington of “consequences”
Russia sent a formal complaint to the United States this week warning the US government of “unforeseeable consequences” following its surge in military aid to Ukraine, according to news reports.
According to this diplomatic note, Moscow warns the United States and NATO against sending “more sensitive” weapons to Ukraine, judging that such military equipment put “fuel on the fire” and could provoke “unforeseeable consequences,” reported the Washington Post.
The warning came as US President Joe Biden pledged $800 million worth of new military aid to Ukraine, including helicopters and armored personnel carriers.
Boris Johnson banned from entering Russia
Russia announced on Saturday that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several other senior British officials were banned from entering the country in retaliation for sanctions imposed on Moscow over its military operation in Ukraine.
“This step was taken in response to the unbridled media and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally and creating the conditions for […] strangle the national economy,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Strikes and Evacuations
On the night of Friday to Saturday, the mayor of the city of Aleksandria, about 300 km southeast of kyiv, said on Facebook that a Russian missile had hit the airport of his city. He said that the rescue teams were at work but without immediately claiming any victims.
Ten people were killed, including a seven-month-old infant, and 35 others injured, in Russian fire on buses evacuating residents of the Kharkiv region (northeast), local authorities announced on Friday.