War in Ukraine, Day 102 | New strikes on Kyiv, Putin threatens to hit other targets

(Kyiv) Several Russian strikes targeted Kyiv on Sunday at dawn, the first since the end of April, Vladimir Putin threatening to strike new targets if the West provides long-range missiles to Ukraine.

In the east of the country, intense fighting is taking place for the control of the strategic city of Severodonestk, where each side has claimed to be making progress over the past few days.

Several explosions took place at dawn in the southeast of the Ukrainian capital, in the districts of Darnytsky and Dniprovsky, and an injured person was hospitalized, according to the mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko and witnesses.

“I heard about six explosions at 5:57 a.m.,” Natalia, 72, who was awakened by the shelling, told AFP.

According to AFP journalists on the spot, the army has installed a security corridor around a target prohibited from access, a railway infrastructure. A 10-storey pink building had all its windows smashed.

“The aggressor continues to launch missiles and conduct airstrikes on the military and civilian infrastructure of our country, especially in Kyiv,” the Ukrainian army general staff wrote on its Facebook page.

According to the Ukrainian air force, several cruise missiles were fired in the direction of Kyiv by Russian TU-95 planes based in the Caspian Sea, one of which was destroyed.

Railway infrastructure was targeted, according to various Ukrainian sources, including the Ukrzaliznytsia railway company.

Moscow claimed to have destroyed tanks delivered by Eastern European countries.

“High-precision, long-range missiles fired […] on the outskirts of Kyiv destroyed T-72 tanks supplied by Eastern European countries and other armored vehicles that were in hangars,” said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

The Ukrainian company Energoatom, which manages the country’s nuclear power plants, for its part, declared that a missile had flown at an “extremely low level above the Pivdenno-Ukrainska power plant”, in the Mykolaiv region (South), denouncing ” an act of nuclear terrorism”. “This missile was probably fired in the direction of Kyiv,” according to Energoatom.

The capital, around which the Russian noose had loosened at the end of March / beginning of April, had not been hit since April 28, the day of the visit of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

“Prolonging the conflict”

Shortly after these bombings, the Russian president warned that Moscow would strike new targets if the West supplied long-range missiles to Ukraine, which he said was aimed at “prolonging the conflict”.

In the event of such deliveries, Russia would hit “sites that we have not targeted so far”, Putin told the Rossiya-1 TV channel, without further details.

These statements come days after the United States announced its decision to deliver Himars multiple rocket launchers with a range of about 80 km to Ukraine.

Military experts point out that this range is slightly greater than that of similar Russian systems, which would allow Kyiv forces to strike enemy artillery from out of reach.

Crucial fights in Sievierodonetsk

Meanwhile in eastern Ukraine, crucial fighting continued in Sievierodonetsk, the heart of the Russian offensive in the Donbass mining basin. This eastern region has been under the partial control of pro-Russian separatists since 2014 and Moscow hopes to conquer it in full.

Over the past few hours, each side has claimed progress in Severodonestk, the Ukrainian administrative capital of the Luhansk region.

“The Russians controlled about 70% of the city, but in the last two days they were pushed back. The city is divided in two, they are afraid to move freely there, “said Sunday morning on Telegram Serguiï Gaïdaï, the Ukrainian governor of the region.

Earlier Saturday, the mayor of the city Olexandre Striouk had assured that “our soldiers have managed to redeploy, to build a line of defense. Currently, we are doing what is necessary to restore full control” of the city, in particular through “street fights”.

But conversely, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that Ukrainian units “having suffered critical losses during the fighting for Sievierodonetsk [jusqu’à 90 % dans plusieurs unités] retreated towards Lyssytchansk, the large neighboring town.

For the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the dynamic has changed and now Ukrainian forces are “successfully slowing down […] the Russian assaults on Sievierodonetsk through careful and effective local counter-attacks”.

Fights on other fronts

Fighting continues on other fronts as well. According to the Ukrainian Defense Minister, “Russia continues to make efforts to occupy our entire state”. The Kremlin dreams, assured Oleksiï Reznikov, of “gathering the lands” which it considers “its”, including “Poland, the Baltic countries, Slovakia and others”.

Crimea, Donbass, southern Ukraine: in total, Russia has tripled since the start of the invasion, the area of ​​Ukrainian territory under its control reaching 125,000 km², or 20% of the country, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In the region of Kherson, in the South, Moscow “continues to bombard the occupied territories and the positions of the Ukrainian army”, announced the presidency, which fears a humanitarian crisis in the zones in the hands of the Russians.

“Question of Survival”

On the diplomatic front, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs had replied on Saturday to French President Emmanuel Macron who, the day before, repeated that it was not necessary “to humiliate Russia” to preserve diplomatic exit doors.

“We all better focus on how to put Russia in its place. This will bring peace and save lives”, retorted Dmytro Kouleba, believing that Mr. Macron’s position can only “humiliate France”.

At the same time, the USS Kearsarge was taking up residence in Stockholm. It is the largest American warship ever to anchor in the port of the Swedish capital.

“It is important for us, the United States, as well as for the other NATO countries, to show our solidarity with Finland and Sweden,” said General Mark Milley, the American chief of staff. , ahead of annual NATO naval exercises in the Baltic Sea.

Sunday evening, on the lawn of Cardiff, the Ukrainians will try to win another victory, the one that would qualify the national team for the World Cup.

“We all understood that the game against Wales will not be about fitness or tactics, but about survival. Everyone will fight for this and give everything, ”explained defender Oleksandre Zinchenko, as if to better unite with the Ukrainian soldiers, failing to be able to fight alongside them.