Ukraine war far from over as Russia renews strikes in Kyiv
Kyiv (Ukraine): Russian forces resumed scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat despite Russia's pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.
Stung by the loss of its Black Sea flagship and indignant over what it alleged were Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory, Russia's military command had warned a day earlier of renewed attacks on Ukraine's capital and said it was targeting military sites.
Associated Press reporters documented civilian deaths in strikes this week on the eastern city of Kharkiv, and each day brings new discoveries of civilian victims in a war that has shattered European security. In the Kyiv region alone, Ukrainian authorities have reported finding the bodies of more than 900 civilians, most shot dead, after Russian troops retreated two weeks ago.
Smoke rose early Saturday from eastern Kyiv as Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported a strike on the the city's Darnytski district. He said rescuers and paramedics were at the scene, and information about possible deaths would be provided later. The mayor advised residents who fled the city earlier in the war not to return for their safety.
It was not immediately clear from the ground what was hit in the attack. Darnytskyi is a sprawling district on the southeastern edge of the capital, containing a mixture of Soviet-style apartment blocks, newer shipping centers and big-box retail outlets, industrial areas and railyards.
The spokesman for Russia's Defense Ministry said Russian forces used air-launched high-precision long-range weapons to target an armored vehicle plant in Kyiv. He didn't specify where exactly the plant in Kyiv is located, but there is one in the Darnytskyi district.
It was the second strike in the Kyiv area in two days. Another hit a missile plant on Friday as tentative signs of prewar life began to resurface in the capital after Russian troops failed to capture the city and withdrew to concentrate on lauching a full-scale assault in eastern Ukraine.
Kyiv was not the only target Saturday. In eastern Ukraine, an explosion believed to be caused by a missile struck Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, according to firefighters and AP journalists at the scene.
The strike near an outdoor market along with residential and industrial buildings killed one person and wounded at least 18, according to rescue workers who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information
Meanwhile, the governor of the Lviv region in western Ukraine far from the Russian border and an area long seen as a safe zone reported airstrikes on the region by Russian Su-35 aircraft that took off from neighbouring Belarus. Maksym Kozytskyy didn't provide details about possible casualties or damage.
Fighting continued in the pummeled southern port city of Mariupol, where locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies. In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, the shelling of a residential area killed seven
people, including a 7-month-old child, and wounded 34, according to regional Gov. Oleh Sinehubov.
