Russian strikes hit Ukrainian capital and Lviv outskirts
Russian troops Friday continued to rain lethal fire on Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, and pounded an aircraft repair installation on the outskirts of Lviv, close to the Polish border.
One person was reported killed in the missile attack near Lviv. Satellite photos showed the strike destroyed a repair hangar and appeared to damage two other buildings. A row of fighter jets appeared intact, but an apparent impact crater sat in front of them.
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Ukraine said it had shot down two of six missiles in the volley, which came from the Black Sea.
The early morning attack was the closest strike yet to the centre of Lviv, which has become a crossroads for people fleeing from other parts of Ukraine and for others entering to deliver aid or join the fight. The war has swelled the city’s population some 200,000.
In city after city around Ukraine, hospitals, schools and buildings where people sought safety have been attacked. Rescue workers continued to search for survivors in the ruins of a theatre that was being used as a shelter when it was blasted a Russian airstrike Wednesday in the besieged southern city of Mariupol.
Ludmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian Parliament’s human rights commissioner, said at least 130 people had survived the theater bombing.“But according to our data, there are still more than 1,300 people in these basements, in this bomb shelter,” Denisova told Ukrainian television. “We pray that they will all be alive, but so far there is no information about them.”
The Russian defence minry said it was “tightening the noose” around Mariupol.
Early morning barrages also hit a residential building in the Podil neighbourhood of Kyiv, killing at least one person, according to emergency services, who said 98 people were evacuated from the building. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 19 were wounded in the shelling.
Two others were killed when strikes hit residential and adminrative buildings in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, according to the regional governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared at a huge flag-waving rally at a Moscow stadium Friday and lavished praise on his troops fighting in Ukraine, three weeks into the invasion that has led to heavier-than-expected Russian losses on the battlefield and increasingly authoritarian rule at home.
Meanwhile, the leader of Russia’s delegation in diplomatic talks with Ukraine said the sides have narrowed their differences. The Ukrainian side gave no immediate account of the talks.
Also on Friday, US President Joe Biden sought to prevent Beijing giving new life to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a video call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
The fighting has led nearly 3.3 million people to flee Ukraine, the UN’s estimate. The death toll remains unclear, though thousands of civilians and soldiers on both sides are believed to have been killed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s defences have proved much stronger than expected, and Russia “didn’t know what we had for defence or how we prepared to meet the blow.”
World leaders have demanded Russia be investigated for possible war crimes over its attacks on civilians. The World Health Organisation said it has confirmed 43 attacks on hospitals and other health care facilities, with 12 people killed.
Both Ukraine and Russia this week reported some progress in negotiations. Earlier this week, an official in Zelenskyy’s office, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks, told The Associated Press that Ukraine was prepared to discuss a neutral status for the country in return, in part, for binding security guarantees.
Russia has demanded NATO pledge never to admit Ukraine to the alliance or station forces there.
