A day after Russia lost its flagship missile cruiser, Moscow, its defense ministry threatened Ukraine with intensified attacks and said it had hit a factory to produce anti-ship missiles on the outskirts of Kyiv.
“High-precision long-range missiles at the Caliber naval base attacked a military facility on the outskirts of Kyiv,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
“As a result of the attack on the Zhulyanski Vizar machine-building plant, workshops for the production and repair of long-range and medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as anti-ship missiles, were destroyed,” he added. .
“The number and scale of missile attacks on sites in Kyiv will increase,” he said.
Witnesses report some of the most powerful explosions in the capital since Russian forces withdrew from the area two weeks ago.
This came after Ukraine claimed responsibility for sinking Moscow’s leading missile cruiser, Moscow, by targeting it with two anti-ship missiles.
The Pentagon said it believed Ukrainian missiles had struck the ship, Russia’s largest ship in its Black Sea fleet, equipped with guided missiles to attack and shoot down planes and a radar to provide cover for the navy’s air defenses.
Russia’s Defense Ministry has admitted that Moscow sank, but said it fell while being towed to the port after a fire and explosions in stormy seas. More than 500 crew members were evacuated, he added.
(Reuters)
A Russian state television presenter said Vladimir Putin’s “special operation” in Ukraine was taking longer than expected because Moscow had entered World War III against NATO.
Host Olga Skabeeva called on Russia 1 viewers to “acknowledge” that the country is now “fighting against NATO’s infrastructure, if not against NATO itself.”
“What is escalating can clearly be called World War III,” she said.
Separately, police said more than 900 civilian bodies were found in the region around the Ukrainian capital after the withdrawal of Russian forces – most of whom were fatally shot.
Andriy Nebitov, head of the regional police in Kyiv, said the bodies had been abandoned on the streets or temporarily buried. He quoted police as saying that 95 percent had died from gunshot wounds.
“Therefore, we understand that under [Russian] occupation, people were just executed on the streets, “said Mr Nebitov.
More and more bodies are being found every day, under rubble and in mass graves, he added.
“The highest number of victims was found in Bucha, where there are more than 350 bodies,” he said.
Russia has also accused Ukraine of airstrikes on apartment buildings in Bryansk, a Russian region bordering Ukraine, and allegedly injured seven people.
In Kyiv, the renewed bombing could mean a return to the steady howls of air raid sirens heard during the first days of the invasion and the dreaded shelter nights at subway stations. Incredible signs of pre-war life reappeared in the capital after Russian troops failed to capture the city and withdrew to focus on eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed that any targets have been struck in Russia, and the reports cannot be independently verified.
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