Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) – Outraged by what it calls Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory, and after the stunning loss of its flagship in the Black Sea, Moscow has threatened new missile attacks on Kyiv, where authorities say the bodies of more than 900 civilians have been found. outside capital. Most were shot, police said, and probably “just executed.”
Russian forces have prepared for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine, and fighting has continued in the shattered southern port city of Mariupol, where locals say they have seen Russian troops dig up bodies. In the northeastern city of Kharkov, a shelling of a residential area killed seven people, including a 7-month-old child, and injured 34, according to District Governor Oleg Sinehubov.
Early on Saturday, Kyiv’s eastern Darnytskyi district was hit, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said in an online post. He said rescuers and paramedics were on the scene. He warned residents fleeing the capital not to return for their safety.
In the cities around Kyiv, said Andriy Nebitov, who heads the region’s police, bodies have been abandoned on the streets or temporarily buried. He quoted police as saying that 95% had died from gunshot wounds.
“Therefore, we understand that during the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets,” Nebitov said.
More and more bodies are being found every day under rubble and in mass graves, he added, with the largest number found in Bucha, more than 350. According to Nebitov, utility workers have collected and buried bodies in the Kyiv suburbs while it remains below. Russian control. Russian troops, he added, have “tracked” people who express strong pro-Ukrainian views.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has accused Russian troops occupying parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions in the south of terrorizing civilians and persecuting anyone who has served in Ukraine’s army or government.
“The occupiers think it will be easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. They are deluding themselves, “Zelenski said in his evening video address. “Russia’s problem is that it has not been accepted – and will never be accepted – by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia lost Ukraine forever.
Officials estimate that 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died in the war, Zelensky said in an interview with CNN. He said about 10,000 were injured and it was “difficult to say how many will survive”.
More violence can be expected for Kyiv after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of injuring seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings by air strikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another Russian border region also announced Ukrainian shelling on Thursday.
“The number and scale of missile attacks on sites in Kyiv will increase in response to the Kiev nationalist regime, which carries out all kinds of terrorist attacks or sabotage on Russian territory,” said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
Russia is using missiles to destroy a facility to repair and manufacture missile systems in Kyiv, Konashenkov said. Ukrainian state-owned arms manufacturer Ukroboronprom said Russian forces had struck one of the missile shops at the Vizar plant near Kiev’s Zhulyani airport.
Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed that any targets have been struck in Russia, and the reports cannot be independently verified.
However, Ukrainian authorities said the forces had fired missiles at a key Russian warship. A senior U.S. defense official has backed the claim, saying the United States now believes Moscow was hit by at least one Neptune anti-ship missile, and possibly two. The officer speaks on condition of anonymity to discuss an intelligence assessment.
Moscow, named after the Russian capital, sank while being towed to the port on Thursday after severe damage. Moscow did not admit to the attack, saying only that the fire detonated ammunition on board. The loss of the ship was an important victory for Ukraine and a symbolic defeat for Russia.
The sinking reduced Russia’s firepower in the Black Sea and appears to symbolize Moscow’s wealth in an eight-week invasion widely seen as a historic mistake following Russia’s withdrawal from the Kyiv region and much of northern Ukraine.
“The flagship Russian warship is a worthy place to dive. We already have another place to dive in the Black Sea. We will definitely visit the remains after our victory in the war, “Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov tweeted.
Russia’s warning of renewed air strikes has not prevented Kyiv residents from taking advantage of a sunny and slightly warmer spring Friday as the weekend draws to a close. More people than usual were on the street, walking dogs, riding electric scooters and walking hand in hand.
Such 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, leaving behind evidence of possible war crimes. But the renewed bombing could mean a return to the steady howls of air raid sirens heard in the early days of the invasion and to the dreaded nights hidden in subway stations.
In Mariupol, the city council said on Friday that locals said they had seen Russian soldiers dig up bodies buried in residential yards and prevent new burials of “people killed by them”.
“Why the exhumation is taking place and where the bodies will be taken is unknown,” the council told the Telegram news app.
Fighting continued in industrial zones and the port, and Russia is using a Tu-22M3 long-range bomber for the first time to attack the city, said Alexander Motuzyanik, a spokesman for Ukraine’s defense ministry.
Mariupol has been blocked by Russian forces since the first days of the invasion, and a dwindling number of Ukrainian defenders have opposed a siege that has cost the horrific cost of trapped and starving civilians.
This week, the mayor said the death toll in the city could exceed 20,000. Other Ukrainian officials said they expected to find evidence in Mariupol of atrocities such as those found in Bucha and other cities outside Kyiv.
The capture of Mariupol will allow Russian forces in the south, which have risen through the annexed Crimean peninsula, to connect fully with troops in the Donbass region, Ukraine’s eastern industrial center and the target of the impending offensive.
It is uncertain when Russia will launch a full-scale campaign.
Also Friday, a Russian rocket struck an airport in the central city of Alexandria at night, Mayor Sergei Kuzmenko said on Facebook. He did not mention any casualties.
A Ukrainian regional envoy said seven people were killed and 27 wounded when Russian forces fired on civilian buses in the village of Borovaya, near Kharkiv. The claim cannot be verified independently.
Dmitry Chubenko, a spokesman for the district prosecutor’s office, told the news website Suspilne that authorities had launched criminal proceedings on suspicion of “violation of the laws or customs of war combined with premeditated murder.”
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Fish reported from Kramatorsk. Burns reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
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