Kyiv / Seriifka, Ukraine — An explosion occurred in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, where Russian missiles crashed into apartments and shopping malls in other cities at the end of the week, killing dozens of people, the mayor said.
An air raid siren rang in the Mykolaiv area, adjacent to Odesa’s important Black Sea harbor.
“There is a powerful explosion in the city! Stay in the shelter!” Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych writes about the Telegram messaging app.
Russia said it struck a military command post in the area on Saturday, but the cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. Reuters was unable to validate the report on its own.
Kyiv deliberately vacated civilian locations while Moscow intensified missile attacks on targets far from the front lines, Russian troops regained profits on the eastern battlefield, and artillery attacked urban areas. Say you attacked.
Russia says it is targeting military installations and denies targeting civilians. “Russian troops are not cooperating with civilian targets,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
The Russian Ministry of Defense destroyed Ukrainian garrison in Mykolaiv and eastern Donbas with high-precision weapons on Saturday, attacking other military sites in southern Zaporizhia and northern Kharkiv, Russian news outlets reported.
President Putin met the Indonesian president on Thursday and spoke to the Indian Prime Minister on the phone on Friday, promising both major food importers that Russia would continue to supply grain.
As the missiles attacked the Ukrainian city, Russian troops in the east slowly went to the ground and dropped the Ukrainian shells fighting to hold the center of the city. Moscow aims to expel Ukraine from the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk, which make up the industrial area known as Donbus.
Moscow was on the verge of occupying Luhansk Oblast since it occupied the city of Sieviero Donetsk last week after the fierce battle of the war.
The last Ukrainian fortress in Luhansk is Lysychans’k, which is likely to be surrounded by Russian artillery.
Governor Donetsk said four civilians were killed in the bombardment and 12 were injured on Friday.
Ukrainian troops reported extensive Russian bombardment on Friday, including the northern location of Kharkiv and Ukraine on the border between Smy and Chernihiv.
Zelenskyy said more weapons are needed in eastern and southern Ukraine. The United States said it is sending two NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems, four additional counter-battery radars, and ammunition in its latest shipment.
By Pavel Polityuk and Iryna Nazarchuk
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