Putin launches fresh airstrikes on Kyiv during UN Secretary General's visit
Russia launched two missile strikes on Kyiv during a visit by UN Secretary General this evening.
The fresh attack comes after Putin’s forces withdrew from the capital after failing to take it weeks on from launching his failing invasion.
One of the blasts hit the lower floor of a residential building in the central Shevchenko district, injuring at least three people, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
The three injured are currently being treated for their wounds in hospital, Klitschko added.
Ukraine blamed Moscow for the strikes, though the cause has not been verified.
Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said: ‘By this heinous act of barbarism Russia demonstrates once again its attitude towards Ukraine, Europe and the world.’
Oleksii Reznikov, the Ukrainian defence minister, also condemned the missile strikes, writing: ‘This is an attack on the security of the Secretary General and on world security!’
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Guterres told Portuguese broadcaster RTP when asked about the blasts: ‘There was an attack on Kyiv…it shocked me, not because I’m here but because Kyiv is a sacred city for Ukrainians and Russians alike.’
Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the blasts were ‘proof that we need a quick victory over Russia…We must act quickly – more weapons, more humanitarian efforts…because every day Ukraine pays a high price for the protection of democracy and freedom.’
Ater being beaten back in efforts to capture Kyiv in the north, Russia has shifted forces hundreds of miles eastward to capture two provinces in a battle the West believe may prove a decisive turning point in the war.
Russian forces are now entrenched in the east, where Moscow-backed separatists have held some territory since 2014, and also hold a swathe of the south they seized in March.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is understood to see the war as a long haul, expecting that it could realistically last up to five years – or even as long as a decade.
In a major speech yesterday, she called for Russia’s invasion to be a catalyst for the West’s approach to international security to be completely overhauled.
The fresh attacks on Kyiv come as Putin ramps up his nuclear threats to the west.
Russian state TV has said the possibility of nuclear war is more likely than Vladimir Putin losing the conflict, with one mouthpiece for the Kremlin saying: ‘We’re all going to die someday.’
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The chilling prediction came after Putin gave a lengthy speech vowing a ‘lightning fast’ response to anyone who threatens Russia.
It was seen as a reference to Moscow’s new Sarmat 2 nuclear missile which was tested for the first time just days ago and could be capable of destroying an area twice the size of Britain.
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