Ukrainian navy chief guarantees revenge as Kyiv hit by intense drone strikes
T
he head of Ukraine’s navy intelligence has promised revenge after Russian missiles and drones pummelled Kyiv on Monday morning, the most recent in quite a lot of assaults on the capital.
Russian forces fired 11 ballistic and cruise missiles at Kyiv about 11.30am on Monday, forcing locals to depart work and take shelter in metro stations.
The head of Ukraine’s navy intelligence, General Kyrylo Budanov, warned of a swift response to the assaults.
“All those who tried to intimidate us, dreaming that it would have some effect, you will regret it very soon,” he said in a statement published by Ukraine’s intelligence ministry.
“Our answer will not be long.”
Ukrainian officials said all the missiles were shot down and there are no reports of deaths.
A petrol station heavily damaged by an aerial bomb during a Russian air strike
/ via REUTERSThe mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said one person had been hospitalised after a strike on the Podilskyi district and urged residents to stay indoors.
Debris from the intercepted missiles fell in Kyiv’s central and northern districts during the morning, landing in the middle of traffic on a city road and also starting a fire on a building’s roof, the Kyiv military administration said.
The blasts unnerved some locals, already under strain after being awakened by the night attack.
Workers at a site where debris fell during Monday’s Russian attack
/ Getty Images“After what happened last night, I react sharply to every siren now. I was terrified, and I’m still trembling,” shared Alina Ksenofontova, a 50-year-old woman who took refuge in the Kyiv subway with her dog Bublik.
Russia used Iskander short-range missiles in the morning attack, the spokesman for Ukraine’s air force said on local television.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it launched a series of strikes on Monday targeting Ukrainian air bases with precision long-range air-launched missiles. The strikes destroyed command posts, radars, aircraft and ammunition stockpiles, it claimed. It did not comment on hitting cities or other civilian areas.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned against indifference, saying the repeated strikes on civilian areas amounted to “war crimes.”
“Russia’s drone and missile attacks on peaceful Ukrainian cities cannot be seen as usual, no matter how frequent they grow,” he tweeted in English.
Residents take shelter in a metro station
/ AFP by way of Getty ImagesDuring the earlier evening, Ukraine air defenses introduced down greater than 40 targets as Russian forces bombarded Kyiv with a mixture of drones and cruise missiles of their fifteenth night-time assault on the capital this month, in line with Serhii Popko, the top of Kyiv’s navy administration.
On Saturday evening, Kyiv was subjected to the biggest drone assault for the reason that begin of Russia’s warfare. At least one particular person was killed, native officers mentioned.
Meanwhile, within the Belgorod area of Russia on the border with Ukraine, one particular person was killed by Ukrainian shelling of the village of Grafovka, in line with governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Russian missiles additionally slammed right into a navy airport within the western Khmelnytskyi area of Ukraine, destroying 5 plane and damaging the runway, native governor Serhyi Hamaliy mentioned on tv.
The strike sparked fires at close by warehouses storing gasoline and navy tools, he added.
In different developments, the European Union’s prime diplomatJosep Borrell on Monday mentioned he believed Russia will solely be prepared to barter if it wins the warfare in Ukraine, including that he was “not optimistic” about what might occur within the battle this summer season.
“I see Russia’s clear intent to win the war,” he instructed an occasion in Barcelona. “Russia will not go into a negotiation if it doesn’t win the war.”
He went on: “I’m afraid that between now and the summer, the war is going to continue. Putin has amassed over 300,000 men there, twice as many as he had when he launched the invasion.”
Russia’s navy presence in Ukraine was “enormous” and it was nonetheless bombing Ukraine each day and destroying civilian infrastructure, he added.