March 28. 2024. 9:17

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Air raid alerts issued throughout Ukraine, explosions reported


Russia attacked cities in a wide arc across Ukraine early on Friday (28 April) extending from the capital, Kyiv, through central and southern regions and at least two people were killed, according to media and officials.

“A young woman and a three-year-old child have been killed,” Borys Filatov, mayor of the central city of Dnipro, said on Telegram. Filatov gave no further details.

Pictures on social media showed an apartment building ablaze in the central town of Uman.

Kyiv was also rocked by explosions and air raid sirens and explosions were reported across the country, according to the Interfax Ukraine and reports on social media channels.

There were no details on what had been struck in Kyiv or of any damage and casualties. The city’s military administration said anti-aircraft units were in operation.

Interfax said explosions were also reported after midnight in Dnipro, Kremenchuk and Poltava in central Ukraine and in Mykolaiv in the south.

Interfax quoted accounts on the Telegram message service as saying unidentified airborne objects were also headed for the west of the country.

The attacks come a day after the Kremlin said it would welcome anything that could bring the end of the conflict closer, referring to a telephone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday.

It was the first time the leaders had spoken since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.

Russia ‘acknowledges’, EU welcomes Xi-Zelenskyy talks

Brussels welcomed Wednesday’s conversation between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, thought to be their first call since Russia invaded Ukraine. In contrast, Russia “acknowledged” the diplomatic move.

But the Kremlin said it still needed to achieve the aims of its “special military operation” in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, saying it was necessary to protect Russia.

Ukraine and its Western allies rejected that, saying the invasion was an unprovoked land grab by Putin, which has brought the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two.

Russian forces have suffered setbacks throughout the conflict and have been trying for 10 months to punch their way into the shattered remains of Bakhmut, once a city of 70,000.

Russia sees Bakhmut as a key stepping stone to other cities in eastern Ukraine, now its major military objective.

Ukrainian forces are expected to launch their own offensive soon with new military equipment, including tanks, from its Western allies.

Russia digs in as Ukraine prepares to attack

A Ukrainian counteroffensive could change the dynamics of a war that has slowed into a bloody battle of attrition and military experts say the length of the front could stretch Russia’s defences.

Bakhmut fighting

Russian troops tried on Thursday to sever important supply routes into the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and thereby put more pressure on defending forces, Ukrainian officers said.

Russian units have been trying for 10 months to punch their way into the shattered remains of what was once a city of 70,000. Kyiv is pledging to defend Bakhmut, which Russia sees as a stepping stone to attacking other cities.

One of those cities further west, Kostyantynivka, was hit by a Russian missile on Thursday. A school, a hospital and residential buildings were damaged and Zelenskyy said people had been injured.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukrainian troops in the east, told the Freedom television channel that Bakhmut had seen 13 new combat clashes in the past 24 hours.

“The enemy’s main goal in the Bakhmut sector is to cut communication routes,” he said.

“But thanks to constant counter-battery combat … we can deliver supplies and evacuate our wounded.”

Russia’s Defence Ministry reported successes against Ukrainian positions in various sectors but made no direct reference to Bakhmut.

The battlefield reports could not be independently verified.

Ukrainian military analyst Oleksander Musiyenko said districts were rapidly changing hands in fierce fighting.

“Ukraine is successfully conducting local counter-attacks, making it difficult for the Russians to capture Bakhmut,” Musiyenko told Ukrainian NV Radio.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, which has spearheaded the Bakhmut campaign, said he had been joking earlier when he said his men would suspend artillery fire to allow Ukrainian forces to show the city to US journalists.

Prigozhin, who has publicly lambasted Russia’s military establishment over its conduct of the war, is known for his combative style and dry sense of humour.

Last month, after long complaining about shortages of supplies, Prigozhin said he and his men had been “blown away” by the fact that they had finally started to receive ammunition.

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