Russia strikes military base near Polish border, nine dead, Ukraine says By Reuters

By Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets

LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) – A Russian missile assault on a big Ukrainian army facility close to the border with NATO member Poland on Sunday killed 9 individuals and wounded 57, Ukrainian officers stated.

International army instructors have beforehand labored on the base, Ukraine stated. It was not clear whether or not any have been there on the time.

Regional governor Maksym Kozytskyy stated Russian planes fired round 30 rockets on the Yavoriv Worldwide Heart for Peacekeeping and Safety, including that some have been intercepted earlier than they hit.

The 360 square-km (140 square-mile) facility lower than 25 km (15 miles) from the Polish border, is one Ukraine’s greatest and the biggest within the western a part of the nation.

Reuters was unable instantly to confirm the report. The Kremlin didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the missile strike so near the border with NATO.

Nineteen ambulances with sirens on have been seen by Reuters driving from the route of the Yaroviv facility after the strike and and black smoke rose from the world.

“Russia has attacked the Worldwide Heart for Peacekeeping & Safety close to Lviv. International instructors work right here. Details about the victims is being clarified,” Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov stated in an internet publish.

A Ukrainian defence ministry consultant advised Reuters the ministry was nonetheless making an attempt to determine if any overseas instructors have been on the centre on the time of the assault.

Ukraine held most of its drills with NATO international locations there earlier than the invasion. The final main workouts have been in September.

Within the weeks earlier than Russia invaded on Feb. 24, the Ukrainian army educated there, however based on Ukrainian media, all overseas instructors left the coaching floor in mid-February, whereas leaving all of the tools.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched by President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 24, has despatched greater than 2.5 hundreds of thousands fleeing throughout borders and trapped hundreds of individuals in besiegedcities.

Whereas Western nations have sought to isolate Putin by imposing harsh sanctions, the USA and its allies are involved to keep away from NATO being drawn into the battle.

AIRPORT HIT IN WEST

The mayor of one other metropolis in western Ukraine, Ivano-Frankivsk, stated Russian troops additionally continued to hit its airport, with no preliminary stories of casualties.

In japanese Ukraine, Russian troops are attempting to encompass Ukrainian forces as they advance from Kharkiv within the north and Mariupol within the south, the UK Defence Ministry stated on Sunday.

“Russian forces advancing from Crimea try to bypass Mykolaiv as they appear to drive west in the direction of Odessa,” the ministry stated in an intelligence replace posted on Twitter (NYSE:).

Air raid sirens once more woke residents in Kyiv on Sunday morning, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned Russian forces they face a struggle to the demise in the event that they attempt to occupy the capital.

“In the event that they resolve to carpet bomb and easily erase the historyof this area … and destroy all of us, then they may enterKyiv. If that is their objective, allow them to are available, however they may haveto reside on this land by themselves,” Zelenskiy stated on Saturday.

Ukraine accused Russian forces on Saturday of killing sevencivilians, together with one youngster, in an assault on ladies and kids making an attempt to flee combating close to Kyiv.

Reuters was unable instantly to confirm the report andRussia provided no speedy remark.

Moscow denies concentrating on civilians. It blames Ukraine for failed makes an attempt to evacuate civilians from encircled cities, an accusation Ukraine and its Western allies strongly reject.

‘NEED TO HOLD ON’

“We nonetheless want to carry on. We nonetheless should struggle,”Zelenskiy stated in a video handle late on Saturday, his second of the day.

America stated it will rush as much as $200 million inadditional small arms, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons toUkraine, the place officers have pleaded for extra army help.

The Kremlin describes its actions as a “particular operation” to demilitarise and “deNazify” Ukraine. Ukraine and Western allies name this a baseless pretext for a battle of selection that has raised fears of wider battle in Europe.

Russian Deputy International Minister Sergei Ryabkov accused theUnited States of escalating tensions and stated the scenario hadbeen difficult by convoys of Western arms shipments to Ukrainethat Russian forces thought-about “authentic targets”.

In feedback reported by the Tass information company, Ryabkov madeno particular risk. Any assault on such convoys earlier than theyreached Ukraine would danger widening the battle.

Disaster talks between Moscow and Kyiv have been persevering with byvideo hyperlink, stated Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, accordingto Russia’s RIA information company. He gave no particulars, however UkrainianForeign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated Kyiv wouldn’t give up oraccept any ultimatums.

Russian troops have destroyed 3,687 Ukrainian army infrastructure amenities thus far, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov was quoted by Russian information businesses as saying on Sunday. It was not doable to independently confirm his assertion.

The Donetsk area’s governor stated fixed shelling wascomplicating bringing help into Mariupol. Fires have been burning inthe western part of town and dozens of apartmentbuildings closely broken, based on pictures taken on Saturdayby personal U.S. satellite tv for pc agency Maxar.