The Ukrainian capital, kyiv, was the target of Russian missile fire this Thursday evening, in the middle of a visit by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. A first for two weeks when we thought the Ukrainian capital was out of Vladimir Putin’s field of fire. To understand everything about this new attack with “high precision” weapons, according to Moscow, which looks very much like a new snub from the head of the Kremlin to the international community, 20 minutes make the point.
What happened this Thursday in kyiv?
The bombardments, the first since mid-April, occurred on the sidelines of a trip by Antonio Guterres, leader of the United Nations (UN) to Boutcha and the suburbs of kyiv. “In the evening, the enemy fired on kyiv. Two strikes on the Chevchenkovsky district, on the lower floors of a residential building, ”explained the mayor of the capital, Vitali Klitschko. On the spot, journalists testified to having seen a floor of a building on fire with black smoke escaping from the broken windows. “The first two floors [de cet immeuble de 25 étages] were partially destroyed,” rescuers posted on Facebook.
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, “five missiles” fell on kyiv in total. “It says a lot about Russia’s true attitude towards international institutions, about Russian leaders’ efforts to humiliate the UN and everything the organization stands for,” Volodymyr Zelensky commented in a video.
Russia, for its part, admitted on Friday that it had bombarded kyiv with “high precision” weapons. “Russian forces have destroyed with long-range high-precision weapons the workshops of the space company Artyom in the city of kyiv,” said the Russian Ministry of Defense, during a briefing.
What do we know about the victims?
At least one person was killed in this new Russian strike against kyiv, Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said on Telegram early Friday. Rescuers “found a body” while clearing debris at the affected site near the city center, he added. Four wounded were hospitalized, he said in another message, adding that a total of more than 100 Kyiv residents had been killed since the start of the Russian invasion two months ago.
Later that morning, RadioLiberty reported that one of its Ukrainian producers had been in the Russian strike. “Vira Ghyrych died as a result of a Russian missile hit on the building where she lived,” the US-funded radio station said on its website. His body was discovered under the rubble on Friday, she said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres “is safe” but “shocked”, a spokesman for the organization said shortly after the strikes. “We are safe,” Saviano Abreu wrote to journalists, later telling AFP on WhatsApp that “it’s a war zone but it’s shocking that it happened near where we were.” .
What were the reactions of the international community?
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba quickly denounced on Twitter a “heinous act of barbarism”, indicating that the devices fired were cruise missiles. “Russia once again demonstrates its attitude towards Ukraine, Europe and the world,” he added. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiï Reznikov denounced on Twitter an “attack on the security of the Secretary General (of the UN) and on world security”.
“Missile strikes in the center of kyiv during the official visit of Antonio Guterres”, also lambasted on Twitter Mikhaïlo Podoliak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “Yesterday he was sitting at a long table in the Kremlin and today there were explosions above his head,” the adviser quipped, hinting that Moscow had deliberately hit kyiv while the secretary general was there. of ONU. For his part, the head of French diplomacy Jean-Yves Le Drian condemned, this Friday on Twitterthe “indiscriminate strikes” by Russian forces on kyiv.
Our file on the war in Ukraine
Just before these bombardments Antonio Guterres had called on Moscow to “cooperate” with the investigation of the International Criminal Court into possible war crimes. ” [Ces bombardements] are proof that we need a quick victory over Russia and that all civilized people must unite around Ukraine. We must act quickly. More weapons, more humanitarian efforts, more aid”, launched the head of the presidential administration, Andriï Iermak.