Explosions rang out on Thursday, March 21, in the center of kyiv after an air alert for missiles and drones, leaving ten people injured, the day after the death of several civilians in Ukraine and Russia on each side of the common border.
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Around ten loud explosions rang out in the early morning in the Ukrainian capital, as well as anti-aircraft fire. On social networks, images showed residents taking refuge in the basements of the metro.
On Telegram, the mayor of kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, reported ten injured. He also spoke of “ rocket debris » fell in certain districts of the capital, in particular on a “ residential building “. Air Force says it destroyed 31 missilesincluding two Kinzhal ballistic missiles during the night.
Bombings and armed incursions on both sides of the border
The last large-scale Russian strikes on kyiv took place at the end of January 2024. On Wednesday, theUkraine and the Russia had reported strikes causing the deaths of several civilians on each side of their common border, where bombings have increased in recent times.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, at least four people were killed and seven injured in a Russian strike in broad daylight, regional governor Oleg Synegubov announced. One body was able to be freed and two others remained trapped under the rubble, he continued, according to whom two injured people were in serious condition. Located about forty kilometers from the border with Russia, Kharkiv, which had around 1.5 million inhabitants before the Russian invasion two years ago, is regularly bombed by the Russian army.
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Some 70 km away, in Russia’s Belgorod region, three people died and four were injured in a series of bombings, particularly ” massive » in one of the border districts, said local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. Since Wednesday morning, the area has been experiencing “ massive bombings “, particularly from multiple rocket launchers, he said, referring to a border district target of air attacks and ground incursions by armed groups from Ukraine. Residential buildings, a school and two kindergartens were also damaged, according to the governor. No students or teachers were there, the regional authorities having decided this week to temporarily close schools in border areas in the face of the risk of strikes.
The local governor also announced Tuesday evening that checkpoints would be set up at the entrance to several villages close to Ukraine, the scenes of armed incursions in recent weeks. These infiltration attempts from Ukrainian territory, which the Russian army says it is repelling, are carried out by groups presenting themselves as Russian fighters allied to kyiv and opposed to Vladimir Putin. The area where checkpoints will be set up, around the village of Kozinka, is where the “ most active actions » were carried out by these groups, explained Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. During the Russian presidential election last week, “ Ukrainian fighters attempted to capture settlements in the Belgorod and Kursk regions “, he said.
Aid to Ukraine
kyiv had promised to bring the fighting to Russian soil in retaliation for the numerous bombings on Ukrainian territory. For his part, Vladimir Putin, who has just been reappointed, promised on Wednesday to “ Ensure the security » residents of border regions, including Belgorod, welcoming their “ courage “.
In Kiev where he was on an official visit, American National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan for his part declared himself unable to predict if and when Congress would adopt the $60 billion military aid program for the Ukraine, still blocked in the Republican-led House of Representatives. “ It has already taken too long. I know it, you know it “, he declared during a press conference, alongside Andriy Yermak, chief of staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
On Thursday, Australia announced that it was joining the international drone coalition to support the Ukrainian war effort, co-led by the United Kingdom and Latvia. Ukraine is making extensive use of drones to compensate for its shortage of artillery shells. Since the start of the conflict in 2022, hundreds of thousands of these devices have been deployed by kyiv.