Ukraine-Russia war: Ukraine strikes back with ‘at least six’ bombing raids in Russia
Russia accused Ukraine of flying ‘illegal’ bombing raids into its territory, striking residential buildings and injuring civilians. Warning: Graphic
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As investigators began probing Russian war crimes in Ukraine, Kremlin officials accused Kyiv of sending helicopters to bomb a town about 10 from the border, in the southern Bryansk region.
“Using two military helicopters carrying heavy weaponry, Ukrainian armed forces illegally entered Russian air space,” Russia’s Investigative Committee — which probes major crimes — said in a statement.
“Flying low, acting deliberately, they carried out at least six air strikes on residential buildings in the settlement of Klimovo,” investigators said.
As a result, they said, “at least six residential buildings were damaged … and seven people received injuries of varying severity including one small child born in 2020.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
Satellite images from 2022 have shown mility equipment deployed at storage facilities in the Bryansk region north of the Ukraine-Russia border.
A Russian health ministry official, Alexei Kuznetsov, later told the Interfax news agency that eight people were injured, six of them admitted to hospital.
Two patients — the young child and a woman born in 1948 — were in serious condition, he added.
This appeared to be the first time that Moscow has officially accused Ukrainian armed forces of flying helicopters into Russia to carry out an attack.
Previously the governor of Belgorod region in southern Russia, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said two Ukrainian military helicopters had carried out a strike on a fuel depot on April 1, while this was not directly confirmed by Ukraine or Moscow.
The latest shelling was announced earlier by governor Alexander Bogomaz, who said on Telegram that “two residential buildings were damaged and some of the residents were injured”.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Gladkov, later said on Telegram that the village of Spodaryushino close to the border “came under shelling from the Ukrainian side” and residents from this and a nearby village had been evacuated as a precaution.
Separately, Russian investigators said they were probing a Wednesday attack on a border checkpoint in Kursk region, also allegedly carried out by Ukraine.
There were no injured or damaged caused, investigators said. Also on Thursday, Russia’s security agency the FSB told TASS news agency that Ukraine fired at border checkpoint where over 30 Ukrainian refugees were crossing into Russia.
It added that there were no injuries.
RUSSIA’S WARNING TO FINLAND, SWEDEN
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has warned that Russia would deploy nuclear weapons close to the Baltic States and Scandinavia if Finland or Sweden decide to join NATO.
Mr Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s security council and president from 2008 to 2012, wrote on Telegram that if the countries joined, this would more than double Russia’s land border with NATO members.
“Naturally, we will have to reinforce these borders,” he said.
“In this case, it would not be possible to talk any more about the Baltic non-nuclear status. The balance has to be restored,” he said, indicating that Russia would be entitled to deploy nuclear weapons in the region.
The former president said Russia would “seriously reinforce its group of ground forces and air defences and deploy significant naval forces in the Gulf of Finland.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked about the comments by journalists, said that “this has been talked about many times” and President Vladimir Putin has issued an order on “reinforcing our western flank” due to NATO’s growing military potential.
Asked if this reinforcement would include nuclear weapons, Mr Peskov said: “I can’t say … There will be a whole list of measures, necessary steps. This will be covered at a separate meeting by the president.”
Moscow’s military actions in Ukraine have sparked a dramatic U-turn in public and political opinion in both Finland and Sweden over long-held policies of military non-alignment.
Finland said this week it will decide whether to apply for NATO membership within weeks and Sweden is also discussing membership.
RUSSIAN WARSHIP EXPLODES
The flagship missile cruiser of Russia’s Black Sea fleet has exploded and sunk, following a Ukrainian land-based missile attack. Russian Defence Ministry confirmed the cruiser, Moskva, was evacuated after “a fire broke out”, but says it’s “investigating” the cause of the blast.
Ukraine’s government claimed two R-360 Neptune class anti-ship missiles were fired at the imposing missile cruiser, causing it to explode and sink.
The Kremlin says the command ship’s 500 crew was “completely evacuated”.
Open-source intelligence analysts reported picking up morse code distress signals from the warship, such as “SOS” and “sinking”.
The Moskva was the warship involved in the famous standoff at the start of the Ukrainian war. Border guards of Snake Island responded to radio demands that they surrender with: “Russian warship, go f**k yourself!”
The Moskva was reportedly operating in poor weather conditions at the time of the attack, with further reports suggesting the warship was distracted by a Ukrainian drone, leaving it unable to redirect its defences in time.
The Project 1164 Slava class guided missile cruiser is susceptible to explosions thanks to its unique design, which follows a Russian philosophy of packing high numbers of large weapons on the hull.
The destruction of the Moskva, leaves Russia without any other similar sized warships in the region.
The Montreux Convention, which controls passage through Turkey’s Dardanelles and Bosporus Channel between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean prevents Russia from sending replacement warships from its other fleet bases.
UKRAINIAN SOLDIERS SURRENDER IN MARIUPOL
Russia says they have taken control of the port in Mariupol as more than 1000 Ukrainian marines have surrendered in the besieged city.
The south-eastern Ukrainian city — which has been surrounded and bombarded by Russian troops for weeks — would be the first major city to fall since the invasion – and it also holds the key to the next phase of the war.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that 1026 marines had surrendered, including 162 officers.
Ukraine’s general staff said Russian forces were proceeding with attacks on Azovstal and the port, but a defence ministry spokesman said he had no information about any surrender.
Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to UN Office in Geneva Alexander Alimov posted a picture and video from Telegram appearing to confirm the surrender.
‼ï¸ðŸ‡·ðŸ‡ºMoD: in #Mariupol near the "Illich" Steelworks 1026 🇺🇦 servicemen, incl. 162 officers of the 36th Marine Brigade laid down arms & surrendered as a result of a successful offensive by the 🇷🇺AF and the Donetsk PR units.https://t.co/9MI45heIJP
— Alexander Alimov (@A__Alimov) April 13, 2022
🎥 https://t.co/RCGlL2cHFI pic.twitter.com/YbqcGq2ewu
“In the city of Mariupol … 1,026 Ukrainian servicemen of the 36th marine brigade voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered,” Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said.
According to the ministry, the soldiers surrendered near a large steel factory called “Mariupol Metallurgical Plant named after Illich”.
Among the troops were 162 officers and 47 were women, the ministry said.
More than 150 wounded received “primary medical assistance at the scene, following which all of them were taken to the Mariupol city hospital for medical treatment”, the general said.
It’s estimated that between 20,000 and 22,000 people have died in the city.
Since the beginning of the invasion in the Ukraine, Russia has been relentless in its military operation while attacking Mariupol as bodies lie in the ruins of the streets.
Mariupol is critical for Russia because it provides a connecting pathway between Russia’s south and east; occupied Crimea and Moscow-backed separatist territories Donetsk and Lugansk in Donbas.
‘BEAUTIFUL’ TEEN BRUTALLY RAPED AND MURDERED
The body of a Ukrainian teen who was raped and shot in the head by Russian soldiers has been discovered among 400 corpses in a mass grave in Bucha.
Karina Yershova, 16, was discovered mercilessly dumped in the garden which contained the remains of hundreds of dead civilians after Russian troops withdrew from the town, at the start of April.
The teenager — described as “bright and talented” — was shot in the back of the head before she was thrown in the ”trash”, according to a family friend.
Olesya Vasylets, a friend of Karina‘s mother, wrote on Facebook of her “terrible pain” over losing Karina before detailing the horrific circumstances of her death.
“Friends, terrible news. Racists killed my friend‘s daughter Karina Yershova. The pain is terrible,” she wrote.
“She was mocked, raped, and then shot in the trash. Today my mother found out that she was killed and created a help group.
“Please help me bury her, I knew this kid for years, taught her English, she was a very bright and talented girl.”
Karina had been missing for over a month after being last seen on “energy workers street” in Bucha.
Her distraught mother took to social media at the time to “help me find my daughter”.
BIDEN ACCUSES RUSSIA OF ‘GENOCIDE’
US President Joe Biden has, for the first time, accused Vladimir Putin’s Russian forces of committing genocide in Ukraine.
“It’s become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being able to be a Ukrainian,” Mr Biden told reporters on Tuesday (local time).
“Yes, I called it genocide,” Mr Biden said hours after employing the term during a speech in Iowa – its first use by a member of his administration.
“We’ll let the lawyers decide internationally whether or not it qualifies, but it sure seems that way to me.”
The call comes as Moscow – already accused by the West of widespread atrocities against civilians – is feared to be readying a massive attack across Ukraine’s east, that Washington warned might involve chemical weapons.
Mr Biden’s call received a quick response, and support, from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who tweeted: “True words of a true leader”.
“Calling things by their names is essential to stand up to evil,” Mr Zelenskyy wrote – renewing his appeal for more heavy weapons to “prevent further Russian atrocities”.
While the toll on towns occupied during the month-long offensive to take Kyiv, such as Bucha, is still coming to light, the heaviest civilian toll is feared to be in Mariupol, where Mr Zelenskyy said he believed Russia had killed “tens of thousands”.
Moscow is believed to be trying to connect occupied Crimea with Russian-backed separatist territories Donetsk and Lugansk in Donbas, and has laid siege to the strategically located city.
Experts say its fall is inevitable, but as fighting drags toward its seventh week, the Ukrainian army is clinging on.
On Wednesday the Land Forces of Ukraine said on Telegram that air strikes on the city continued, particularly targeting its port and the huge Azovstal iron and steel works.
The latter maze-like complex has been a focus of urban resistance in Mariupol, with fighters using a tunnel system below the vast industrial site to slow Russian forces down.
“It’s a city within a city,” said Eduard Basurin, a representative for pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Donetsk region.
“There are several underground levels that date back to Soviet times which you can’t bombard from above. You have to go underground to clean them out, and that will take time.”
RUSSIANS ‘KILLED VILLAGERS, BLEW UP HOME’
Russian troops shot dead six men and one woman in a home in a village near the frontline in southern Ukraine and then blew up the building to hide the evidence, Ukrainian prosecutors said on Wednesday.
“On April 12 in the village of Pravdyne, Russian soldiers shot dead six men and one woman in a residential home. After this, intending to hide their crime, the occupiers blew up the building with the bodies,” prosecutors said in a statement.
‘CREDIBLE INFORMATION’ RUSSIA MAY USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS
The United States has “credible information” that Russia “may use … chemical agents” in its offensive to take Mariupol, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says.
Mr Blinken told reporters he was not able to confirm accusations that Moscow has already used chemical weapons in Ukraine.
But he continued: “We had credible information that Russian forces may use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents that would cause stronger symptoms to weaken and incapacitate entrenched Ukrainian fighters and civilians, as part of the aggressive campaign to take Mariupol.”
“We share that information with Ukraine … and we’re in direct conversation with partners to try to determine what actually is happening, so this is a real concern,” Mr Blinken told reporters.
The world’s chemical weapons watchdog, the OPCW, says it is “concerned” over reports of the use of chemical weapons in Mariupol.
Western officials have previously expressed concerns that Russia, finding its February 24 invasion of its neighbour grinding into a protracted conflict, could resort to more extreme measures, including chemical weapons.
“Reports that Russian forces may have used chemical agents in an attack on the people of Mariupol. We are working urgently with partners to verify details,” UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss wrote on Twitter.
“Any use of such weapons would be a callous escalation in this conflict and we will hold Putin and his regime to account.”
Ukrainian politician Ivanna Klympush said Russia had used an “unknown substance” in Mariupol and that people were suffering from respiratory failure.
“Most likely chem.weapons!” she tweeted.
On messaging app Telegram, an aide to the Mariupol mayor wrote that a chemical attack “is not currently confirmed”.
“We are waiting for official information from the military,” Petro Andryushchenko wrote.
Earlier, Ukraine’s Azov battalion claimed a Russian drone had dropped a “poisonous substance” on troops and civilians in Mariupol.
The force also claimed that people were experiencing respiratory failure and neurological problems.
“Three people have clear signs of poisoning by warfare chemicals, but without catastrophic consequences,” battalion leader Andrei Biletsky later said in a video message on his own Telegram channel.
He accused the Russians of using the chemical weapons during a strike on the city’s large Azovstal metallurgical plant.
AFP was unable to verify the claims.
A strategic port located along the Sea of Azov, Mariupol has been besieged for weeks and Ukrainian forces are warning of its imminent fall.
US Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said on Monday night local time that Washington was aware of reports of a chemical attack in the strategic city, but could not confirm them.
“These reports, if true, are deeply concerning and reflective of concerns that we have had about Russia’s potential to use a variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents, in Ukraine,” he said.
Senior Donetsk separatist official Eduard Basurin had spoken of the possibility of using chemical weapons against the southern port.
Basurin said the besieging forces could “turn to chemical troops who will find a way to smoke the moles out of their holes,” Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.
Russia has denied committing any war crimes during its military operations in Ukraine.
‘TENS OF THOUSANDS DEAD’
Russia is poised to take the strategic city of Mariupol and unleash a massive offensive in eastern Ukraine, as fresh diplomatic efforts with Moscow to broker a peace offered little hope of de-escalation.
With the war grinding toward its seventh week, Austria’s leader said he had raised alleged Russian atrocities as he became the first European leader to visit President Vladimir Putin since the invasion began.
Ukraine says more than 1200 bodies have been found in devastated areas around Kyiv, with authorities pursuing “500 suspects” including Mr Putin and other top Russian officials.
Seven bodies were found Monday under the rubble of two multistorey buildings in Borodianka, in the Kyiv region, the state emergency service said, bringing the total to 19.
French investigators arrived in Ukraine to help probe suspected war crimes, as the European Union earmarked 2.5 million euros to the International Criminal Court for future Ukraine cases.
Russia is believed to be trying to connect occupied Crimea and Moscow-backed separatist territories Donetsk and Lugansk in Donbas and has laid siege to Mariupol, once a city of more than 400,000 people.
“Today will probably be the last battle, as the ammunition is running out,” the 36th marine brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces said on Facebook.
“It is death for some of us, and captivity for the rest,” the brigade added, saying it had been “pushed back” and “surrounded” by Russian troops.
Appealing to South Korea’s National Assembly for military assistance, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told politicians Russia had “completely destroyed” the city and “burned it to ashes”.
“At least tens of thousands of Mariupol citizens must have been killed,” he said.
Russian forces are turning their focus to the Donbas region in the east, where Mr Zelenskyy said Russian troops were preparing “even larger operations”.
GUT-WRENCHING MOMENT WOMAN FINDS HUSBAND IN SHALLOW GRAVE
Unbearable images of pain have emerged from the Ukrainian town of Andriivka showing the moment a woman discovers her husband’s body in a shallow grave.
Andriivka, some 60km away from the capital of Kyiv, was held by the Russians for around a month.
As Russian forces retreat to eastern Ukraine, the carnage they left is being revealed.
Once home to about 1000 people, the town has reportedly suffered a loss of 40 residents.
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PUTIN HAS ‘MASSIVELY ENTERED INTO A LOGIC OF WAR’
Weekend strikes hampered evacuations in and around Kharkiv in the northeast, killing 11 people including a seven-year-old, the regional government said.
Russian missiles nearly obliterated the airport of Dnipro, an industrial city of one million around 200km to the south, according to local authorities.
Lugansk governor Sergiy Gaiday said a missile strike on Friday on a railway station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk that killed 57 people had left many afraid to flee.
“You are alive because a Russian shell has not yet hit your house or basement – evacuate, buses are waiting, our military routes are as secure as possible,” he wrote on Telegram.
Russia has denied carrying out the strike, as well as involvement in any other war crimes.
The US defence department reported a Russian convoy that had been observed heading for Izyum, an hour’s drive north of Kramatorsk, saying it appeared to be a mix of personnel-carriers, armoured vehicles and possible artillery.
On the diplomatic front, EU foreign ministers met Monday to discuss a sixth round of sanctions, with concerns that divisions over a ban on Russian gas and oil imports could blunt their impact.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said his meeting with Mr Putin at the Russian leader’s residence outside Moscow was not “a visit of friendship,” adding that he “mentioned the serious war crimes in Bucha and other locations”.
He added that he was “rather pessimistic” about the chances of diplomacy, describing Mr Putin as having “massively entered into a logic of war”.
US President Joe Biden held virtual talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, just weeks after saying New Delhi had been “shaky” in its response to the invasion.
“There were conversations about how to mitigate the destabilising impacts of Putin’s war, including on food supply, where India is in a position to assist,” a US official said.
WAR DRIVING GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS
The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said Russia is responsible for the escalating global food crisis because of its bombing of wheat stocks and preventing ships from carrying grain abroad.
And the World Trade Organisation cautioned separately that the war could almost halve global trade growth this year.
Despite Kyiv’s allegations of Russian atrocities, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told US news network NBC on Sunday he was still open to negotiating with Moscow.
“If sitting down with the Russians will help me to prevent at least one massacre like in Bucha, or at least another attack like in Kramatorsk, I have to take that opportunity,” he said.
Bucha – where authorities say hundreds were killed, some with their hands bound – has become emblematic of the brutality allegedly inflicted under Russian occupation.
More than 4.5 million Ukrainian refugees have now fled their country, the United Nations refugee agency said – 90 per cent of them women and children.
At least 183 children have died and 342 were wounded in Ukraine in 46 days of the Russian invasion, the prosecutor general’s office said on Telegram.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN BIGGEST CASUALTIES OF UKRAINE INVASION
Top officials at the United Nations called on Monday for both an investigation into Russia’s violence against women during its invasion of Ukraine, and the protection of children in the conflict.
“This war must stop. Now,” Sima Bahous, director of the UN women’s agency, told a meeting of the Security Council in New York.
“We are increasingly hearing of rape and sexual violence. These allegations must be independently investigated to ensure justice and accountability.”
Ms Bahous, who recently returned from a trip to the region, said the combination of “mass displacement with the large presence of conscripts and mercenaries, and the brutality displayed against Ukrainian civilians, has raised all red flags.”
It was not clear if the Security Council, on which Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member, would agree to any investigation.
Manuel Fontaine, director of emergency programs at UNICEF, also called for an end to the war and warned of the risk to children of famine.
“Of the 3.2 million children estimated to have remained in their homes, nearly half may be at risk of not having enough food,” he told the council.
Prior to the meeting, Mona Juul, Norway’s ambassador to the UN, raised the war’s impact on education for many Ukrainian children.
“Schools are important, not only for the sake of education – but for protecting children: from violence, sexual abuse, and even trafficking.”
“Children are innocent. Always. Stop killing them. Stop destroying their future. Stop the war,” the Norwegian diplomat said.
Originally published as Ukraine-Russia war: Ukraine strikes back with ‘at least six’ bombing raids in Russia
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