Ukraine appears to strike back for first time with missile hit on Russian military camp
Ukraine appears to have hit Russia directly for the first time since the invasion began, with a missile reportedly hitting a military camp.
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Ukrainian forces may have struck back inside Russia on Tuesday with their first significant shelling.
A Ukrainian missile appeared to have hit a temporary Russian military encampment outside Belgorod, in Russia’s village of Krasny Oktyabr, about 64km from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, said the Russian state-run news agency Tass.
Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said there were no casualties, but an emergency service worker told Tass that four Russian soldiers were injured, the NY Post reports.
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“Explosions were heard on the territory of Belgorod and the Belgorod region,” Mr Gladkov said.
“The incident took place near the village of Krasniy Oktyabr. The head of the village is in direct contact with me and has given me all the information. There are no casualties or injuries among the residents. I‘ll post the reason for this later.”
Video posted online from two local Belgorod news outlets appeared to show ammunition blowing up, but the source of the explosion could not be immediately confirmed outside of Tass.
If verified, the strike would apparently be the first that struck a military target inside Russia and wounded soldiers.
Last week, Tass said two men were hurt when a shell from Ukraine exploded in the same area.
Doubts over Russia de-escalation pledge
The attack came as Moscow’s negotiators said Tuesday that Russia would “radically” reduce its military activity in northern Ukraine, including near the capital Kyiv, after “meaningful” talks in Istanbul.
“Given that the talks on the preparation of an agreement on the neutrality and non-nuclear status of Ukraine have moved into a practical field... a decision has been made to radically... reduce the military activity in the areas of Kyiv and Chernigiv,” Russia’s deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin said.
Chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said there had been a “meaningful discussion” at the talks and that Ukrainian proposals would be put to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He also said that Mr Putin could meet Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. “After today’s meaningful discussion we have agreed on and propose a solution, according to which the meeting of the heads of state is possible simultaneously with the foreign ministers initialling the treaty,” Mr Medinsky added.
“On the condition of quick work on the agreement and finding the required compromise, the possibility to make peace will become much closer.”
A spokesman for the Ukrainian government said the talks could lead to Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky holding face-to-face talks, and that the country could adopt neutral status and rule out joining military alliances, like NATO, or host military bases for foreign powers.
Kyiv’s negotiator David Arakhamia said there were “sufficient” conditions for Mr Zelensky and Mr Putin to meet in a push to end Europe’s worst conflict in decades.
Mr Zelensky himself sounded a note of cautious optimism following the day’s talks — though he said the “positive” signals “do not drown out the explosions or Russian shells” and vowed in a video address late Tuesday to keep up defence efforts.
Despite Russia’s pledge, Western allies made clear their doubts over Moscow’s intentions.
The United States cast clear scepticism on Moscow’s words, and vowed with fellow Western powers to keep “raising the costs” on Russia.
And by Tuesday evening Ukraine’s general staff — while confirming Russian units were withdrawing from the Kyiv and Chernigiv regions — said it was most likely a troop rotation intended to “mislead” Ukraine’s military.
On the ground in the capital, air raid sirens could be heard ringing out late into the night, with residents ordered to proceed to shelters.
Elsewhere in the country, meanwhile, the toll continued to climb, with at least 12 people killed by a Russian missile in southern Mykolaiv — adding to a toll estimated by Mr Zelensky at 20,000 so far.
Offensive planned elsewhere?
Reinforcing the Ukrainian assessment, US officials said that while small numbers of Russian forces were indeed stepping back from Kyiv, the vast majority remained.
“We’re not prepared to call this a retreat or even a withdrawal,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said, warning a “major offensive” may yet be imminent in other areas of Ukraine and that the threat to Kyiv was not over.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson echoed that message, saying, “We will judge Putin and his regime by his actions and not by his words.”
US President Joe Biden spoke with Mr Johnson and the leaders of France, Germany and Italy, together vowing no let up in the strong economic sanctions imposed on Moscow.
“We’ll see if they follow through on what they’re suggesting,” Mr Biden told reporters following the call, when asked if he believed Russia was simply trying to buy time.
The signals from Tuesday’s talks nonetheless sent European and US stock markets up, while oil prices fell by five per cent as supply fears eased, and the rouble surged 10 per cent against the dollar.
‘A whoosh, then a boom’
Last weekend Moscow already signalled it was dialling back its war goals, focusing its military resources on capturing the eastern Donbas region.
The Pentagon assesses that Russia badly underestimated Ukrainian resistance, and that its offensive has stalled near Kyiv and other cities.
In recent days, Ukraine’s fighters have notably recaptured the strategic Kyiv suburb of Irpin, and pushed back Russian forces from around Mykolaiv.
But on Tuesday a Russian missile strike on a government building in the southern city left at least 12 dead and 33 wounded, Ukrainian officials said.
“I was having breakfast in my apartment,” Donald, 69, a retired Canadian postal worker with Ukrainian residency told AFP. “I heard a whoosh, then a boom and my windows rattled.”
Another local resident, Viktor Gaivonenko, who was helping clean up the debris, said, “Putin is a bastard. That’s all there is to it”.
‘Crime against humanity’
While Ukraine’s forces are counterattacking in the north, they are struggling to retain control of the devastated southern port city of Mariupol.
Russian forces have encircled the city and are conducting steady and indiscriminate bombardment, trapping an estimated 160,000 people with little food, water or medicine.
At least 5000 people there have already died, and the full toll could be as high as 10,000, according to one senior Ukrainian official.
France, Greece and Turkey have been hoping to launch a mass evacuation of civilians from Mariupol within days, but French President Emmanuel Macron, after speaking with Mr Putin on Tuesday, said conditions for the operation were not yet met.
Calling the Mariupol siege a “crime against humanity” happening “in front of the eyes of the whole planet in real time”, Mr Zelensky urged allies to keep the sanctions pressure on Moscow “until this war is over”.
In the latest round of diplomatic expulsions, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands Tuesday announced a total of 42 diplomats would be told to leave.
Responding tit-for-tat, Moscow said it was expelling 10 diplomats from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
And it reiterated that it will only be accepting payment in roubles for gas deliveries to the European Union — after G7 ministers called this arrangement “unacceptable”.
Originally published as Ukraine appears to strike back for first time with missile hit on Russian military camp
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