Ukraine was again targeted on Friday by Russian missile salvoes, including a hit clinic in Dnipro where at least two people were killed and 30 injured, a strike denounced by President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “crime against the humanity”.
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In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the ongoing conflict with Chinese special envoy Li Hui, who visited Kyiv last month. He claimed that Russia wanted a political settlement, but that “Ukraine and its Western backers were putting serious obstacles in the way of the resumption of peace talks.”
Russia also reported for the fifth consecutive day of Ukrainian bombardments on the Russian border region of Belgorod, as well as a drone strike in Krasnodar, 200 km from Crimea.
In Dnipro, “there are already thirty wounded, including two children. We still have no contact with three people who may have been there,” said Governor Serguiï Lyssak, adding that two men had also been killed.
Ukraine’s president released footage showing partially destroyed buildings topped with plumes of black smoke. Other videos show rescuers helping people with bloody faces escape the clinic through rubble-filled corridors.
“A new Russian missile attack, a new crime against humanity”, denounced Volodymyr Zelensky. According to the first lady, Olena Zelenska, it was a clinic for psychiatric care.
According to Governor Serguiï Lyssak, his region was “massively attacked” during the night “with missiles and drones”.
Kyiv Municipality also reported overnight a 13th Russian air attack on the capital since early May, this time with cruise missiles launched by Tu-95 strategic bombers from the region of The Caspian sea.
“According to preliminary information, all enemy targets in Kyiv airspace have been detected and destroyed,” she added.
On the whole territory, the Ukrainian general staff noted 55 Russian air attacks, one of which notably damaged a dam in the eastern region of Donetsk, posing “a great danger of flooding”.
The Russian army has confirmed that it carried out night strikes on Ukraine, claiming to have targeted “ammunition storage sites” and to have “hit all designated sites”.
Moscow also reported Ukrainian shelling of the Belgorod border region, which has come under dozens of artillery fire in the past 24 hours, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
These shots, which caused material damage without causing casualties, notably targeted the village of Kozinka, in the district of Graivoron, where an incursion by armed fighters from Ukraine had taken place at the start of the week.
The Belgorodsky district, which surrounds the regional capital Belgorod, was hit by 14 shots, including from drones, one of which dropped a bomb on an administrative building, damaging its roof and shattering the windows.
In Krasnodar, a city of more than a million inhabitants in southern Russia, buildings were damaged by the strike of two drones, which caused no casualties.
These bombardments take place while Ukraine says it is preparing to launch a major counter-offensive intended to repel Russian troops, after having received multiple deliveries of Western weapons.
Another source of tension, Belarus, an ally of Moscow, said Thursday evening that Russia had begun to deploy nuclear weapons on its territory, in accordance with an announcement made in March by Vladimir Putin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not confirm this information on Friday, merely pointing out that Belarus “is facing unfriendly, even hostile attitudes from neighboring countries”.
“We must therefore continue to develop and strengthen our relations with our allies […] including in the military field,” he added.
In Washington, the spokeswoman for the White House, Karine Jean-Pierre, considered that this transfer of nuclear weapons constituted “a new example of irresponsible and provocative choices” on the part of Moscow.
The Russian presidency also indicated that Vladimir Putin had spoken with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, assuring him that he was “open” to dialogue and also accusing Kyiv and its Western allies of “blocking” the negotiations. .
