Russia hits targets throughout Ukraine, fighters cling on in Mariupol By Reuters

By Oleksandr Kozhukhar and Pavel Polityuk

LVIV/KYIV (Reuters) – Russia mentioned on Monday it had hit a whole bunch of army targets in Ukraine in a single day, destroying command posts with air-launched missiles, whereas authorities within the western metropolis of Lviv, which had escaped heavy bombardment, mentioned a missile assault killed seven.

The Russian defence ministry mentioned in a press release it had destroyed 16 Ukrainian army amenities within the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk areas and within the port of Mykolayiv, within the south and east of the nation.

It added that the Russian air pressure had launched strikes in opposition to 108 areas the place Ukrainian forces had been concentrated and Russian artillery struck 315 Ukrainian army targets in a single day.

Pushed again by Ukrainian resistance within the north, the Russian army has refocused its floor offensive within the two japanese provinces often called the Donbas, whereas launching long-distance strikes at different targets, together with the capital, Kyiv.

It’s now attempting to take full management of the Ukrainian port metropolis of Mariupol, which has been besieged for weeks and which might be an enormous strategic prize, linking territory held by pro-Russian separatists within the east with the Crimea area Moscow annexed in 2014.

Ukrainian authorities mentioned missiles struck army amenities and a automotive tyre service level in Lviv, which is simply 60 km (40 miles) from the Polish border.

Lviv mayor Andriy Sadoviy mentioned seven individuals had been killed and 11 had been wounded. The blast shattered home windows of a lodge housing Ukrainians evacuated from elsewhere within the nation, he added.

“Seven peaceable individuals had plans for all times, however at the moment their life stopped,” the mayor mentioned.

Russia denies concentrating on civilians and rejects what Ukraine says is proof of atrocities, saying Ukraine has staged them to undermine peace talks. Moscow calls its motion, launched nearly two months in the past, a particular army operation to demilitarise Ukraine and eradicate what it calls harmful nationalists.

Western capitals and Kyiv accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of unprovoked aggression.

BATTLE FOR MARIUPOL

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal mentioned troops within the pulverised port of Mariupol had been nonetheless combating on Sunday, regardless of a Russian demand to give up.

“Town nonetheless has not fallen,” he advised ABC’s This Week programme, including that Ukrainian troopers continued to regulate some elements of the southeastern metropolis.

Two captured British males who fought with Ukrainian forces in Mariupol appeared on Russian state TV on Monday and requested to be exchanged for pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk who’s being held by Ukrainian authorities.

It was unclear how freely the 2 males – Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin – had been capable of discuss.

Medvedchuk, in the meantime, was proven in a video launched by Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service asking to be swapped for the defenders of Mariupol and residents struggling to go away. It was additionally unclear how freely Medvedchuk was talking.

Russia mentioned on Saturday it had management of city areas, although some Ukrainian fighters remained within the Azovstal steelworks, certainly one of Europe’s greatest metallurgical vegetation, which cowl greater than 11 sq km (4.25 sq miles) and overlook the Sea of Azov.

On the streets of Mariupol, small teams of our bodies had been lined up underneath vibrant blankets, surrounded by shredded bushes and scorched buildings.

Residents, some pushing bicycles, picked their method round destroyed tanks and civilian automobiles whereas Russian troopers checked the paperwork of motorists.

On the eve of the struggle, Mariupol was the most important metropolis nonetheless held by Ukrainian authorities within the Donbas, which Moscow has demanded that Ukraine cede to pro-Russian separatists.

Taking Mariupol would unite Russian forces on two of the primary axes of the invasion, and free them as much as be part of an anticipated new offensive in opposition to the primary Ukrainian pressure within the east.

Ukraine and Russia have didn’t agree about humanitarian convoys for the evacuation of civilians from war-affected areas for the second day, Ukraine’s deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk mentioned.

About Four million Ukrainians have fled the nation, cities have been shattered and 1000’s have died for the reason that begin of the invasion on Feb. 24.

Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of the Luhansk area, mentioned in a tv speech that Russian forces had superior in a single day and brought the city of Kreminna, some 300 km north of Mariupol. Authorities may not evacuate individuals from that city, however evacuations continued elsewhere.