Russia widens offensive with airstrikes on three new cities
The Ukrainian military said Russia was trying to “block” Kyiv by taking out defences to the west and north of the capital, adding that there was also a risk to Brovary on the east
Russia widened its military offensive in Ukraine on Friday with airstrikes targeting three cities as observers and satellite photos indicated that a 40-mile convoy outside capital Kyiv, moved to encircle the city from the north-west.
While the Russian forces intensified their assault, President Vladimir Putin said there has been some progress in Moscow's talks with Ukraine, without providing details.
The Friday raids hit airfields in two western cities of Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk, far from the main areas of conflict, and residential buildings in the strategically important city of Dnipro, which sits on the Dnieper River, reports The Guardian.
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The air raids came as new satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed that a 40-mile convoy that had been approaching the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, had dispersed as tanks and artillery moved to what appeared to be firing positions to the north-west of the city.
The Ukrainian military said Russia was trying to "block" Kyiv by taking out defences to the west and north of the capital, adding that there was also a risk to Brovary on the east.
Ukrainian soldiers described fierce fighting for control of the main highway leading into the capital, while missile strikes were reported hitting Velyka Dymerka just outside Kyiv's city limits.
The Russian defence ministry spokesperson, Igor Konashenkov, said Russia used high-precision long-range weapons on Friday to put military airfields in Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk "out of action".
The airstrike on the Lutsk military airfield early on Friday left two members of the Ukrainian forces dead and six people wounded, according to the head of the surrounding Volyn region, Yuriy Pohulyayko.
Images of the aftermath showed what appeared to be a massive explosion that set fire to what looked like fuel storage tanks and cratered the runway.
Lutsk residents said they were woken at 6.45am on Friday when four Russian rockets hit the city's military aerodrome.
"We live 2km away. The rockets woke us up. We had been living in Kharkiv and left the city last week. The Russians bombard Kharkiv 100 times a day. Compared to that, this wasn't as bad," one local said.
The strikes also targeted an airport near Ivano-Frankivsk, where residents were ordered to shelters after an air raid alert, said the mayor, Ruslan Martsinkiv.
Three Russian airstrikes also hit the eastern industrial city of Dnipro early on Friday, killing at least one person, according to the Ukrainian interior ministry adviser, Anton Heraschenko. They hit an area near a chemical plant, leaving a shoe factory completely destroyed, and breaking the windows on a nearby kindergarten.
The new wave of strikes came as clear skies on Friday made Russian air operations easier.
The latest strikes came amid contradictory assessments of Russian progress around Kyiv, with the Ukraine general staff saying the Russian advance had been halted and the Pentagon suggesting that it had moved forward about 3 miles in the north-west.
The satellite photos of Russian concentrations around Kyiv, meanwhile, appeared to show a massive convoy previously detected outside the Ukrainian capital had fanned out into towns and forests near the city with artillery pieces raised for firing, in another potentially ominous movement.
The new moves suggest the convoy forces were now moving west around the city, making their way south to encircle it, according to Jack Watling, a research fellow at British defence think-tank Royal United Services Institute.
UN says 564 civilians killed in Ukraine
The UN's human rights office (OHCHR) says it has confirmed the deaths of 564 civilians in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, including 41 children.
OHCHR added the real toll is thought to be considerably higher since it has not yet been able to corroborate reports from areas where intense fighting is ongoing, reports Al Jazeera.
"Civilians are being killed and maimed in what appear to be indiscriminate attacks, with Russian forces using explosive weapons with wide area effects in or near populated areas," it said.
EU to boost military support to Kyiv
European Union leaders said on Friday they will continue applying pressure on Russia by devising a new set of sanctions to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine while stepping up military support for Kyiv.
The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said the 27 officials taking part at two-day summit outside Paris will agree to inject an extra €500 million euros into the fund for military aid to Ukraine, as Russia widens its military offensive, reports AP.
"I made the proposal to double our contribution," Borrell said. "This is what we are going to do, and I am sure that the leaders will approve it this morning. And it is going to be done immediately. Now it flows quickly."
The EU had previously agreed to spend 450 million euros ($500 million) on military supplies for Ukrainian forces in an unprecedented step of collectively supplying weapons to a country under attack.
