Putin threatens to respond to Ukraine's receipt of Western missiles
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Sunday that Moscow would target new sites if the West delivers long-range missiles to Ukraine, hours after several explosions occurred in Kyiv.
Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying that if missiles are delivered to Ukraine, "we will draw the appropriate conclusions and use our weapons ... to strike sites we have not yet targeted," without specifying the targets he was talking about.
Putin's comments came after the United States announced last week that it would supply advanced missile systems to Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials said earlier Sunday that Russian missiles targeted infrastructure sites linked to the railway network, in the first strikes of its kind in Kyiv since April 28.
Russia stated that in these strikes it destroyed tanks supplied by countries in Eastern Europe to Ukraine.
"High-precision and long-range missiles fired by the Russian Air Force on the Kyiv suburb destroyed T-72 tanks supplied by Eastern European countries and other armored vehicles that were in the hangars," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
One person was injured, while AFP reporters saw several buildings collapsed near one of the targeted sites.
Leonid, 63, who lives in Kyiv and previously worked in a facility, reported hearing three to four explosions.
"There is nothing military there, but they bomb everything," he said.
In turn, Fasil, 43, indicated that he heard five explosions.
"People are afraid," he said as he returned to his damaged home with two loaves of bread in hand.
The Ukrainian authorities have refrained from disclosing the exact locations where the explosions took place for security reasons.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news