Russian forces launched - at dawn today - several strikes targeting railway infrastructure in Kyiv, the first since the end of last April, while Kyiv accused Moscow of using white phosphorous munitions in Kharkiv.
According to the head of the Ukrainian State Railways Oleksandr Kamyshin, 4 missiles hit the trailer repair factory in Darnitsia.
He added via "Telegram" that one of the workers was injured.
He stressed that the factory is not concerned with military equipment, but rather repairs trailers transporting grain exports.
Earlier, Russia confirmed that in Sunday air strikes on Kyiv, it had destroyed armored vehicles that Ukraine had received from countries in Eastern Europe.
These strikes are the first in several weeks.
Railways have played a vital role since the start of the Russian war on February 24 that devastated the Ukrainian economy, as they were used as an alternative export artery to the besieged Black Sea because of the war.
bombing and targets
"High-precision and long-range missiles fired by the Russian Air Force on the Kyiv suburbs destroyed T-72 tanks supplied by Eastern European countries and other armored vehicles that were located in the warehouses of a trailer repair company," Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. for railways.
But the Ukrainian official said, "Russia is lying. Their goal is the Ukrainian economy and civilians. They want to deprive us of the ability to export Ukrainian products to the West."
The mayor of the Ukrainian capital, Vitali Klitschko, spoke of "several explosions in the Darnitsky and Dniprovsky regions" southeast of the capital, without specifying what the targeted sites were.
With the withdrawal of Agence France-Presse correspondents, the army established a safe corridor in the vicinity of the railway infrastructure, preventing access to it, explaining that the glass facades of a 10-storey building were completely destroyed.
"The aggressor (the Russian army) continues to launch missiles and launch air strikes on military and civilian infrastructures in our country, especially in Kyiv," a post of the Ukrainian Army Staff said on Facebook.
In this context, the Ukrainian Air Force Command said that its defenses destroyed a Russian missile in the sky of the capital, Kyiv, and confirmed that the Russian army launched several missiles this morning towards the capital, Kyiv, from the Caspian Sea.
Local sources reported that the bombing targeted a factory for the maintenance of tanks and armored vehicles.
For his part, the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said that one person was wounded in the Russian bombing, which targeted the Darnitsky and Dniprovsky regions of the capital.
Russia had diverted its focus from Kyiv at the end of March and early April, but it returned and bombed the city on April 28 during a visit by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Battles and accusations
In other field developments, the pro-Russian Donetsk authorities confirmed that Ukrainian artillery bombed civilian targets in 9 downtown areas, and added that the use of heavy artillery in bombing residential areas and infrastructure became more frequent.
For his part, the mayor of the city of Kramatorsk, Alexander Gocharenko, said that Russian forces bombed two factories in the city, and that the number of civilian deaths in the Russian bombing of Donetsk province rose to 10 within 24 hours.
The Ukrainian General Staff said that the Russian forces had taken control of the eastern district of the city of Severodonetsk and were continuing their attempt to storm the neighboring city of Lysekhansk, encircle the two cities and cut their supply lines.
On Saturday, the Russian army announced that Ukrainian military units were withdrawing from Severodonetsk, but its mayor, Oleksandr Stryuk, confirmed that Ukrainian forces were fighting to retake the city.
"We are doing everything possible to restore complete control of Ukraine" over the city, he said in an interview broadcast on Telegram.
In light of the battles taking place in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry accused the Russian army of using white phosphorous munitions in the battles in the vicinity of the city of Kharkiv in the east of the country.
Putin has been waging war on Ukraine since February 24 (Reuters)
Threats and invitations
On the political front, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his country's forces would bomb targets in Ukraine that they had not targeted before, if Washington provided Kyiv with long-range missiles.
Putin added, in a statement to Russian media, that the United States is providing Ukraine with missile launchers to compensate for its military losses, but that does not fundamentally change the situation, as he put it.
In a context related to calls for calm, Pope Francesco renewed his call on Sunday for "real negotiations" to stop what he called an "increasingly dangerous escalation" of the war in Ukraine.
From a window overlooking Saint Peter's Square, the Pope said, "With the rage of destruction and death fueling an escalation that is increasingly dangerous for everyone, I renew my appeal to the leaders of countries: Please do not lead humanity to destruction."
More than 100 days after the outbreak of the war, the pope called for "genuine negotiations for a ceasefire and a solution" to put an end to it.
On Saturday, the 85-year-old pope confirmed his desire to visit Ukraine, but said he was waiting for "the right moment".