War in Ukraine: three dead, including a child, in a Russian attack on Kiev

Europe 1 with AFP 09:44, 01 June 2023, modified at 09:45, 01 June 2023

THE ESSENTIALS

Russia launched an airstrike on Kiev early Thursday, killing at least three people, including a child, and spreading terror in the Ukrainian capital after a week of strikes. Thursday's attack, which began around 03:00 local time (00 GMT), killed a child and wounded a dozen people, according to Kiev's military administration. Several Russian missiles had been fired at the Ukrainian capital this week and on Monday, an unusual daytime attack on the city led residents to take cover.

"All detected air targets were destroyed by the forces and means of our air defense," Kiev's military administration said Thursday. "Unfortunately, the fall of debris causes loss of life and destruction," she said. According to the same source, citing preliminary reports, the weapons used in Thursday's attack are cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.

Information to remember:

• New Russian strikes in Kiev have killed three people, including a child.
• On the Russian side, bombing has intensified in the Belgorod border region.

Evacuated children

Russia said on Wednesday it was evacuating hundreds of children from villages due to intensified shelling in the Belgorod border region, where the situation was deemed "alarming" by the Kremlin. On Wednesday night, at least two people were wounded in the Russian city of Shebekino following a shelling by the Ukrainian army, the region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said. "It's still a tense night for Shebekino. Ukrainian soldiers shelled the city for an hour," he wrote on Telegram, adding that one of the two wounded men is in serious condition.

More than a year after the start of its military operation in Ukraine, Russia has seen an increase in attacks on its soil, with an unprecedented incursion last week into the southern Belgorod region and a drone attack on Moscow on Tuesday. Authorities have begun evacuating children from the border districts of Shebekino and Graivoron, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram. "The issue of children's safety in these two districts is very important," Vyacheslav Gladkov said. "All of us adults are very worried," he added.

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Russia's admission of concern comes at a time when Moscow appears unable to curb attacks on its soil, and Ukraine is completing preparations for its counter-offensive against Russian forces. Tensions between Russia and the West escalated further on Wednesday, when Germany announced it would significantly reduce Moscow's diplomatic presence on its soil, in response to a similar move by the Kremlin. Moscow called Germany's decision "ill-considered" and vowed to respond.

The Russian authorities have recently decided to reduce the number of people Germany can send or employ to Russia in its embassy or in active institutions starting in June, forcing hundreds of German nationals to leave.

Ukrainian ship destroyed

On Tuesday, the Russian authorities announced that they had neutralized eight drones that had managed to reach the capital Moscow and its region, located 500 km from Ukraine. Two people were lightly injured when debris fell on apartment buildings. Last week, the Belgorod region was the scene of a large-scale incursion, with dozens of gunmen from Ukraine spreading panic for two days before being pushed back by Russian aircraft and artillery. Since then, border areas in the Belgorod region have been bombed on a daily basis.

On Wednesday, a drone also fell into the perimeter of an oil refinery in Ilski, in the southern Krasnodar region, without causing any casualties or damage, local authorities said. This same refinery had already been targeted in early May by two drone attacks that had caused fires.

In Ukraine, five people were killed and 19 wounded in a shelling by Kiev forces in an area occupied by Russian troops in the Luhansk region (east), announced the authorities installed by Moscow. Separately, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday that Moscow had this week destroyed the "last" Ukrainian warship still operational. Questioned by AFP, the spokesman of the Ukrainian naval forces, Oleg Chalyk, did not formally deny, but called not to "pay attention" to Russian sources.

In Russia, a border region with Ukraine targeted by "continuous strikes"

A town in the Russian region of Belgorod, bordering Ukraine, has been targeted for several hours by "uninterrupted strikes" that have wounded eight people, said Thursday the local governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov. "It's a bad morning in the Belgorod region," Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram. "Chebekino is facing uninterrupted strikes" with rocket launchers, he said, accusing Ukrainian forces of bombing "the center and peripheries" of the city. "Eight people were injured. There are no deaths," he said.

The initial assessment released by the governor reported five wounded, including a police officer. "Of course, the lives of civilians, of the population are threatened. Above all, in Chebekino and the surrounding villages," Gladkov said, adding that evacuations would be organized as soon as "the situation calmed down." "The district and city administration deals with the evacuation of people. But you can't do it under bombardment," he said.

According to Vyacheslav Gladkov, "the enemy has not penetrated the territory of the Belgorod region", but "mass strikes are underway". He denied reports broadcast Thursday morning by some Telegram channels claiming that Ukrainian forces had made an alleged "breakthrough" in the Belgorod region. "The situation in Chebekino is difficult at the moment, there are strikes, you can hear the sound of clashes. The Russian armed forces are doing their job, but there is no breakthrough by Ukrainian forces," said a crisis cell set up in the region by the authorities.

The Belgorod region was the scene last week of a spectacular incursion by armed men from Ukraine that caused shock in Russia. Since then, several areas of the region in the immediate vicinity of the border have been subjected to heavy mortar and artillery fire, as well as drone attacks, according to local authorities. On Wednesday, the authorities announced that they had begun the evacuation of children from some border areas of Ukraine intensively bombed for several days, alarmed by a "deterioration of the situation".

According to Vyacheslav Gladkov, 200 people, including mothers with small children, were due to leave the Belgorod region on Thursday and 600 people will be evacuated on Saturday to settle in temporary accommodation in other Russian cities. Bombings and incursions have multiplied in recent weeks in Russia as Kiev says it is preparing a major counter-offensive to push Russian forces out of the territories they occupy in Ukraine.