Reported explosions in kyiv and Lviv; Russia says it has attacked a military plant in the capital

Russia says it has destroyed the production buildings of an armored vehicle plant in kyiv and a military repair facility in the city of Mykolaiv. Interfax news agency he quoted Russia’s defense ministry as saying on Saturday.

Russian Defense Minister Igor Konashenkov said Russia had used high-precision long-range weapons to carry out the attacks.

Konashenkov also claimed that a Ukrainian Su-25 plane was shot down by Russian air defense systems near the village of Izyum.

— holly ellyatt

Explosions were heard in the early hours of Saturday in Ukraine’s capital kyiv and the western city of Lviv, according to local officials.

Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko said in the Telegram messaging application that kyiv “was attacked” this morning with explosions that were heard in the Darnytskyi district on the outskirts of the city.

Rescuers and doctors are currently working at the site, he said, and there was no information on the number of victims of the explosions.

This morning explosions were also heard in Lviv, in western Ukraine. On TelegramGovernor Maksym Kozytskyi said an airstrike had taken place between 05:46 and 07:02 local time.

— holly ellyatt

Ukraine’s roads and other infrastructure have been badly damaged by Russian troops, and that now poses a major challenge to the delivery of humanitarian aid in some areas, the UK Ministry of Defense said in its daily intelligence update.

“Road infrastructure in Ukraine’s conflict-affected areas has suffered significant damage. Russian troops have exacerbated this by destroying bridges, employing landmines and abandoning vehicles along key routes as they have withdrawn from northern Ukraine,” he said. the ministry in its update, posted on Twitter. .

River crossings in and around the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv have been destroyed, leaving only one pedestrian bridge in the city, according to the update.

“Damage to Ukraine’s transport infrastructure now presents a significant challenge to the delivery of humanitarian aid to areas previously besieged by Russia,” the ministry tweeted.

— Weizhen Tan

ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he has been hearing different predictions about how long the war with Russia will last.

“Some say a few weeks. Others, several years. Some say the war will last until the end of this year. And someone advises to prepare for a permanent confrontation with Russia as long as it exists,” he said. his evening address to the nation.

But Zelenskyy says the “effectiveness of the instruments of influence” in Russia used by Ukraine, as well as its entire anti-war coalition against Russia, must be taken into account when predicting how long the war will last.

“The success of our armed forces on the battlefield is truly significant. Historically significant. But it is still not enough to cleanse our land of the squatters. We will beat them more,” he said.

“Sanctions against Russia are very significant. Economically painful. But they are still not enough for the Russian military machine to run out of livelihood. We promote stronger and more destructive sanctions,” Zelenskyy said.

These two areas, he says, will determine how long this war will last. The amount of support for Ukraine “literally defines how many more Ukrainians the occupiers will manage to kill.”

“If someone says: a year or years, I answer: the war can be made much shorter. The more and sooner we get all the weapons we have asked for, the stronger our position will be and the sooner peace will come,” he said. . “The sooner the democratic world recognizes that the oil embargo against Russia and the complete blockade of its banking sector are necessary steps towards peace, the sooner the war will end.”

— Weizhen Tan