Russian forces hit new targets in Ukraine on Friday (11), some of them in the west of the country, a region that until now had been relatively safe from attacks.
Satellite images also show that Moscow troops are regrouping northwest of Kiev, and Britain said on Friday that Putin could be planning an attack on the Ukrainian capital within days.
According to statements by the Russian and Ukrainian governments and from photos and videos released by different sources – some of them verified by the American newspaper The New York Times – there were bombings in three cities located between central and western Ukraine: Dnirpo, Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk.
According to the Ukrainian state emergency service, in the early morning, three air strikes were carried out on the city of Dnipro, hitting a kindergarten, a residential building and a two-story shoe factory, where a fire started. One person died, according to this source.
The agency released images of several destroyed and burning buildings in Dnipro. Another video shows residents fleeing after the attack.
In Lutsk, a northwestern city less than a two-hour drive from the Polish border, a military airport was hit, according to the mayor, Igor Polishchuk, who warned residents to protect themselves from the attack in a social media post.
A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that Moscow had attacked “military airports” in Lutsk and also in Ivano-Frankivsk, a city in southwest Ukraine.
A video verified by the New York Times shows at least three explosions, apparently near the Ivano-Frankivsk international airport.
Russia’s defense ministry says Kremlin-backed separatists have also captured another strategic city in the south-east of the country, Volnovakha, the gateway to the port of Mariupol to the north.
Kiev
North of the Ukrainian capital, Russia’s main strike force has been stalled on a highway since the early days of the invasion, having failed in what Western countries believe was an initial plan for a blitzkrieg on the capital.
But images released by the private US satellite company Maxar on Friday showed armored units maneuvering in and through towns near Antonov Airport in Hostomel, northwest of Kiev, which have been the scene of intense fighting since Russia landed paratroopers there in first hours of the war.
“Russia is likely looking to redefine and reposition its forces for renewed offensive activity in the coming days,” the UK Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update. “This will likely include operations against the capital Kiev.”
