Putin thumbs his nose at the world again: Russia launches new missile strikes on Kyiv DURING UN Secretary-General’s visit to the Ukrainian capital just two days after he sat down for talks in Moscow with the dictator
- Russian missiles hit Kyiv as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visits
- Guterres was in Moscow to sit at Putin’s long table just two days ago
- It is the first such bombardment of Ukraine’s capital since mid-April
- No reports of casualties so far but Guterres thought to be safe
- Kyiv mayor Klitschko said there were ‘two hits in the Shevchenkovsky district’
Vladimir Putin has launched new missiles at Kyiv during the visit of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres just two days after he sat down with the Russian dictator in Moscow.
There was no immediate information about casualties from the strikes, which hit a western part of the city centre, but a close aide to the UN chief sent a message to journalists confirming they were safe.
Guterres visited Putin in order to discuss the urgent need for Russian forces to permit humanitarian corridors for civilian evacuations.
The missile strike can be viewed as Putin’s non-diplomatic response to Guterres’ visit.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said there had been ‘two hits in the Shevchenkovsky district’ in a post on Telegram and said they were clarifying details about casualties.
Russian missiles hit Kyiv as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is visiting. It is the first such bombardment of Ukraine’s capital since mid-April
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said there had been ‘two hits in the Shevchenkovsky district’ in a post on Telegram and said they were clarifying details about casualties
Vladimir Putin (above) ordered the strikes just two days after he himself sat with Guterres for talks in Moscow. It was the first strike on the Ukrainian capital since mid-April
There was no immediate information about casualties from the strikes, which hit a western part of the city centre, but a close aide to the UN chief sent a message to journalists confirming they were safe
AFP correspondents saw black smoke pouring into the air and a building in flames with a heavy presence of police and rescuers in the area.
‘Missile strikes in the downtown of Kyiv during the official visit of @antonioguterres,’ tweeted Mykhaylo Podolyak, a senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
‘The day before he was sitting at a long table in the Kremlin, and today explosions are above his head,’ Mykhaylo said referring to Guterres’ visit to Moscow where he met Russian President Vladimir Putin a few days ago.
Russian dictator Putin hosted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for talks about the ongoing war in Ukraine
Putin uses the tables for bilateral meetings with world leaders and met UN Secretary-General Guterres in Moscow two days before firing missiles at him when in Kyiv
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres walk after a news conference
Putin fired the missiles at Kyiv during the meeting between the Ukrainian president and the UN Secretary-General
The strike on the Ukrainian capital comes as the Russian offensive in the Donbas region gathers steam.
Several areas came under heavy shelling Thursday, amid suspicions Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to score a major battlefield success in time for Victory Day, one of Russia’s proudest holidays, on May 9.
Ukrainian authorities reported intense Russian fire in the Donbas – the eastern industrial heartland that the Kremlin is bent on capturing – and near Kharkiv, a northeastern city outside the Donbas that is seen as key to the offensive.
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