A day after Russia lost its flagship missile cruiser Moskva, its defence ministry threatened Ukraine with intensified attacks and claimed to have struck a factory producing anti-ship missiles on the outskirts of Kyiv.
“High-precision, long-range, sea-based Kalibr missiles attacked a military facility on the outskirts of Kyiv,” said defence ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov.
“As a result of the attack on the Zhulyansky Vizar machine-building plant, workshops for the production and repair of long-range and medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as anti-ship missiles, were destroyed,” he added.
“The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up,” he said.
Witnesses reported some of the most powerful explosions in the capital since Russian forces withdrew from the area two weeks ago.
It came after Ukraine claimed responsibility for sinking Moscow’s flagship missile cruiser Moskva by targeting it with two anti-ship missiles.
The Pentagon has said it believes Ukrainian missiles did hit the ship, which was by far Russia’s largest vessel in its Black Sea fleet, equipped with guided missiles to attack the shore and shoot down planes, and radar to provide air defence cover for the fleet.
Russia’s defence ministry admitted the Moskva had sunk but said it went down while being towed to port following a fire and explosions in rough seas. More than 500 crewmembers were evacuated, it added.
A Russian state TV host has said Vladimir Putin’s “special operation” in Ukraine is taking longer than expected because Moscow has entered a Third World War against Nato.
Presenter Olga Skabeyeva implored Rossiya 1 viewers to “recognise” that the country was now “fighting against Nato infrastructure, if not Nato itself”.
“What it’s escalated into can clearly be called World War Three,” she said.
Separately, police said that more than 900 civilian bodies have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital following the withdrawal of Russian forces − most of them fatally shot.
Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv’s regional police force, said the bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating that 95 per cent died from gunshot wounds.
“Consequently, we understand that under the [Russian] occupation, people were simply executed in the streets,” Mr Nebytov said.
More bodies are being found every day, under rubble and in mass graves, he added.
“The most victims were found in Bucha, where there are more than 350 corpses,” he said.
Russia also accused Ukraine of launching airstrikes on residential buildings in Bryansk, a Russian region that borders Ukraine, and allegedly injuring seven people.
In Kyiv, a renewed bombardment could mean a return to the steady wail of air raid sirens heard during the early days of the invasion and fearful nights sheltering in subway stations. Tentative signs of pre-war life have resurfaced in the capital after Russian troops failed to capture the city and retreated to concentrate on eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials have not confirmed striking targets in Russia, and the reports could not be independently verified.
