Russia hits Kiev with rockets for the first time since more than a month

Russian forces rocketed the Ukrainian capital. Since UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' visit to Kiev on 28 April, no attacks had been carried out.

According to Ukrainian missile authorities fell in Darnytsky and Dneprovsky neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Kiev. At least one person was admitted to the hospital and fortunately there are no victims, said Mayor Vitaly Klitschko.

Serhiy Lechenko, an assistant to President Voldomyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, said the missiles were intended to hit the railway infrastructure in the capital. On the other hand, the Russian Defence Ministry said long-range missile attacks had destroyed T-72 tanks and armoured vehicles given to Ukraine by Eastern European countries.

In an interview for Russian media, President Vladimir Putin warned that any shipment of missile systems from the West to Ukraine would push Moscow to hit “targets that have not yet been hit. ”

The whole fuss about additional shipments of weapons, in my opinion, has only one purpose: to drag back armed conflict as much as possible, said Mr. Putin.

“If Kiev takes longer-range missiles”, he added, “Moscal will draw the correct conclusions and use our own destruction tools, which we have enough to hit those objects that we haven't yet hit”.

Military analysts say Russia hopes to take over the eastern region of Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian government for years before mid-ray missile systems arrive in Ukraine.

The Pentagon said earlier this week it would take at least three weeks to introduce precise American weapons and trained troops to the battlefield.

Ukraine's Chief of General Staff accused Russian forces of using phosphorus ammunition in the Kharkivi region. The claim could not be verified independently. He also said Russian forces have not made much progress in the town of Sevierodonetsk, a statement that was backed by British intelligence, which says Ukrainian fighters have held Russian forces back in recent days.

On the diplomatic front, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov heads Serbia for talks with President Aleksandar Vucic and later in Turkey, where he is expected to discuss Ukraine with his Turkish counterpart.

Turkey has tried to work with the UN and Ukraine and Russia to help pave the way for Ukrainian wheat to be exported to Turkish ports, though there is still no agreement on the issue.

The Russian aggression in Ukraine has caused tens of thousands of victims, soldiers and civilians, and has caused the worst refugee crisis in Europe. War has also banned exports of wheat and other cereals from Ukraine through the Black Sea, restricting access to bread and other products in Africa, the Middle East and beyond. / VOA