Kiev: Moscow said on Thursday it had foiled a Ukrainian attempt to “invade” its southwestern border as Russia pounded Kiev with missiles, killing three including a child.
Ukraine’s capital suffered near-nightly airstrikes in May, including an unusual daylight attack on Monday that sent residents running for shelter.
As Kiev launched an air defense against a fresh volley of Russian ballistic and cruise missiles, Moscow said it foiled an attempt by Ukrainian troops to “invade” its southwestern Belgorod region.
The Russian Defense Ministry said, “At about 3 am (0000 GMT), Ukrainian units consisting of two motorized infantry companies, reinforced with tanks, attempted to attack.” Moscow used jets and artillery to repel the attacks and prevent Ukrainian troops from crossing into Russia.
Earlier in the day, regional officials said eight people were wounded in an attack in the Belgorod region blamed on Ukrainian troops.
Moscow’s latest attack on Kiev began just before 3:00 a.m. local time when cruise and ballistic missiles were fired from Russia’s Bryansk region.
A relative mourns near a body following the Russian attack in Kiev, Ukraine, June 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)
Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted and destroyed all 10 ballistic and cruise missiles launched by Russia.
Three people, including a nine-year-old child, were killed when fragments of a rocket fell in the Deshnyansky district northeast of Kiev. Another 16 people were injured.
Yaroslav Ryabchuk, the husband of one of the victims, said the shelter where they regularly hid from Russian attacks was closed on Thursday, and he ran to ask for help.
“When I came back there was a lot of blood, children and women were lying there. There were screams and dust,” he told AFP.
“Nothing matters now,” he said, adding that his children were “left without a mother.”
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed three people were killed when “a piece of rocket” fell close to a clinic as they were running to escape after an air raid warning.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko walks through debris as he visits a clinic damaged as a result of a missile blast dropped during Russia’s attack on Kiev on June 1, 2023. (Sergei Chujavkov / AFP)
Interior Minister Igor Klemenko said, “A closed shelter in wartime is not just indifference, it is a crime,” adding that an investigation had been opened.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned Russia’s efforts to “terrorize” the civilian population.
Moscow claims it only targets military installations in Ukraine.
Russia says it is evacuating hundreds of children from border villages because of increasing attacks.
The governor of Bolgorod said residents were evacuated from the town of Shebekino after heavy shelling filled temporary shelters in the regional capital.
“Therefore all arriving residents of Shebykino are being sent in an organized manner to the remaining centers for displaced persons,” Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram on Thursday.
This handout photo released by Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, shows damaged houses in Russia’s western Belgorod region on May 23, 2023. (Governor of the Belgorod Region Vyacheslav Gladkov Telegram channel via AP)
The attacks come as Kiev says it is preparing a major offensive against Moscow’s military. An unprecedented drone attack took place in Moscow on Tuesday.
“The situation is very dangerous,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
On Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the West of “pushing the Ukrainian leadership towards increasingly reckless acts” following the Moscow drone strike.
At least three buildings, including two high-rise residential buildings, suffered minor damage in the affluent southwest of Moscow. Ukraine denied any “direct involvement”.
In the United States, the Pentagon announced a new $300 million arms package for Ukraine, including air defense systems and millions of rounds of ammunition.
The United States said it did not support any attacks inside Russia and was instead providing equipment and training to Kiev to reclaim its territory.
The Defense Department said these aid shipments would bring the total value of US security assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion to $37.6 billion.
