Russia launches fresh strikes on Kyiv, Lviv – DW – 03/24/2024

The Ukrainian military said it had two Russian landing ships in a strike on Sevastopol in the annexed Crimean peninsula.

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces successfully struck the amphibious landing ships Yamal and Azov, a communications center, and a number of the Black Sea Fleet’s infrastructure sites,” it said. 

Earlier, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian-appointed mayor of Sevastopol, said one person was killed and four were injured in the “most massive attack in recent times.”

Poland has accused Russia of violating its airspace after Russia launched cruise missiles at the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

“On March 24 at 4:23 a.m. (0323 GMT), there was a violation of Polish airspace by one of the cruise missiles launched overnight by long-range aviation of the Russian Federation,” the Operational Command of the Polish armed forces said on social media.

Jacek Goryszewski, a Polish army spokesperson, said the rocket “went around 2 kilometers over the border.”

Russia launched fresh strikes on Lviv as well as Kyiv in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Earlier, the Polish armed forces said it had activated aircraft in response to “intense” and “long-range” aviation activity from Russia.

“Polish and allied aircraft have been activated, which may result in increased noise levels, especially in the south-eastern part of the country,” it added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected claims by Russian authorities that Ukraine was somehow connected to the mass shooting near Moscow that killed at least 133 people.

“After what happened yesterday in Moscow, Putin and the other bastards are of course just trying to put the blame on someone else,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video address on Saturday evening.

“They always blame others,” he added.

Zelenskyy accused Russia of spreading terror itself, while adding that Putin stayed silent for a day after the Moscow attack.

“They drove hundreds of thousands of their terrorists here to fight us on our Ukrainian soil, and they don’t care what happens inside their own country,” he said.

In a televised address on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said 11 people had been detained, including the four gunmen.

“They tried to hide and moved towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a window was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border,” he said.

The Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Russia launched fresh attacks on Kyiv and Lviv on Sunday, Ukrainian officials said.

“Explosions in the capital. Air defence is working. Do not leave shelters,” Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

Prliminary reports suggested no casualties of damage according to Sergiy Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration.

“The enemy continues massive missile terror against Ukraine,” Popko said on Telegram. “It does not give up its goal of destroying Kyiv at any cost.”

In Lviv, mayor Andriy Sadovy said about 20 missiles and seven Iranian-made Shahed drones were fired at the region.

“They targeted critical infrastructure facilities,” Sadovy said.

US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, said Sunday marked the third time this week that a nationwide air alert had been issued before dawn. 

“Russia continues to indiscriminately launch drones andm issiles with no regard for millions of civilians, violatinginternational law,” she said.