Russian missiles strike Kyiv during UN chief's visit

KYIV • Two Russian missiles struck Kyiv during a visit by the head of the United Nations, Ukrainian officials said, but the West believes the battles for the besieged port of Mariupol and other areas in the east and south may determine the war's outcome.

Russia withdrew its forces from outside Kyiv last month after failing to take the capital, and launched a massive attack on Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.

But Thursday's blasts in Kyiv, heard soon after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres completed talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, highlighted concerns that the capital remains vulnerable.

The rockets shook the central Shevchenko district of the city and one struck the lower floors of a 25-storey residential building, wounding at least 10 people and killing a journalist, Ukrainian officials said.

Russia confirmed yesterday it carried out the air strike on Kyiv during the visit by Mr Guterres, the first such attack on the Ukrainian capital in nearly two weeks.

Mr Zelensky said the missile strikes were an attempt by Russia "to humiliate the UN and everything that the organisation represents".

Earlier that day, Mr Guterres had toured Bucha and other suburbs of Kyiv where Moscow is alleged to have committed war crimes. Russia denies killing civilians.

Germany slammed the "inhumane" attack that showed Russian President Vladimir Putin has "no respect whatsoever for international law".

Ms Vera Gyrych, a producer for the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, died when a Russian missile slammed into the house where she lived in Kyiv, the media group said of the strike.

Russia's Defence Ministry said it had deployed "high-precision, long-range air-based weapons" that "have destroyed the production buildings of the Artyom missile and space enterprise in Kyiv".

In Jakarta, Indonesia - current chair of the Group of 20 (G-20) largest economies - said the presidents of Russia and Ukraine have accepted invitations to attend the bloc's summit in November.

The decision to invite both leaders shows the delicate balance that the South-east Asian country is trying to create as the G-20 host this year.

Russia is a member of the G-20, and the countries in the grouping have been divided over their reaction to Moscow for its war in Ukraine.

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo said the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have an impact on the recovery of the global economy, and it was in this context that he invited Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky to the summit in Bali, in separate calls with them over the week.

"I expressed my hope that the war can end soon and a peaceful solution through talks can progress," he said in a statement yesterday. "We understand that G-20 can be a catalyst for global economic recovery."

Mr Widodo said he had turned down a request for arms from Mr Zelensky and urged him and his Russian counterpart to end the war in Ukraine. Mr Widodo said Indonesia was ready to send humanitarian aid.

Ukraine, meanwhile, acknowledged yesterday that it was taking heavy losses in Russia's assault in the east, but said Russia's losses were even worse.

Having failed in an assault on Kyiv in the north of Ukraine last month, Russia is now trying to fully capture two eastern provinces known as the Donbas, with the West believing these battles may determine the war's outcome.

Ukraine has acknowledged losing control of some towns and villages there since the assault began last week, but says Moscow's gains have come at a massive cost to a Russian force already worn down from its earlier defeat near the capital. "We have serious losses but the Russians' losses are much, much bigger... They have colossal losses," presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said.

The office of President Zelensky said Russia was pounding the entire front line in the eastern Donetsk region with rockets, artillery, mortar bombs and aircraft.

Britain said fighting had been particularly heavy around the cities of Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, the main part of the Donbas that Russia is still trying to capture. "Due to strong Ukrainian resistance, Russian territorial gains have been limited and achieved at significant cost to Russian forces," the British Defence Ministry said in an update.

The bloodiest fighting and worst humanitarian catastrophe of the war have been in Mariupol, an eastern port reduced to a wasteland by two months of Russian bombardment and siege.

Ukraine says 100,000 civilians remain in the city, which is mostly occupied by Russia. Hundreds of civilians are holed up with the last remaining defenders in underground bunkers beneath a huge steel works.

Mr Zelensky praised his United States counterpart Joe Biden after the latter called on Congress to send as much as US$33 billion (S$46 billion) of aid to help Kyiv withstand the ongoing attack. The latest offer of help amounts to nearly 10 times the aid Washington has sent so far since the war began on Feb 24.

Mr Zelensky tweeted: "Thank you @POTUS and the American people for their leadership in supporting Ukraine in our fight against Russian aggression. We defend common values - democracy and freedom. We appreciate the US' help. Today it is needed more than ever!"

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG, NYTIMES

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