Russia has escalated assaults in western Ukraine with a lethal airstrike on a army base the place its troops had skilled with NATO forces, bringing the battle nearer to Poland and different members of the bloc.
In the meantime, police within the capital of Kyiv confirmed {that a} U.S. video journalist has died and one other American journalist was injured after they had been attacked by Russian forces.
The Ukrainians mentioned that not less than 35 folks had been killed and 134 wounded when over 30 cruise missiles had been fired on the Yavoriv army vary, simply 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the Polish border. No additional data on the casualties was instantly obtainable. A day earlier, a senior Russian diplomat mentioned Moscow had warned america that it thought-about overseas shipments of army tools to Ukraine “legit targets.”
The U.S. swiftly ordered a warning Sunday, with White Home nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” saying Russia will face a response from NATO ought to any of its assaults in Ukraine cross borders and hit members of the safety alliance – even accidentally.
The strike comes a day after Russia bombarded cities throughout Ukraine, pounding Mariupol and the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv. From Vatican Metropolis, Pope Francis on Sunday decried the “barbarianism” of the killing of kids and different defenseless Ukrainians and referred to as a cease to the assaults “earlier than cities are diminished to cemeteries.”
“Within the title of God, I ask: ‘Cease this bloodbath,’” Francis advised about 25,000 folks gathered in St. Peter’s Sq. for his customary Sunday midday look.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of making an attempt to create new “pseudo-republics” to interrupt his nation aside. He referred to as on Ukraine’s areas to not repeat the expertise of two jap areas the place pro-Russian separatists started combating Ukrainian forces in 2014.
As Russian items fanned out to arrange for an assault on Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, Zelenskyy mentioned Russia would want to carpet-bomb town and kill its residents to take it.
Now in its third week, the conflict has pressured greater than 2.5 million folks to flee Ukraine.
Listed here are some key issues to know concerning the battle:
What Occurred to the U.S. Journalists?
The police power mentioned Sunday on its official web site that Russian troops opened hearth on the automotive of Brent Renaud and one other journalist in Irpin close to the capital. It mentioned the injured journalist, Juan Arredondo, was taken to a hospital within the metropolis.
A New York Occasions spokesperson mentioned Renaud, 50, was a “gifted filmmaker who had contributed to The New York Occasions over time.” The spokesperson mentioned he was not working for the publication on the time of his demise.
The police power mentioned: “In fact, the career of journalism carries dangers. Nonetheless, U.S. citizen Brent Renaud paid together with his life making an attempt to focus on the deceit, cruelty and ruthlessness of the aggressor.”
Journalist Annalisa Camilli has advised The Related Press she was at a hospital in Kyiv the place wounded Arredondo was introduced for remedy. In a video recorded by Camilli, Arredondo, mendacity on a stretcher, mentioned he and Renaud had been filming refugees fleeing the world when Russian troopers at a checkpoint opened hearth.
The motive force of their car circled, however troopers continued to fireside, Arredondo mentioned. Arredondo mentioned an ambulance carried him away and Renaud, who was shot within the neck, had been left behind.
Requested concerning the reviews, White Home nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan advised CBS News that the U.S. authorities could be consulting with the Ukrainians to find out how the incident occurred and would then “execute acceptable penalties.”
“That is half and parcel of what has been a brazen aggression on the a part of the Russians, the place they’ve focused civilians, they’ve focused hospitals, they’ve focused locations of worship, and so they have focused journalists,” Sullivan mentioned on “Face the Nation.”
What’s Taking place in Besieged Mariupol and Western Ukraine?
Russian shelling of this Ukrainian port metropolis of 430,000 has been relentless, and the mayor’s workplace says greater than 1,500 have died for the reason that siege started. Russian forces hammered town’s downtown on Saturday as residents hid.
In a few of his strongest denunciations but of the conflict, Francis mentioned the southern Ukrainian metropolis bearing the title of the Virgin Mary has “turn out to be a metropolis martyred by the heartbreaking conflict that’s devastating Ukraine.”
The coaching base hit in Yavoriv seems to be probably the most westward goal struck to this point within the 18-day invasion. The power, often known as the Worldwide Peacekeeping and Safety Middle, has lengthy been used to coach Ukrainian army personnel, usually with instructors from america and different NATO international locations.
The bottom has additionally hosted worldwide NATO drills. As such, the location symbolizes what has lengthy been a Russian grievance: That the NATO alliance of 30 member international locations is shifting ever nearer to Russia’s borders. Russia has demanded that Ukraine drop its ambitions to affix NATO.
Russian airstrikes additionally once more hit the airport in Ivano-Frankivsk, one other metropolis in western Ukraine south of Lviv and 250 kilometers away from Ukraine’s border with NATO members Slovakia and Hungary. The town’s Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv, who reported the strikes on the airport on Sunday, mentioned Russia’s objective was “to sow panic and concern.”
What Has the AP Immediately Witnessed or Confirmed?
An Related Press journalist witnessed tanks firing on a 9-story house block in Mariupol and was with a bunch of medical staff who got here beneath sniper hearth on Friday. Situations at an area hospital there have been deteriorating, electrical energy was reserved for working tables and the hallways had been lined with folks with nowhere else to go.
Anastasiya Erashova wept and trembled as she held a sleeping baby. Shelling had simply killed her different baby in addition to her brother’s baby. “Nobody was in a position to save them,” she mentioned.
In Irpin, on the northwest outskirts of Kyiv, our bodies laid within the open in a park and on a avenue Saturday. Residents mentioned they’d no details about what or the place was secure as capturing echoed.
Sergiy Stakhovsky, a not too long ago retired skilled tennis participant from Ukraine, mentioned he left his spouse and three younger kids at residence in Hungary to return to Ukraine and struggle. He advised The Related Press that he would by no means have imagined to be in his residence metropolis with a gun in his fingers.
What Is Taking place with the Ukrainian Refugees?
Whereas the variety of folks arriving in neighboring international locations from Ukraine seems to have eased prior to now week, the refugees’ harrowing accounts of destruction and demise proceed.
On the prepare station in Przemysl, Poland, refugees described touring in packed trains and “folks sleeping on one another” throughout their journeys to security. Some heard explosions as they handed via a western area of Ukraine close to Lviv within the space the place Russian missiles pounded the army coaching base, killing not less than 35 folks.
“The sky,” mentioned Elizaveta Zmievskaya, 25, from Dnipro, “turned crimson.”
Greater than 1.5 million refugees have arrived in Poland for the reason that begin of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 — out of a complete of round 2.7 million folks that the United Nations say have fled to this point.
Polish border guard spokeswoman Anna Michalska mentioned that the numbers of refugees arriving have eased prior to now week with about 79,800 arriving on Saturday, in comparison with 142,000 every week earlier.
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