Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of trying to humiliate the United Nations by firing rockets at Kyiv during the UN chief’s visit to the city, an attack that upset weeks of relative calm and a test return to normalcy in the capital. Ukrainian forces, meanwhile, have fought to thwart Russian efforts to advance south and east, Zelenskyy said. Efforts continued to be made to secure the safe passage for residents trapped in Mariupol, who were largely in ruins in a two-month siege. An official in the president’s office said the evacuation could only take place on Friday. Russia pounded targets across Ukraine on Thursday, hitting an apartment building and another building in Kyiv. The US-funded Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty said one of its journalists had been killed. In a clear reference to the attack, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had destroyed “production buildings” at the Artem defense plant in Kyiv. The bombing came just an hour after Zelensky gave a press conference with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who toured some of the disasters in and around Kyiv and condemned the attacks on civilians. “This says a lot about Russia’s true attitude towards world institutions, about the Russian leadership’s efforts to humiliate the UN and everything that the organization represents,” Zelensky said late Thursday in his overnight address to the nation. “Therefore, it requires a correspondingly strong response.” Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the attack was a way for Russian President Vladimir Putin to give Guterres “his middle finger”. The strikes were the most daring Russian attack on the capital since Moscow’s forces retreated weeks ago after failing to seize the city. Russia is now pushing for Donbass, the country’s eastern industrial zone, which the Kremlin says is its main target. It was difficult to get a complete picture of the unfolding battle in the east, because air raids and artillery barricades have made the movement of journalists extremely dangerous. Both Ukraine and Moscow-backed rebels fighting in the east have also imposed severe restrictions on reports from the battle zone. So far, however, Russian troops and separatist forces appear to have made only small gains, and the Pentagon has said they have achieved significant costs for Kremlin forces. The purpose of Guterres’ visit was to evacuate people from the ruined southern port of Mariupol, including a damaged steel mill where an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian defenders and 1,000 civilians were at the city’s last major resistance stronghold. Previous evacuation attempts have failed. About 100,000 people are believed to be trapped in the city with little water, food, heat or electricity. “I can not confirm the exact details of the operation to make sure it will be done safely for our people and for the civilians trapped in Mariupol,” said Saviano Ampreou, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. An official from Zelensky’s office said negotiations were under way with the mediation of the UN. Two cities in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region were hit by Russian missiles on Friday, the regional governor said. There is no immediate information on casualties or damage. The governor of Russia’s Kursk region said a border station had come under fire from Ukraine and that Russian border forces had responded. He said there were no casualties on the Russian side. Thursday’s explosions in Kiev’s northwestern Shevchenkivsky district shook the city. Flames erupted from the windows of the buildings and were struck. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty reported that the body of Vira Hyrych, a journalist who worked for the TV station since 2018 and lived in one of the buildings, was found in the rubble on Friday. Radio Free Europe president Jamie Fly said the broadcaster was “shocked and angry at the absurd nature of her death at home, in a country and city she loved”. Ten people were injured in the attack, including at least one who lost a leg, according to emergency officials. Kyiv has been relatively untouched in recent weeks and cafes and other businesses have reopened, with a growing number of people flocking outside, enjoying the spring weather. The terrible human cost of the war, which has driven more than 11 million Ukrainians from their homes, continues to rise. In Liman, a city in Donetsk, in Donbas, shells rained down on Tatiana Matsegora’s house this week. Matsegora’s 14-year-old grandson, Igor, was pronounced dead after rescuers rushed him to hospital. Her daughter was in serious condition, while her son-in-law was also killed. “Grandma, will I live?” Igor asked her when she was in the basement and they were waiting for help. “I said he would live. “But look what happened: I betrayed him.”
