“It was Russia that launched an unprovoked war on foreign territory, with indiscriminate mass killings and large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure,” Podoliak wrote on Twitter. “Therefore, any retaliatory actions by Ukraine are absolutely justified, both morally and legally.” Until now, Ukraine has always denied responsibility for military attacks on Russian territory and spoke of false Russian reports.
In the case of the missile cruiser “Moskva” it was the opposite. While Ukraine claimed to have sunk the 186-meter-long ship with two anti-ship missiles, Moscow spoke of detonated ammunition and a sinking in rough seas as a result of an attempt to tow it. However, anti-ship missiles are also being manufactured at the Kiev missile factory hit on Friday.
Ukraine expected more acts of retaliation. “The attack on the cruiser Moskva hit not only the ship itself, but also the enemy’s imperial ambitions,” a spokeswoman for the Armed Forces of Southern Ukraine said on Friday. “We are all aware that we will not be forgiven for this. We are aware that attacks against us will increase and that the enemy will take revenge. We understand that,” the spokeswoman referred to the attacks on the southern cities of Odessa and Odessa. from Ukraine. Mykolayiv.
Meanwhile, Russia says it has taken full control of one of the defenders’ last strongholds in the sea of Azov city of Mariupol, the Ilyich steelworks. According to Ukrainian sources, however, the struggle for the steel industry continues. There is active street fighting in these areas, says a Defense Ministry spokesman.
After the attack on the missile factory near Kiev, Russia announced new attacks on the Ukrainian capital. The Kiev attack was justified by the Russian Defense Ministry as retaliation for alleged Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory, several of which Russian authorities reported on Thursday. Ukraine reportedly fired at least three rockets at an ammunition depot in the city of Belgorod on March 29. In early April, the Kiev government rejected Russian accusations that it was responsible for a major fire at a fuel depot near the city.
The missile cruiser “Moskva” sank in the Black Sea seven weeks after the start of the war. The missile cruiser had already been seriously damaged. There was still disagreement on Friday over whether the flagship was hit by Ukrainian “Neptun” missiles or – as the Russian side claims – damaged by the detonation of ammunition. The US joined the Ukrainian interpretation on Friday. A senior US official said the ship sank after two Ukrainian missile strikes.
According to the Russian account, a fire broke out on the ship due to an ammunition explosion, which is why it had to be towed. The ship sank in stormy seas. International military experts doubted the representation and pointed out on Friday that the wind in the affected region was not as strong on Thursday. With the “Moskva”, the Russian Black Sea Fleet loses a lot of firepower, and the remaining ships become an easier target for batteries on land. The ship was also of great symbolic importance, for example for meetings between Putin and important state guests.
On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry did not say whether the sinking of the “Moskva” had cost lives. Moscow said the crew was taken to other Black Sea Fleet ships in the area after a fire. US Defense Department spokesman John Kirby told CNN it was “likely” that there would be deaths and injuries in the incident. Up to 500 soldiers were on board.
After withdrawing from the Kiev region, Russia says it is focusing on bringing the Donbass region under its control. There, pro-Russian separatists have controlled the areas around the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk since 2014. North of the particularly troubled city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, Ukraine reported successes that could not be independently verified.
A shelling in a residential area in the northern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Friday killed seven people and injured 34 others, the region’s governor said on Friday. Five people died as a result of the Russian bombing of the town of Mykolaiv, the local governor said. He claimed that cluster munitions were also used. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced on Friday afternoon that 2,864 people, including 363 people from Mariupol, had been taken by humanitarian corridors from embattled cities.
Russia’s objective is the complete conquest of Mariupol. According to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Russia used long-range bombers to attack the city for the first time since the invasion began. Ukraine, meanwhile, tried to break the siege ring across the city.