Heinous act of barbarism: Ukraine FM says as explosions rock Kyiv again

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba criticized the attacks carried out on the capital Kyiv which came as the head of the United Nations was visiting.

“By this heinous act of barbarism Russia demonstrates once again its attitude towards Ukraine, Europe and the world,” Kuleba tweeted. Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov also said it was “an attack on the security of the Secretary General and on world security.”

Russia pounded targets from practically one end of Ukraine to the other Thursday, including Kyiv, bombarding the city in the boldest attack on the capital since Moscow’s forces retreated weeks ago.

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Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said there had been “two hits in the Shevchenkovsky district” in a post on Telegram.

Several people were wounded in the attack on Kyiv, including one who lost a leg and others who were trapped in the rubble when two buildings were hit, rescue officials said.

The bombardment came just an hour after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a news conference with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who said Ukraine has become “an epicenter of unbearable heartache and pain.” A spokesperson said Guterres and his team were safe.

Guterres and his team were “shocked” by the proximity of the Russian attacks.

“It is a war zone but it is shocking that it happened close to us,” Saviano Abreu, spokesperson for the UN’s humanitarian office said, according to Al Jazeera.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also denounced the Russian attacks.

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“Today, immediately after the end of our talks in Kyiv, Russian missiles flew into the city. Five rockets. And this says a lot … about the Russian leadership’s efforts to humiliate the UN and everything that the organisation represents,” Zelenskyy said, adding it required “a correspondingly powerful reaction.”

Meanwhile, explosions were reported across the country, in Polinne in the west of the country, Chernihiv near the border with Belarus, and in Fastiv, a large railway hub southwest of the capital.