'Russia will strike new targets if...': Putin warns West against supplying long range missiles to Ukraine
Putin's statements seemed more in retaliation to the United State's promise made last week to supply Ukraine with advanced missile systems.
Putin's statements seemed more in retaliation to the United State's promise made last week to supply Ukraine with advanced missile systems.
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Several explosions were heard rocking Ukraine's capital city Kyiv, following which, the Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow is ready to hit new targets if the the Western countries supply the East European nation with long-range missile.
Putin on 24 February had launched a special military operation on Ukraine, citing neo-Nazi attempts, and NATO aspirations from West on the transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. Tens of thousands of people have been killed, millions forced to flee and towns turned into rubble since the attack commenced over 100 days ago.
Putin was quoted by Russian news agencies on Sunday mentioned that if Kyiv is provided with the long-range missiles, ""we will draw the appropriate conclusions and use our arms... to strike targets we haven't hit before".
Although the Russian President did not mention which targets he was talking about.
Putin's statements seemed more in retaliation to the United State's promise made last week to supply Ukraine with advanced missile systems.
On Sunday, Ukrainian officials claimed that Russian missiles had hit railway infrastructure sites in the first such strikes on Kyiv since 28 April. Russia said that it had destroyed tanks supplied to Ukraine by eastern European countries during the strikes.
"High-precision, long-range missiles fired by the Russian Aerospace Forces on the outskirts of Kyiv destroyed T-72 tanks supplied by eastern European countries and other armoured vehicles that were in hangars," Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
Severodonetsk 'divided'
Meanwhile, in the east of the country, the battle for control of Severodonetsk raged on.
The city is the largest still in Ukrainian hands in the Lugansk region of the Donbas, where Russian forces have been advancing gradually after retreating or being beaten back from other parts of the country, including Kyiv.
Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said that Russian forces had lost ground in the city and it was now "divided in two".
"The Russians were in control of about 70 percent of the city, but have been forced back over the past two days," he said on Telegram.
"They are afraid to move freely around the city."
Russia's army on Saturday claimed some Ukrainian military units were withdrawing from Severodonetsk, but Mayor Oleksandr Striuk said Ukrainian forces were fighting to retake the city.
"We are currently doing everything necessary to re-establish total control" of the city, he said in an interview broadcast on Telegram.
Food Shortage in Ukraine
Russian troops now occupy a fifth of Ukraine's territory, according to Kyiv, and Moscow has imposed a blockade on its Black Sea ports, sparking fears of a global food crisis. Ukraine and Russia are among the top wheat exporters in the world.
The United Nations said it was leading intense negotiations with Russia to allow Ukraine's grain harvest to leave the country.
The UN has warned that African countries, which normally import over half of their wheat consumption from Ukraine and Russia, face an "unprecedented" crisis.
Food prices in Africa have already exceeded those in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings and the 2008 food riots.