This barrage was an escalation in Moscow’s offensive, and it moved the fighting dangerously close to the Polish border.
The attack on NATO member-countries was a warning sign that the alliance might be drawn into the conflict. It also featured a lot of symbolism in a conflict which has revived Cold War rivalries and threatens to overturn the global security order.
More than 30 Russian cruise missiles struck the sprawling facility in Yavoriv. This facility has been used for years to train Ukrainian soldiers with instructors from other members of the Western alliance. The strikes were also carried out because of Moscow’s threat to strike those shipments.
Ina Padi, 40, a Ukrainian woman who had crossed the border with her family was sheltering at a Wielkie Oczy fire station, Poland when she was awakened Sunday morning by blasts that shaken the windows.
She said, “I understood in that instant even if it is free of it (the war), is still coming after me.”
Russian forces have been struggling to advance across Ukraine since their invasion two weeks ago despite stiffer resistance than anticipated, supported by Western weapons support. Instead, Russian forces have taken control of several cities and used strikes to decimate them, causing a number of humanitarian crises and hitting over a dozen hospitals.
Although the U.N. believes that there have been at least 596 civilian casualties, it also claims that the true number is higher. The Prosecutor General of Ukraine stated that 85 children were among those killed. A journalist and filmmaker from the United States was also murdered Sunday. During the most violent land conflict in Europe since World War II, millions more have fled their homes.
Talks for a general cease-fire have failed so far. However, a Kremlin spokesman stated that another round of talks would be held on Monday via videolink according to Russian state news agency Tass. Meanwhile, U.S. U.S. President Joe Biden will send his national security advisor to Rome to meet with an official from China. Washington is concerned that Beijing may be amplifying Russian disinformation, which could help Moscow avoid harsh Western economic sanctions.
The attack training base in Yavoriv is located less than 25 km (15 miles) from Poland’s border. It appears to have been the westernmost target during Russia’s 18-day invasion.
It has been host to NATO drills and a high ranking official, Admiral Rob Bauer previously described it as embodying the “spirit of military cooperation” between Ukraine’s international forces.
The site has become a powerful symbol of Russia’s long-standing worries that NATO’s recent expansion of the Western military alliance of 30 members to include ex-Soviet states could threaten its security. NATO denies this. Moscow still sees NATO as a threat and has asked Ukraine to stop trying to join NATO.
Maksym Kozytskyi, Lviv governor, said that most Russian missiles fired Sunday were “shot down because the air defence system worked.” He said that at least 35 people were killed and 134 others were injured by those missiles.
The United States condemned Yavoriv’s attack, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted: “The brutality must end.”
Russian fighters also fired on the airport in Ivano-Frankivsk’s western city. It is located less than 150 km (94 miles) north Romania and 250 km (155 miles) away from Hungary, two NATO allies.
NATO stated Sunday that it does not currently have personnel in Ukraine. However, the United States has increased its troop deployment to Poland. Jake Sullivan, White House national security advisor, said that the West will respond if Russia strikes Ukraine from outside Ukraine.
Biden “has made it clear repeatedly that the United States will cooperate with our allies in defense of every inch NATO territory,” Sullivan stated on CBS News’ Face the Nation.
NATO has stated that it won’t send troops to Ukraine. However, Sullivan said that the U.S., its allies, and military weapons, and supplies to the front, have received “substantial amounts” of military assistance, weapons, and supplies — and that despite Russian threats to attack, they believe they will be able continue doing so.
Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, has so far been spared from the destruction to its east or south. The city’s 721,000 inhabitants have increased in number due to the escape of the population centers under bombardment and the fact that it serves as a refuge for nearly 2.6 million refugees fleeing the country.
European and Ukrainian leaders have tried to convince Russia to allow safe passage for civilians caught in fighting. However, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President, stated that authorities managed to evacuate close to 125,000 people from conflict zones.
With Russia’s agreement, Ukrainian authorities announced that more than 10 humanitarian corridors will open Sunday from Kiev, including one from Mariupol, the besieged port. The city council stated that 2,187 people were killed.
However, such promises have been repeatedly broken and no word was given late Sunday about whether or not people would be able to use evacuation routes. Officials confirmed that 100 tons of aid were expected to arrive at Mariupol Monday.
The suffering in the port town is “simply enormous,” the International Committee of the Red Cross stated Sunday. Noting that hundreds of thousands of residents are facing extreme or total shortages of basic needs like water and food, the International Committee of the Red Cross noted that the city’s inhabitants are “facing extreme, or complete, shortages of basic necessities such as food, water, and medicine.”
The Geneva-based group stated in a statement that “dead bodies of civilians as well as combatants remain trapped under the rubble, or lie in the open where it fell.” It is impossible to treat life-threatening injuries or chronic, debilitating conditions.
It is vital to fight for Mariupol, as its capture could allow Russia to establish a land corridor from Crimea (which it seized in 2014).
Nevertheless, the fighting continues on many fronts in Ukraine which caused more misery on Sunday and prompted renewed international outrage.
Authorities reported that nine people were killed in bombings in Mykolaiv (a southern Ukrainian city near the Black Sea). According to authorities, 32 people were injured when Russian airstrikes struck a monastery in eastern Donetsk and a children’s resort.
The fighting intensified around Kyiv, the capital. It was a strategic and political target.
According to Kyiv Region police, Russian troops fired on a car carrying two American journalists. According to the U.S. State Department, Brent Renaud was killed. Juan Arredondo was also hurt.
Alexei Lipirdi (46), a Ukrainian soldier, stated that the Russians wanted to “intimidate us so that our calm will not be disturbed.” However, he and his unit are determined. He spoke as smoke rose from distant buildings, and cars were damaged or abandoned.
According to the mayor of the city, only 10,000 of the 60,000 people are still living in the city. Many of those who left are elderly or sick people and those caring for them.
Doctors at a suburb hospital stated that 80% of patients were civilians who had been wounded in the shelling. His abdomen was bandaged and Volodymr Adamkovych stated that he had been injured when his house was attacked. Before he could get to the doctors, he spent the night in his basement.
President Zelenskyy also claimed that Russians used blackmail and bribery to try to force officials in the south Kherson region of the country to create a pseudo-republic like the ones in the eastern regions, where Russian-backed separatists started fighting Ukrainian forces in 2014.
Zelenskyy reported Saturday the death of 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers in war. Although the Russians claimed that hundreds of their troops had died in the war, they have not provided an updated count.
As fighting took place around nuclear power stations, the war raised concerns about nuclear accidents. Ukraine announced on Sunday that it had restored the power line connecting to Chernobyl’s decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant. This was the site of the worst nuclear accident in history, which occurred in 1986. Last week, the plant was disconnected from the power grid and had to rely on generators. The plant was unable to cool the spent fuel, which raised concerns. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency stated that the plant would be reconnected with the power grid on Monday