Russia's invasion of Ukraine has reached its fourth week without taking Kyiv or toppling Ukraine's government, but the shelling of Ukrainian cities continues - a move western military experts fear might be a sign of a cruel and planned strategy.
Russia ramped up its strikes Friday, claiming it deployed its first hypersonic missile to demolish a massive underground storehouse carrying missiles and aircraft ammunition near the hamlet of Deliatyn. Missiles and mortars landed at the borders of Kyiv and an aviation maintenance station was assaulted outside the western city of Lviv. Hospitals, schools and facilities where people sought protection have been assaulted throughout the nation.
Britain’s military intelligence head identified it as a growing ”strategy of attrition.” Without large cities seized, Russia looks to be shifting to the “reckless and indiscriminate use of firepower” that would deepen the humanitarian disaster, Lt. Gen. Jim Hockenhull warned Friday
Russia launches hypersonic missile; 10 humanitarian corridors to open; 1.5M children have left Ukraine: Live updates
- Joel Shannon
- Ana Faguy
- Ella Lee
Tom Vanden Brook
USA TODAY
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has reached its fourth week without taking Kyiv or toppling Ukraine's government, but the shelling of Ukrainian cities continues - a move western military experts fear might be a sign of a cruel and planned strategy.
Russia ramped up its strikes Friday, claiming it deployed its first hypersonic missile to demolish a massive underground storehouse carrying missiles and aircraft ammunition near the hamlet of Deliatyn. Missiles and mortars landed at the borders of Kyiv and an aviation maintenance station was assaulted outside the western city of Lviv. Hospitals, schools and facilities where people sought protection have been assaulted throughout the nation.
Britain’s military intelligence head identified it as a growing ”strategy of attrition.” Without key cities seized, Russia looks to be shifting to the “reckless and indiscriminate use of firepower” that would deepen the humanitarian disaster, Lt. Gen. Jim Hockenhull warned Friday.
Russian soldiers are besieging Ukrainian cities, depending more on attacking them from a distance with artillery, missile and air attacks, according to the Pentagon.
“This is likely to include the indiscriminate use of gunfire resulting in greater civilian fatalities, devastation of Ukrainian infrastructure, and aggravate the humanitarian crisis,” British Defense attache Mick Smeath warned in a statement Saturday..
Meanwhile in Russia, President Vladimir Putin is tightening his control of domestic media aiming to cover heavy deaths against tough opposition met in his invasion of Ukraine, according to a British Defense Ministry intelligence assessment.
The judgment was confirmed by the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based foreign policy think organization, in a study this week. The organization cautioned that because Russia's "lightning onslaught aimed to grab the capital" had failed, the military looked to be settling in for a prolonged battle "planned to choke Ukraine."
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The plan would certainly include assaulting residential areas, burning towns and choking off supplies, perhaps resulting to starvation, according to the research. The group then drew comparisons to a manufactured famine created by the Kremlin in the 1930s that killed millions of Ukrainians - a Soviet effort to "subjugate the Ukrainian people.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is pressing China, which has retained its relations with Moscow and avoided taking a hard position on the crisis. China's posture is in sharp contrast to several western countries that have immediately rushed to censure Russia and shut off its economy.
During a nearly two-hour video conference on Friday, Biden cautioned Chinese President Xi Jinping of the "consequences if China gives material assistance to Russia," according to the White House
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Latest developments:
► Russia claims it used its first hypersonic missile in the conflict to strike an ammunition storage in southern Ukraine.
► On Saturday, Ukraine and Russia have agreed to establish 10 humanitarian corridors to aid with the evacuation attempts, according to Ukraine's deputy prime minister.
►The U.N. migration office believes the violence has displaced roughly 6.5 million people within Ukraine, on top of the 3.2 million refugees who have already departed the nation. Ukraine alleges hundreds have been slain
► The Ukraine military claims to have killed another Russian general — the fifth since the assault started.
► Pope Francis on Friday decried what he termed the “perverse misuse of power” in Russia's conflict in Ukraine. The statements were some of his strongest ever in favor of Ukraine.
Russia claims it used hypersonic missiles for the first time
Russia says it fired a hypersonic missile Friday to hit a western Ukraine target, the Interfax news agency reported.
Hypersonic missiles are missiles that travel five times the speed of sound. The Russia military stated these missiles are capable of reaching targets at a range of more than 2,000 kilometers, or about the distance from New York City to Kansas City.
"The Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aero ballistic missiles destroyed a vast underground storehouse carrying missiles and aviation ammunition in the hamlet of Deliatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk area," the Russian military ministry stated Saturday.
This is the the first know usage of hypersonic missiles since Russian soldiers entered Ukraine.
- Ana Faguy
Ten humanitarian routes agreed upon, Ukraine announces
Ukraine and Russia have agreed to create 10 humanitarian corridors to aid with the evacuation operations, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk revealed Saturday.
A route from Mariupol – a town destroyed by the Russians — to Zaporizhia is among the lanes that were mentioned. Corridors in the Kyiv and Luhansk areas, are also part of the accord. Along with buses to evacuate civilians, Vereshchuk said food and medication will be given to any towns destroyed by the Russians.
Vereshchuk advised citizens to utilize the routes promptly as "the adversary insidiously undermines our agreements."
-Ana Faguy
UNICEF: 1.5M Ukrainian refugee children at danger of human trafficking
The more than 1.5 million children who have left Ukraine as refugees face an increased risk for exploitation and trafficking, UNICEF warned Saturday.
Women and children comprise virtually all of the refugees who have fled Ukraine since Feb. 24, UNICEF said that increases the number of possible trafficking victims.
"The conflict in Ukraine is leading to tremendous displacement and refugee movements - situations that might lead to a large surge in human trafficking and an urgent child protection crisis," said Afshan Khan, UNICEF's Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia. "Displaced children are highly susceptible to being removed from their relatives, exploited, and trafficked. They need governments in the area to take up and put measures in place to keep them secure.
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