After the disaster represented by the sinking of its flagship in the Black Sea, Russia promised Friday to intensify its strikes on Kiev in response to
"terrorist" attacks,
in its eyes.
The first salvo precisely hit the Vizar complex, in the suburbs of the capital, a site belonging to UkrOboronProm, the state holding company which oversees Ukrainian arms factories, notably manufacturing the Neptune missiles with which the Ukrainians claim to have sunk the
Moscow
.
To discover
LIVE - War in Ukraine: follow the evolution of the conflict minute by minute
Follow information on the war in Ukraine with the Figaro application
The reasons that led to the loss of this cruiser remain mysterious, Moscow claiming that an accident on the building had caused a fire, then its disappearance, during an attempt to tow it.
According to the Russian ministry, the crew of some 500 sailors could be evacuated, but doubts remain.
The confession of the sinking of the
Moskva
is a
"rare moment of honesty
," insisted David Petraeus, the former director of the CIA.
I'm surprised they admitted it."
Read also
Ukraine: why is Joe Biden more offensive in the choice of words than Emmanuel Macron?
The scale of this setback, even if it is more symbolic than strategic, is a blow for Russia.
Vladimir Putin could therefore consider, to regain control, extreme solutions, fears the current director of the CIA, William Burns:
"Given the probable despair of President Putin and the Russian leaders, no one can take the threat lightly posed by a potential use of a tactical nuclear weapon.”
The Kremlin placed its nuclear forces on high alert shortly after the start of the aggression against Ukraine.
"Terrorist attacks"
Further sign of the rise in tension, the
Washington Post
revealed that Moscow had sent a diplomatic note to Washington warning that the sending by the United States and NATO of
"the most sensitive"
armaments could lead
to "unforeseeable consequences »
.
Russia also said Thursday that the Ukrainian army had bombed Russian border villages near Klimovo, during a raid conducted with helicopters.
According to the Tass agency, these devices
"equipped with heavy weapons"
would have fired on more than 20 apartment buildings and schools, wounding seven people, including a baby,
"to varying degrees".
Kiev rejected these accusations and in return accused Russian special services of carrying
out "terrorist attacks"
in the border region to fuel
"anti-Ukrainian hysteria".
In the Donbass, now the official target of the Russian offensive,
"fighting is taking place along the entire front line",
particularly in the Donetsk region, according to Kiev: three people were killed there and seven injured.
The other region of this mining basin, that of Luhansk, was the scene of 24 bombardments.
Read also
These weeks of martyrdom imposed by the Russians on the villages of the South: the story of the special envoy of
Figaro
In the port of Mariupol, the defenders are still resisting in intense street fighting.
The Russian army said on Wednesday that 1,000 of them had surrendered, but the city's mayor denied it.
The invading forces also said they were masters of the Ilyich steel complex on Thursday, one of the main points still in the hands of the Ukrainians, without however providing proof.
The violence around the city continues unabated.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense assured that, for the first time in the conflict, Moscow had committed long-range bombers to strike the city.
