UN chief visits Kyiv - Heavy explosions in the city

2022-04-28T19:23:18.574Z

UN chief visits Kyiv - Heavy explosions in the city Created: 04/28/2022Updated: 04/28/2022, 21:18 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks with UN chief António Guterres in Kyiv. © Efrem Lukatsky/AP/dpa Several explosions occur during the visit of UN Secretary-General António Guterres to Kyiv. According to authorities, a residential building in the Ukrainian capital was hit. The UN chief

UN chief visits Kyiv - Heavy explosions in the city

Created: 04/28/2022Updated: 04/28/2022, 21:18

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks with UN chief António Guterres in Kyiv.

Several explosions occur during the visit of UN Secretary-General António Guterres to Kyiv.

According to authorities, a residential building in the Ukrainian capital was hit.

The UN chief expressed his shock.

Kyiv - During the visit of UN Secretary-General António Guterres, there were several explosions near the center of Kiev.

"In the evening the enemy shelled Kyiv: two explosions in the Shevchenko district," said Mayor Vitali Klitschko on his Telegram channel on Thursday.

According to the Ukrainian civil protection service, a residential building was hit.

There are several injured, spokeswoman Switlana Wodolaga told the Hromadske television station.

According to preliminary information, six people were injured.

After the shelling, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhail Podoliak called for Russia to be stripped of its seat on the UN Security Council.

The day before yesterday Guterres was still sitting in the Kremlin and “today there are explosions just a kilometer away from him.

Is that a greeting from Moscow?

And why is Russia again in the UN Security Council,” commented Podoliak on the attack.

Guterres told the BBC after the blasts he was shocked.

Talks on refugee corridor for Mariupol

During their talks, Guterres and Zelenskyj discussed the formation of a refugee corridor for the port city of Mariupol, which had been badly damaged after weeks of fighting.

"Mariupol is a crisis within a crisis, thousands of civilians need life-saving assistance," Guterres said at a press conference after the meeting in Kyiv on Thursday.

You would need an escape route to escape the "apocalypse".

Guterres complained that the UN Security Council had not done everything in its power to prevent the war.

"This is a source of great disappointment, frustration and anger," he said.

But the UN staff would do anything to help the people in Ukraine.

The UN chief reported to Zelenskyy that during his talks with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin on Tuesday he had received a commitment in principle that the United Nations would be involved in building such an escape corridor together with the Red Cross.

There are now intensive consultations on how the proposal can be implemented in reality.

Selenskyj is optimistic

Selenskyj was optimistic after the conversation with Guterres.

According to the Ukrainian news agency Unian, he now believes that the siege of the Azovstal steelworks can be ended and a "successful result" can be achieved in Mariupol.

In addition, Zelenskyy declared his willingness to immediately negotiate the evacuation of the people trapped in the steelworks and to implement the results of the negotiations just as quickly.

"We expect a humane attitude towards these people from the Russian Federation," he said.

According to Ukrainian sources, up to 1,000 civilians are locked up in the Azovstal steelworks in addition to soldiers and fighters from the nationalist Azov regiment.