A US Defense Department official said the 186-meter-long Russian cruiser was hit by two Ukrainian missiles, calling it a “major blow” to Russia.
Russia had so far said that the “Moskva” was damaged by fire on Wednesday after its own ammunition exploded and that the crew – some 500 men according to available sources – had been evacuated.
Some claims that a Ukrainian military officer denied. “We watched as the ships tried to help, but even the forces of nature were on Ukraine’s side” as “a storm prevented the rescue of the ship and the evacuation of the crew,” said Natalia Gumeniuk, spokeswoman for the southern military command. from Ukraine.
“We are perfectly aware that they will not forgive us,” he added, referring to Russia and possible new attacks.
The loss of the “Moskva” is a serious blow for Russia because “it ensured air cover for other ships during their operations, especially for the bombardment of the coast and landing maneuvers,” explained the spokesman for the Odessa military administration, Sergei Bratchuk.
Fear of a nuclear attack
Zelensky echoed the statements made the day before by CIA director William Burns. “(…) None of us can take lightly the nuclear threat of the potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons,” he said in a speech in Atlanta.
This Friday, Russia issued a direct warning: “The number and magnitude of missile strikes at locations in kyiv damaged in response to all terrorist-type attacks and sabotage perpetrated on Russian territory by the nationalist regime in kyiv,” he said. his Defense Ministry.
Early Friday morning, a missile factory on the outskirts of kyiv was hit by Russian bombardment, AFP journalists confirmed.
The Vizar company manufactures Neptune anti-ship missiles with which the Ukrainians say they hit the Russian ship, UkrOboronProm, the state body that oversees Ukrainian weapons plants, said on its website.
The plant and the adjacent administrative building, located about 30 km southwest of kyiv, suffered significant damage, AFP found.
The Russians carried out three attacks on Friday in the kyiv region, said its governor, Alexander Pavliouk, without specifying whether this included the Vizar company.
Shots fired at evacuees
On the Ukrainian side, the Prosecutor’s Office reported on Friday that seven civilians were killed and 27 wounded in Russian fire on evacuation buses in the northeastern Kharkov region, near the border.
In addition, at least seven people were killed, including a seven-month-old baby, and 34 were wounded in Russian shelling of a residential area in Kharkov, regional governor Oleg Sinegubov announced on Friday.
In Bucha, a town near kyiv that has become a symbol of atrocities attributed to Russian forces, 95% of people found dead were killed, kyiv region police chief Andrii Nebitov said.
“During the (Russian) occupation, people were being shot in the streets… It is impossible to hide this type of crime in the 21st century. Not only are there witnesses, but it was also recorded on video,” he said.
The mayor of Bucha, Anatoli Fedoruk, assured that more than 400 bodies had been found after the departure of the Russian troops.
Attacks in Donbas
In eastern Ukraine, in the Donbas region, Donetsk was the scene of fighting “on the front line”, in which three people were killed and seven others were injured, the Ukrainian presidency said on Friday.
Another area of this mining area, Lugansk, was the target of 24 bombardments, which caused two deaths and 10 injuries, according to the same source.
Russia, whose announced major offensive in Donbas has not yet started, is having trouble gaining full control of Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov.
This city, besieged for more than 40 days by the Russian army, could have the worst balance of human losses in this war. The Ukrainian authorities fear that there are about 20,000 dead.
Galina Vasilieva, 78, points to a completely burned nine-story building. “Look at our beautiful buildings! People burned inside,” laments this retiree as she waits in front of a humanitarian aid distribution truck organized by pro-Russian separatists.
During a visit to Ukraine, David Beasley, the executive director of the World Food Program, which belongs to the United Nations, requested access to besieged areas and cities, where people are “starving”.
An AFP team was able to access Mariupol through a press trip organized by the Russian army and was able to see the damage left by the constant bombardment of the city since the Russian invasion on February 24.
The conquest of Mariupol would be an important victory for the Russian forces, since it would allow them to consolidate their position in the Sea of Azov, uniting Donbas and the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
Now the fighting is limited to the extensive industrial area on the coast. The Russian forces and their separatist allies in Donetsk prevailed and gradually tightened the siege.
More than five million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
And meanwhile, tensions between Russia and Western countries show no signs of easing. Moscow announced the expulsion of 18 diplomats from the European Union representation in their country, in response to a similar measure adopted by Brussels.