Ukraine says Russia advancing ‘200-300 meters a day’ near Kurakhove
Kyiv said on Friday that Russian forces were advancing by up to 300 meters per day on the eastern front, after Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a warning to the West by firing a new hypersonic missile at Ukraine.
The Ukrainian parliament also shut down over heightened fears of a missile attack, a day after the strike on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro with a nuclear-capable missile.
The strike marked a serious escalation of Moscow’s 33-month invasion of Ukraine, sending the Russian ruble plunging on Friday to its lowest level against the US dollar since March 2022.
A source in the Ukrainian military said Russian forces were advancing by “200-300 meters a day” near the Ukrainian hub of Kurakhove in the eastern Donetsk region.
The source described the situation as “worse” than around the town of Pokrovsk, also a key prize for Russia.
The Kremlin said Friday that a hawkish address by Putin, in which he threatened to strike the West and said he was “ready for any scenario,” had been “understood” in the United States.
Putin had said Moscow reserved the right to strike countries that allow Kyiv to hit Russian territory with their weapons, after the US and the UK gave the green light for Kyiv to do so.
NATO and Ukrainian officials are due to meet Tuesday in Brussels to discuss the escalation, diplomatic sources told AFP.
In Kyiv, which is frequently targeted by Russian drones and missiles, parliament cancelled its usual Friday questions to the government over fears of a strike.
The central area where it is located houses the presidency, the central bank and other government buildings. It has until now been spared of bombings -- unlike the rest of the capital -- and access is strictly controlled by the army.
Several MPs said they were working remotely and that Friday’s session had been scrapped.
“There are signals of an increased risk of attacks on the government district in the coming days. Also in Kyiv and Ukraine in general,” MP Yevgenia Kravchuk told AFP.
