Ukraine’s capital was bombarded by the Russian forces in late Thursday when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited Ukraine. The attack left the UN secretary General shocked while leaving 10 others wounded as the missile strike was very sharp. Antonio is on a visit to Ukraine to help in the evacuation of ten thousand civilians caught in the “mortal danger”. It was the boldest attack on the capital. “It is a war zone but, shockingly, it happened close to us,” said Saviano Abreu, spokesperson for the UN’s humanitarian office, without saying how close they were to the point of impact.
Ukraine President Volodymr Zelensky denounced the Russian attacks near the UN’s secretary-general. In a post, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said there were two bombings in the Shevchenkovsky district and said they were gathering information about casualties. Black smoke billowed in the air and a building was on fire and a large number of police and rescue teams were in the area. “Today, immediately after the end of our talks in Kyiv, Russian missiles flew into the city. Five rockets. And this says a lot … about the Russian leadership’s efforts to humiliate the UN and everything that the organization represents,” Zelenskyy said, adding it required “a correspondingly powerful reaction”.
The attack took place less than an hour after Guterres and Volodymyr Zelensky held a joint press conference some 3.5 kilometers (2 miles) from the point of impact, as soon as they ended their talks in Kyiv.
This act of Russia is referred to as a ‘Heinous act of barbarism’ by the Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, whereas Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov called this an attack on the security of the Secretary-General and on world security.
The strike took place just two days after Guterres held talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow.”Missile strikes in the downtown of Kyiv during the official visit of @antonioguterres. The day before he was sitting at a long table in the Kremlin, and today explosions are above his head,” Zelensky tweeted.
Guterres said intense discussions were continuing to enable the evacuation of the steel plant where fighters and civilians are holed up in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Mariupol city council said that about 100,000 residents across the city are in mortal danger because of the Russian shelling and the Unsanitary conditions, and the shortage of drinking water and food. Referring to the possibility of a UN and ICRC-coordinated humanitarian corridor for the hundreds of civilians believed to still be in Azovstal.
Russia is preventing wounded Ukrainian fighters from being evacuated from the steel factory, the local governor said. The Russian side is not agreeing to any evacuation measures regarding wounded troops.
Guterres in his first visit to Ukraine visited several towns and villages near Kyiv where Russia launched a full-scale invasion on 24th February and killed many civilians. Guterres also visited Bucha where dozens of bodies in civilian clothes were found, some with hands bound and others buries in shallow graves.
Later at the news conference with Zelensky, Guterres admitted the Security Council had failed to go far enough in its efforts to “prevent and end” Russia’s war in Ukraine.
