Radio Liberty journalist Vira Hyrych died in the Russian attack that hit Kyiv yesterday, the day of the visit of United Nations (UN) SecretaryGeneral António Guterres. The radio station where she worked confirmed the 22nd death of a journalist during the Russian invasion. Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko had previously announced that the body of a person had been found in the rubble of a hit residential building. The attack left the UN delegation shaken.
“She was about to go to bed when a Russian ballistic missile hit her apartment in central Kyiv,” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said.
Hyrych’s death was mourned by colleagues and politicians. “My God! I knew Vera personally. We were in contact for the whole two months [de guerra]. She asked me for a comment, asked me to take part in broadcasts,” said Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Minister of Interior of Ukraine. Andriy Yermak, chief of staff of the Ukrainian presidency, said “the crimes of the Russians will not go unpunished” when speaking about the attack that killed Hyrych.
A colleague of the journalist on the radio, Oleksandr Demchenko, said that Hyrych’s house was hit. He posted a photo of the journalist’s car, which she used to take him to reports, damaged after the attack. “I just don’t know how to say what a wonderful person he is.”
Journalist Vira Hyrych died in an attack in Kyiv yesterday
Image: Nov. 6, 2017 Reproduction/Facebook/vira.hyrych
Today the war has reached its 65th day. Other journalists were also killed during the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory that began on February 24. In addition to Hyrych, 21 other journalists died while covering the war or as a result of bombings while not working, according to a survey by the Ukrainian government’s Radio and Television Committee.
As of April 27, the committee counted 243 attacks on journalists and media outlets. “These are murders, injuries, enforced disappearances, kidnappings, bombings of journalists and television towers, threats, cybercrime.”
Hyrych worked in the Kiev office of the radio since February 1, 2018. “Before that, she worked for major Ukrainian TV channels,” said the company, which mourned her death and said it will “remember the journalist as a brilliant and kind person.” .” , a true professional”.
According to the mayor, the affected building was new and had few residents. According to the latest update from the Ukrainian capital’s city hall, at least five people have been rescued and ten injured in the attack so far.
“Kyiv is still under enemy fire,” commented Klitschko, adding “yesterday’s attack was proof of that.” Kyiv has been in a more relaxed mood since Russia announced in late March that it would radically scale back military activities in the region and shift its focus to eastern Ukraine.
Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko went to the building that had been hit by an attack
Image: Genya Savilov/AFP
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that it carried out an attack on Kyiv. “Highprecision longrange air weapons of the Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed the production buildings of the Artem rocket company and space industry in the city of Kyiv,” the statement said. The text makes no mention of attacks on residential buildings.
In all, Russia reported conducting “975 overnight fire sorties” on Ukrainian territory and killing at least 280 military personnel. Today the Russian defense announced that it fired missiles from a submarine into the Black Sea. The ministry did not say whether this was the first missile attack by a submarine during the conflict in Ukraine.
In a video released last night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said five rockets hit the capital. And he recalled that this happened “immediately after the end of our talks in Kyiv” regarding the meeting with Guterres.
“And that says a lot about Russia’s true attitude towards global institutions. About the efforts of the Russian leadership to humiliate the UN and everything the organization stands for. Therefore, a strong response is required,” Zelenskyy said.
For the president, the attacks “prove once again that we shouldn’t be on our guard.” “We can’t believe the war is over. We still have to fight. We still have to drive out the occupiers.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said it fired missiles from a Black Sea Fleet submarine against “military infrastructure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.
Image: Russian Ministry of Defense
Evacuation of Azovstal
According to the Mariupol City Council, the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal complex is planned for the “near future”. The body noted that the information was provided by the Presidium of Ukraine. The deduction should take place today.
Yesterday Azovstal where civilians are refugees and Ukrainian soldiers are resisting Russian forces was the target of another attack. The Defense Ministry of Ukraine said today that “Russian occupiers continue to blockade our units in Mariupol near Azovstal”.
Zelenskyy said in a statement yesterday that he believes that “with the help of the UN it is possible to organize an evacuation mission”.
“Ukraine is ready for these steps. But it is also necessary for the Russian side to look at this issue without cynicism and really do what it says,” noting that despite Russia’s promise of a ceasefire, attacks in the region have continued. “Russia’s bombing of Mariupol didn’t stop even as the UN SecretaryGeneral negotiated in Moscow.”
The UN said intensive talks were underway to evacuate people from Azovstal.
Picture: UOL Art.No
monitoring
The Defense Ministry of Ukraine said that in the city of Izium, Kharkiv region, the Russian armed forces focused on reconnaissance of the area “on identifying the defensive positions of Defense Forces units and destroying them with artillery fire.”
On the outskirts of Ukraine’s secondlargest city, Kharkiv, the ministry said Russia maintains positions in close proximity and is “trying to firedamage units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in certain areas.”
The Ukrainian defense also notes a strengthening of “border protection” from Belarus to Ukraine. Belarusians are allies of the Russian government.
Today, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that “the first group of Belarusian military personnel has completed training and passed tests at the joint training and combat training center in the Nizhny Novgorod region” in Russia. “Personnel of the armored unit of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus have been trained for a month.
wheat theft
Several Ukrainian officials accused Russia of stealing tons of wheat produced and stored in the territory’s southern and eastern areas. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reported that “grain looting from the Kherson region” is taking place and that this, together with the blockade of Ukrainian ports, “threatens world food security”.
The same accusation was made by the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov. “We released video of a convoy of more than 50 trucks with trailers bringing our wheat from our lands. We don’t know where they took him,” Fedorov said.
In an official statement, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine made the same accusation, saying that “Russian invaders are killing residents of Ukrainian villages.” […] In addition, more than 60 tons of wheat were taken in trucks stolen from the agricultural cooperative in the town of KamiankaDniprovska in the Zaporizhia region”.
Before the war, Ukraine was one of the largest wheat producers in the world, ranking fourth in the world. Russia, on the other hand, is the world leader in production, and the two countries together represent about 30% of the world grain trade.
(With AFP and Ansa)