Russia confirmed Friday that it carried out an airstrike on Kyiv during a visit by the UN’s secretary-general, the first such attack on the Ukrainian capital in nearly two weeks, and in which a journalist also died.
Vera Gyrych, a producer for the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was killed when a Russian missile hit the building where she lived, the media group said.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had deployed “high-precision, long-range air-based weapons” that “destroyed the production buildings of the Artyom missile and space enterprise in Kyiv”.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a stronger global response to Thursday’s strikes, which immediately followed his talks in the city with UN chief Antonio Guterres.
“It is unfortunate, but such a deliberate and brutal humiliation of the United Nations by Russia has gone unanswered,” he said.
Guterres had also toured Bucha and other Kyiv suburbs where Moscow is alleged to have committed war crimes. Russia denies killing civilians.
Germany said the “inhumane” attack showed Russian President Vladimir Putin has “no respect whatsoever for international law”.
The powerful blast ripped out walls and doors, leaving piles of rubble on the ground.
“I think Russians aren’t afraid of anything, not even the world’s judgement,” Anna Hromovych, deputy director of a heavily damaged clinic, told AFP as she and others were cleaning up the devastation on Friday.
Putin is nevertheless due to attend November’s G20 summit, President Joko Widodo of host nation Indonesia said. Zelensky also has been invited.
The United States repeated its strong opposition to Putin’s invitation, with a State Department spokesperson saying “it can’t be business as usual” after the invasion.
