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Air raid alerts sounded and at least two explosions were recorded this Friday, June 16, in the Ukrainian capital, shortly after a delegation of African leaders arrived in the city promoting a peace mission in the midst of the war ordered by Russia. . Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said its troops have inflicted “heavy losses” on Ukrainian forces during their counteroffensive.
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Russian missiles again targeted kyiv, this time during the announced visit by African leaders.
The delegation promotes ways to end the war ordered by Vladimir Putin almost 16 months ago and guarantees for the export of grains and fertilizers from the two countries at war to their continent.
But the airstrike alerts and at least two explosions that rocked the Ukrainian capital on Friday, June 16, were a reminder of the challenges of his mission.
The mayor of kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, confirmed that one of the detonations occurred in the Podilskiy district, one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city.
“Russian missiles are a message to Africa: Russia wants more war, not peace,” said Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
Meanwhile, the air force of the nation invaded by Moscow reported that during the Kremlin’s new offensive against the city, it shot down six Russian Kalibr cruise missiles, six Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missiles and two reconnaissance drones.
According to the Ukrainian Army, the attacks were launched from the Black Sea in the direction of northern Ukraine, where kyiv is located.
Despite the explosions, the African leaders, who visited Bucha – a city on the outskirts of Kiev that suffered massive massacres by Russian troops – ratified their meeting in the capital with President Volodimir Zelensky.
The African mission is also scheduled to go to Russia on Saturday, June 17, where it will hold a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Eventual truce and guarantees in grain agreement, the challenges of the African mission
Officials who helped lay the groundwork for the African delegation talks noted that the continent’s leaders are not only aiming to push forward an eventual peace process, but also to assess how Russia, which is under heavy international sanctions, can be repaid. for the fertilizer exports that Africa desperately needs.
They are also ready to discuss the issue related to securing more Ukrainian grain exports in the midst of the war and the possibility of more prisoner exchanges between the two warring countries.
“Life is universal and we must protect lives, Ukrainian lives, Russian lives, global lives (…) Instability anywhere is instability everywhere,” said the president of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, a member of the mission.
The peace delegation also includes the leaders of South Africa, Senegal, the Comoros and Egypt.
The peace proposal faces great challenges. On Thursday June 15, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov suggested that the agreement on this matter, reached with the mediation of the United Nations and Turkey, might not be renewed.
According to Peskov, due to failures to bring Russian agricultural products to international markets. And it is that in the face of the strong economic sanctions of the West against Moscow, for ordering the invasion of its neighboring country, the payment system poses barriers, says the Putin government.
In addition, the African peace proposal comes at a time when Ukraine is launching the first phase of its much-announced counter-offensive to recover territories seized by the invading troops.
Moscow claims it inflicted “significant losses” on kyiv; Ukraine notes progress
The Russian Ministry of Defense assured this Friday that its military on Ukrainian territory have repelled intense counterattack combat by the Army of Volodimir Zelensky, in the last 24 hours and on different lines of the Donetsk battlefront, in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow claims that some 500 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the Russian response with airstrikes and artillery fire.
Likewise, they would have destroyed five tanks, “many” vehicles and other military equipment of the Ukrainian Army.
However, this information has not been confirmed by kyiv or independently.
The Russian statements come at a time when the forces of the attacked country report advances and territorial gains in which, they say, they have pushed back the invaders.
Ukraine maintains that its soldiers have recaptured at least seven villages and 100 square kilometers in the first stage of its counter-offensive, which began less than two weeks ago, and is betting on further momentum in the coming days.
With Reuters, AP and local media
