Powerful explosions shake the Ukrainian city of Mikolaiv
Loud explosions hit Mikolaiv; Zelensky accuses Russia of sowing “deliberate terror”
Air raid sirens sounded again on Saturday, July 2 in Mikolaiv, in southern Ukraine. “There are powerful explosions in the city! Stay in the shelters!” the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Senkevich, urged citizens.
It is still unknown if these events left fatalities. Kiev says Moscow is stepping up its long-range missile strikes, hitting civilian targets far from the front line.
For its part, Russia claims it has been targeting military sites and denies attacking civilians. However, thousands of non-military personnel have died since Russia launched the war against Ukraine on February 24.
An action that Moscow calls a “special military operation” to “demilitarize” and “denazify” the neighboring country.
Kiev’s previous intentions to join NATO, the US-led political-military alliance, and its rapprochements with the European Union were trigger points for Vladimir Putin’s fury in ordering the start of the conflict.
Powerful explosions rocked Mikolaiv in southern Ukraine on July 2, just a day after Kiev said Russian missile strikes left 21 people dead in the neighboring Odessa region.
The Ukrainian government accuses Moscow of intensifying deliberate assaults on civilians. Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said the onslaught of its troops destroyed five Ukrainian army command posts in both Mikolaiv and the Donbass region.
The increase in Russian attacks on civilians would be sending a warning message as the West seeks to give Ukraine longer-range weapons. This was pointed out by the mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko.
On the 129th day of the war, air raid sirens sounded again just before the city of Mikolaiv, which borders the export port of Odessa, was shaken by strong detonations, where a day earlier at least 21 people were killed, including two children, by Russian missile assaults. Actions that Moscow denies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Kremlin of sowing “deliberate terror” against civilians; while the Russian Defense Ministry limited itself to reporting that the actions of its troops hit local army command posts and some weapons storages.
