#warns #Russian #attacks #Ukrainian #government #targets
Washington warned Tuesday that Russia could target Ukrainian government facilities in the coming days, as Moscow said it would show “no mercy” to an assassination it blames on Ukraine.
Also on the eve of the Independence Day celebrations and the six-month anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, world leaders reiterated their support for the country.
Leaders including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned Russia against further attempts to annex Ukrainian territory in the same way Crimea has done.
“It has never been more important that we all stand together,” Johnson said in a video address at the Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv.
Polish President Andrzej Duda was present in person and warned against “appeasement” by Russia.
“There is no return to business as usual in relations with Russia,” he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron promised in his speech that EU support for Ukraine would continue “in the long term”.
“There must be no weakness, no spirit of compromise, because this is about our freedom, for everyone, and peace everywhere,” he said.
Ukraine’s western allies have been supplying Kyiv with military equipment worth billions and imposing increasingly strict sanctions on Russia.
Moscow has accused the western powers of allowing the war to escalate with its support for Ukraine.
– US Security Alert –
As tensions rose in the capital, the US Embassy in Kyiv issued a security alert and reiterated its appeal for US citizens to leave Ukraine.
“The Foreign Ministry has received information that Russia is stepping up efforts to launch strikes against civilian infrastructure and government facilities in Ukraine in the coming days,” it said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials also warned that Russia could step up attacks around the Independence Day holiday.
Celebrations are being muted this year and large gatherings have been banned in the capital, Kyiv.
There are also growing concerns after Russia accused Ukraine’s intelligence agency of being behind the killing of the daughter of a prominent ultranationalist intellectual in Moscow on Saturday.
“Hopefully the investigation will be completed soon,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow.
“According to the findings of this investigation, there can be no mercy for those who organized, ordered and carried out (the car bombing),” he said.
Ukraine has denied any involvement.
– ‘The war cannot stop us’ –
Despite growing concerns, the new football season in Ukraine kicked off with a first game between Shakhtar Donetsk and Metalist 1925 from Kharkiv.
At the emotional pre-game ceremony, the players of both teams and the referees entered the field wrapped in Ukrainian flags and unfurled a banner that read “We have the same courage”.
The Shakhtar players wore t-shirts that read “Donetsk. Ukraine will win” over their match shirts, while the players of the Kharkiv club wore similar t-shirts that read “Charkiv. Ukraine will win”.
Metalist 1925 played the game in jerseys with the Ukrainian Armed Forces emblem instead of the traditional sponsor logo.
After a minute’s silence to commemorate the Ukrainians killed in the Russian invasion, the first symbolic hit at the ball was made by a Ukrainian soldier.
For safety reasons, the games will be played without spectators.
But passers-by in front of the stadium in Kyiv expressed their support.
Dynamo Kyiv fan Maksym Scherbyna said the resumption of football was “very important”.
“We’re showing that war can’t stop us,” said the 35-year-old.
Fellow fan Denys Lazarenko, 41, said: “Our country needs football a lot. He connects people.”
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