Pavel Polityuk and Oleksandr Kolukhar

Kyiv/LVIV Ukraine, (Reuters) – Residents of Ukraine were alerted to new Russian threats after a massive explosion in Kyiv on Friday morning.

These explosions were among the strongest in Ukraine’s capital since Russian troops left the region earlier this month to prepare for fighting in the south.

Ukraine claimed the responsibility for the sinking of the Moskva. It said that one of its missiles struck the Soviet-era Black Sea flagship. Russia’s defense ministry stated that the vessel fell as it was being town to port late Thursday night.

The ministry stated that more than 500 people aboard the missile cruiser had been evacuated following an explosion of ammunition. However, it did not acknowledge the attack. The Ukrainian government claims it attacked the warship using a Neptune antiship missile, which was locally manufactured.

Russia’s Navy continues to bombard Ukrainian cities in the Black Sea, almost 50 days after the attack. Odesa residents and Mariupol on the Azov Sea are bracing themselves for more Russian aggression.

In an early morning video address, Volodymyr Zelenskiy (Ukraine President) made reference to the sunken warship and warned about Russian plans to attack the eastern Donbas including Mariupol.

Zelenskiy praised all those who “stopped the progression of the endless convoys Russian military equipment…Those who proved that Russian ships can get… to the bottom.”

No immediate damage was reported following the blasts that occurred in Kyiv in the east, Kherson in south, Kharkiv in the east, and Ivano-Frankivsk, west. Ukrainian media reported that there were power outages in Kyiv.

According to Ukrainian media, air raid sirens sounded in all parts of Ukraine shortly after midnight Friday. They continued their blaring even when other sounds stopped.

Reuters was unable to verify these reports immediately.

MOSKVA

Whatever was the real reason for the Moskva’s destruction, this episode represents a major setback to Russia. If Ukraine is correct in its claim that the missile struck the ship, this attack will become one of the most famous naval strikes in modern history.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that they are investigating the reason for the fire aboard. USA claimed that it didn’t have sufficient information to confirm whether Moskva had been hit by missiles.

Jake Sullivan, national safety adviser, said that Russia is certainly hurt by the events of this week.

After suffering severe losses, Russian forces pulled out of some parts of Ukraine’s northern regions. They also failed to capture Kyiv. Russia is said to be redeploying in order to launch a new offensive within the eastern Donbas. This was confirmed by Ukraine and its Western allies.

Russia attacked Ukraine in an attempt to stop it from joining NATO. The invasion forced Finland and Sweden, who share a long border, to reconsider joining the U.S. military alliance.

Moscow warned NATO that Russia could deploy hypersonic missiles and nuclear weapons in an enclave in Russia’s Baltic Sea region, the center of Europe, if Sweden or Finland joined.

William Burns, Director of the CIA, commented on Russia’s military failures. He said that while Russia could use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, it was not something to be taken lightly. However, he added that the agency had not yet seen any concrete evidence that would support that fear.

BATTLE FOR MARIUPOL

Moscow refers to the invasion of Ukraine as an “special military operation”, aimed at demilitarizing Ukraine. According to Kyiv, its allies and Russia’s military allies, the Russians have launched an unprovoked invasion that saw more than 4.6million people fleeing abroad. They also killed and wounded many thousands.

Russia’s Navy has launched cruise missiles against Ukraine, and its Black Sea activities have been crucial in supporting land operations in the east and south. It is fighting to take full control over Mariupol.

Russia claimed Wednesday that over 1,000 Ukrainian marines belonging to one of the remaining units in Mariupol surrendered. Ukrainian officials declined to comment.

Mariupol could be captured and would mark the beginning of Russian rule over major cities since the invasion. Moscow can then reinforce the land corridor that links the Donbas and Crimea regions it annexed to the Russians in 2014, where they will hold the Donbas.

According to Ukraine, tens to thousands of civilians were killed at Mariupol.

The Russian defense ministry announced late Thursday night that 815 citizens had been evacuated from the capital city in 24 hours. Ukraine claimed that this figure is 289.