By: Isabella Arbizo
Staff Writer
Russian forces fired rockets near a TV tower in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Tuesday hours after warning of “high-precision” strikes on other facilities linked to Ukrainian security agencies. The rocket attack took out broadcasting hardware, raising fears that Russia is attempting to knock out the city’s communications infrastructure, Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said. In videos and social media posts shared soon after the strike, plumes of smoke were seen swirling around the red-and-white steel TV tower building. The attack, along with a beef-up of assaults on other key cities, brings the Russian invasion right into the heart of the nation. The attack in Kyiv came just hours after the Russian military threatened to carry out high-precision strikes in Kyiv, though it said its targets were Ukrainian State Security Agency facilities and the country’s psychological operations unit, according to a statement reported by Russian state media TASS. The military told nearby residents to leave their homes. Russian forces also attacked key cities in Ukraine from several sides, scaling up its bombardment of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, in the northeast and breaking through a heavily contested port city in the south. Russia’s actions on Tuesday mark a far less restrained bombing campaign, raising concerns that more civilians could be hit in strikes. The UN says that at least 102 civilians have been killed across the country and 304 injured, though those figures are likely to underestimate the true toll. US officials also warned that the sheer breadth of Russian firepower could overwhelm Ukrainian resistance. Russia’s military is far bigger and more powerful than Ukraine’s by just about every measure, but Ukraine’s allies, including the European Union, are scrambling to send more weapons into the country to aid its defense. On Tuesday, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned that “the enemy is on the outskirts of the capital,” but the Ukrainian military is “preparing to defend Kyiv.” “Fortifications and checkpoints have been built at the entrances to the city. I ask everyone to keep calm. Do not go outside unnecessarily and stay in shelters in case of alarm,” he said in a video message.