Anti-tank barriers known as Czech hedgehogs still surround the streets. Sandbags and concrete checkpoints remain, but the fighters manning them have mostly advanced. The billboards no longer carry security instructions and warnings about Russian “invaders”, instead displaying patriotic messages. Russia last struck the city center on March 22. In addition to retaliation for Moscow, the latest attacks in Kyiv – targeting military production facilities – could be aimed at undermining Ukraine’s potential in the face of an expected full-scale Russian attack in the east. Since the sinking of the warship, bombings have also increased in Kharkov, Ukraine’s second largest city. Nine civilians were killed and 50 were injured Friday, the Ukrainian government said. A rocket hit near an open-air market in the city on Saturday, killing one person and injuring at least 18 people, according to rescue teams. Valentina Ulyanova, a resident of the nearby area, said: “All the windows, all the furniture, all damaged. And the door too.” There have also been strikes by Russian aircraft in the Lviv region of western Ukraine, near the Polish border, which have long been considered safe. The city is relatively intact so far and serves as a refuge for refugees and international aid agencies. Russian Su-35 fighter jets used in raids on Lviv have taken off from bases in Belarus. Four incoming cruise missiles were shot down by air defenses, the Ukrainian military said. Fighting continued in the devastated southern port city of Mariupol, which has been under siege by Russian forces since the early days of the invasion. His capture would allow Russian troops in the south, which arrived via the annexed Crimean peninsula, to link up with those in the eastern Donbass region.
