Russian air assault at military base kills 35 near Polish border

3,687 Ukrainian military infra facilities destroyed so far: Russia

A Russian air strike on a large Ukrainian military facility near the border with Nato member Poland on Sunday killed 35 people and wounded 134, a local Ukrainian official said, as other officials reported intense Russian attacks around the country.

Ukraine said foreign military instructors have previously worked at the Yavoriv International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, which is 25 kilometres from the Polish border, but a Nato official said there were no personnel from the alliance there.  Regional governor Maksym Kozytskyy said Russian planes fired around 30 rockets at the centre, adding that some were intercepted before they hit. The centre is one Ukraine’s biggest and the largest in the western part of the country.

Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying on Sunday that Russian troops had destroyed 3,687 Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities so far. It was not possible to independently verify his statement.

Ukraine, on Sunday; a fire burns at an apartment building, after it was hit by shelling, in a residential district in Mariupol | Photo: AP/PTI

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said the country had already lost access to almost half of its reserves and saw more risks to President Vladimir Putin’s war chest due to increased pressure from the West on China. 

“The total volume of our reserves is about $640 billion, and about 300 billion are in such condition that we can’t use them now,” he told state television in an interview on Sunday.

US journalist, award-winning filmmaker killed in Ukraine

An American journalist and award-winning filmmaker was shot and killed by Russian forces in the town of Irpin in Ukraine’s Kyiv region and another journalist was wounded, Kyiv regional police said.

One of the dead journalists, Brent Renaud, was initially thought to be working for The New York Times. However, the Times said that the journalist was not currently working for it. 

Instagram users in Russia told service will cease from midnight

Instagram users in Russia have been notified that the service will cease from midnight on Sunday after its owner Meta Platforms said last week it would allow social media users in Ukraine to post messages such as “Death to the Russian invaders”.