Russia’s defence ministry said Saturday its forces had struck a military hardware factory in Kyiv, a day after warning it planned to increase strikes on the Ukrainian capital following the sinking of its Moskva warship. Follow our live blog for all the latest developments. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
11.30am: Russia bans entry for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Moscow on Saturday announced it was banning entry to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several other top UK officials, after London imposed sanctions on Russia over its military operation in Ukraine.
“This step was taken as a response to London’s unbridled information and political campaign aimed at isolating Russia internationally, creating conditions for restricting our country and strangling the domestic economy,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
10:34am: US confirms belief that Ukrainian missiles sunk Russian warship
An American official on Saturday confirmed that they believed the Russian warship, the Moskva, was sunk by two Ukrainian anticruise Neptune missiles.
In Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, dozens of residents gathered to mourn former flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, FRANCE 24’s Leo McGuinn reports.
10:24am: Rusia takes credit for attacks on military targets
Russia’s defense ministry said Saturday its forces had struck a military hardware factory in Kyiv, a day after warning of intensified attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
“High-precision long-range air-launched weapons destroyed production buildings of an armaments plant in Kyiv,” the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.
Russia also destroyed production buildings of an armoured vehicle plant in Kyiv and downed one Ukrainian SU-25 aircraft near the city of Izyum in Kharkiv Oblast of eastern Ukraine, Interfax news agency quoted Russia’s defence ministry as saying on Saturday.
09:54am: Military hardware factory in Kyiv hit by strikes
A military hardware factory in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv was hit by strikes early Saturday, an AFP journalist said, a day after Russian forces bombed a missile unit outside the city.
Smoke rose from the area and there was a heavy police and military presence after Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko announced on social media there had been explosions in the city’s Darnyrsky district.
09:03am: Ukrainian police investigate more than 900 bodies found in Kyiv region
Police investigations continue in to more than 900 hundred civilian bodies that Ukrainian authorities report have been found in areas surrounding Kyiv.
“A very high percentage of those who have been killed have been killed by sniper fire and other weapons,” said FRANCE 24’s Rob Parsons, reporting from Kyiv.
Ukrainian authorities say they have identified over 200 Russian soldiers suspected of being involved in the killings that they hope to bring to justice in criminal court.
08:52am: Nine humanitarian evecuation corridors agreed for Saturday
Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said nine humanitarian corridors had been agreed for Saturday to evacuate civilians, including from the besieged city of Mariupol by private cars.
Vereshchuk said in a statement that five of the nine evacuation corridors were from Ukraine’s Luhansk region in the east of the country, which local officials have said is under heavy shelling.
08:15am: Rescuers and medics onsite following Kyiv explosion
Rescuers and medics were working on the site of an early Saturday blast on the outskirts of Kyiv, the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said in an online post.
The explosion took place in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, Klitschko said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. It is the southeastern district of Kyiv, on the left bank of Dnipro river.
Klitschko added that information on wounded is being confirmed.
07:23am: 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have died in war, says Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday told CNN that between 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian troops have died so far in the war with Russia and another 10,000 have been injured.
06:54am: Missile factory attacked in Kyiv produced weapons that sank Russian warship, says Ukraine
Russia pounded a Ukrainian rocket factory following the sinking of its Black Sea flagship, as President Volodymyr Zelensky said his allies could shorten the war by delivering the weapons he had requested.
The Vizar factory, near Kyiv’s international airport, was seriously damaged in the overnight strikes, an AFP journalist saw on Friday.
Russia said it had used sea-based long-range missiles to hit the plant, which Ukraine’s state weapons manufacturer says produced Neptune cruise missiles — the projectiles both Kyiv and Washington say were used to sink the Moskva warship.
“There were five hits. My employee was in the office and got thrown off his feet by the blast,” Andrei Sizov, the 47-year-old owner of a nearby wood workshop, told AFP.
“They are making us pay for destroying the Moskva,” he said.
>> Analysis: Russia loses warship, says attacks on Kyiv will increase
06:03am: Explosions heard in Kyiv and Lviv, says local media
Explosions were heard in the early hours on Saturday in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western city of Lviv, local media reported.
Air raid sirens were going off over most of Ukraine early on Saturday.
There has been no official confirmation of the explosions.
