KYIV: Russian forces pressed their offensive in south and east Ukraine on Friday after bombarding its capital during a visit by the United Nations' chief.
At least three people were wounded in strikes late on Thursday in the western part of Kyiv, the first in the capital in nearly two weeks, which came after Guterres toured Bucha and other suburbs where Moscow is alleged to have committed war crimes.
Three months into an invasion that failed in its short-term aim of capturing Kyiv, Russia is now intensifying operations in the breakaway eastern Donbas region, as Ukraine's Western allies supply it with increasingly heavy armaments.
After Moscow's retreat from Kyiv, dozens of bodies in civilian clothes were found and Ukrainian prosecutors said they have opened investigations into 10 Russian soldiers for suspected atrocities in Bucha and pinpointed more than 8,000 alleged war crimes cases.
Those cases involve "killing civilians, bombing of civilian infrastructure, torture" and "sexual crimes" reported during Russia's occupation of various parts of Ukraine, prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova told a German TV channel.
'SHOCKING'
In a residential part of Kyiv, AFP correspondents saw one building in flames and black smoke pouring into the air after the Russian strikes.
"I heard the sound of two rockets and two explosions. It was a sound similar to a flying plane, and then two explosions with an interval of three to four seconds," Oleksandr Stroganov, 34, said.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said there had been "two hits in the Shevchenkovsky district", with one hitting "the lower floors of a residential building". Three people were taken to hospital, but the extent of their injuries was not immediately clear.
"It is a war zone, but it is shocking that it happened close to us," Saviano Abreu, spokesman for the UN's humanitarian office who was travelling with Guterres, told AFP, adding the delegation was safe.
Zelensky said the strikes, which came immediately after his talks with Guterres, were an attempt by Russia "to humiliate the UN and everything that the organisation represents."
US WARNS CITIZENS
The US Defence Department warned Americans on Friday against going to Ukraine to join the fight against Russia's invasion after a former marine was killed.
"We continue to urge Americans not to go to Ukraine... this is an active war zone, this is not the place to be travelling to," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told CNN the day after reports emerged of the death of Willy Joseph Cancel.
Cancel's mother, Rebecca Cabrera, told CNN her 22-year-old son was killed on Monday in Ukraine while working with a private military contractor, having travelled there in mid-March.
She said her son's body had not yet been recovered. He is survived by his wife and their child, who is not yet one-year-old.
His wife, Brittany Cancel, told ABC News that her husband "was eager to volunteer" to go to Ukraine and "went there wanting to help people."
AID WORKERS 'CAPTURED'
Two British men working as aid volunteers in Ukraine have been taken captive by Russian forces on suspicion they are "spies", a non-profit organisation and the family of one of them said on Friday.
Paul Urey and Dylan Healy were "captured" by Russian soldiers on Monday at a checkpoint south of the city of Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, according to Presidium Network, a humanitarian organisation.
The pair were said to be operating independently to try to get vulnerable Ukrainians out, and were arrested as they drove to help a woman and her two children in Zaporizhzhia.
Presidium Network said it had offered to help Urey and Healy after hearing of their volunteer efforts, but the pair were not affiliated with the non-governmental organisation, which has been active in Ukraine.
After the checkpoint arrests, the woman's house "was stormed by armed Russian soldiers", Presidium co-founder Dominik Byrne said in a statement. - AFP
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