At least five dead after central Kharkiv hit by Russian shells

At least five people were killed and 13 injured when Russian shells hit the centre of Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, as the country’s president implored western allies to send heavy weapons urgently amid fears of a fresh onslaught by Moscow’s invading forces.

The artillery attack on Sunday was the latest in a series of deadly strikes on Kharkiv, which sits just 35 km from the border with Russia but has withstood relentless attempts to seize it since the Kremlin launched an all-out war on February 24th.

Ukraine and western capitals say Russian forces driven back from areas near Kyiv are now regrouping in eastern Ukraine and preparing for a major push to seize more of the Donbas region and Kharkiv, a strategic city that is home to a large tank factory.

Russia has also threatened to intensify its long-range bombardment of Kyiv. And the town of Brovary, just outside the capital, was on Sunday hit with what Moscow called a strike with “high-precision, air-launched missiles” on an “ammunition factory”.

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Ukraine has received unprecedented arms deliveries from Nato countries in recent months and more heavy weapons are believed to be en route from the United States, Britain and other countries. But Kyiv says allies are taking too long to meet their pledges.

“From the moment that they say they’ve decided to confirm the supply of weapons to Ukraine, to the moment these weapons are in our arsenal . . . two or three weeks can pass. This is a very long process,” said President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

“People [in Ukraine] say: ‘We need help now, in one, two, or three days’. And people [from partner countries] say: ‘Everything’s fine, we’ll give it to you in May’. What are they counting on? That we’ll fight for months or years? Some of them probably are counting on that. But for us, accelerating [the supply] of weapons is very important.”

Defensive battle

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that all EU member states who can send arms to the embattled country “should deliver quickly. Because only that way can Ukraine survive in its acute defensive battle against Russia.”

She told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper “Ukraine has to get whatever it needs to defend itself and what it can handle”.

Ms von der Leyen said a sixth package of EU sanctions on Russia, which member states are now discussing, would target Moscow’s banking and oil sectors – which Kyiv says the West has failed to punish appropriately for an invasion that has killed thousands of people and displaced more than 10 million.

“We are looking further at the banking sector, especially Sberbank, which accounts for 37 per cent of the Russian banking sector. And, of course, there are energy issues . . . The top priority is to shrink [Kremlin] revenues,” she said.

The EU has stepped up financial support for Ukraine and officials from Kyiv will seek more help in Washington this week during talks with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

“We need more money for executing our humanitarian and social obligations. Now, only half of our economy is working. So we ask for financial support,” said Ukraine prime minister Denys Shmyhal, explaining that the country now has a monthly budget deficit of about $5 billion (€4.6 billion).