US WARNS OF RUSSIAN STRIKES ON UKRAINE GOVERNMENT TARGETS

Washington warned on Tuesday that Russia could attack Ukrainian government facilities in the coming days as Moscow said it would show “no mercy” over an assassination it has blamed on Ukraine. World leaders also reasserted their support for the country on the eve of its independence day celebrations and the six-month anniversary of the beginning of Russia’s invasion on February 24. Leaders including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned Russia against further attempts to annex Ukrainian territory in the same way it did with Crimea.

“It has never been more important for us all to stand together,” Johnson said in a video address to the Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv. Polish President Andrzej Duda attended in person, warning against any “appeasement” of Russia. “There is no return to business as usual in relations with Russia,” he said. In his address, French President Emmanuel Macron vowed that the EU’s support for Ukraine would continue “for the long term”. “There can be no weakness, no spirit of compromise, because it’s a matter of our freedom, for everyone, and of peace everywhere around the world,” he said. Ukraine’s Western allies have supplied Kyiv with billions of dollars of military equipment and imposed ever more stringent sanctions on Russia. Moscow has accused Western powers of escalating the war with its support for Ukraine. As tensions grew in the capital, the US embassy in Kyiv issued a security alert and reiterated its appeal for US nationals to leave Ukraine. (KYIV, UKRAINE AFP, 23 AUG, 2022)