Russia to intensify attacks on Kyiv, warns US against arming Ukraine

Russia also accuses US of pressurising other countries to stop any military and technical cooperation with Moscow

Highlights

• Flagship Moskva of Russia’s Black Sea fleet sank while being towed to port Thursday after suffering heavy damage under circumstances that remained in dispute
• Mariupol’s mayor said this week that more than 10,000 civilians had died and the death toll could surpass 20,000airstrikes on Bryansk

MOSCOW/KYIV: Russia’s Defense Ministry promised Friday to ramp up missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in response to Ukraine’s alleged aggression on Russian territory, an ominous warning that followed Moscow’s stinging symbolic loss of its navy’s flagship in the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported on Friday that Russia has warned the United States of “unpredictable consequences” if Washington keeps arming Ukraine.

“We call on the United States and its allies to stop the irresponsible militarisation of Ukraine, which implies unpredictable consequences for regional and international security,” the Post quoted Russia saying in a diplomatic note to the United States.

It also accused the United States of pressurising other countries to stop any military and technical cooperation with Russia, the Washington Post report stated.

The threat of intensified attacks on Kyiv came after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes on Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling Thursday.