Explosions have rocked Kyiv, Lviv, and several other Ukrainian cities after warnings from Russia that it would intensify attacks on the Ukrainian capital after accusing Ukraine of targeting Russian border towns.
Air-raid sirens could be heard in many parts of Ukraine on April 16 amid continued fighting 51 days after Russia launched its unprovoked invasion on February 24.
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Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said at least one person was killed and several others wounded in the early morning attack.
Ukraine’s military said Russian warplanes took off from Belarus for the attacks on Kyiv and Lviv, while four cruise missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.
“For those Kyivites who left and are already thinking of heading back to return to the capital, I ask you to refrain from this and stay in safer places,” he said in a message on his Telegram channel.
Reports on April 16 said heavy fighting continued in several parts of the beleaguered city as Ukrainian troops try to fend off Russian soldiers who have been bolstered by reinforcements in recent days.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly address to the nation that its military successes and the impact of international sanctions against Russia will determine how long the war will last.
“The success of our military on the battlefield has been really significant. Historically significant. But it’s still not enough to clear our land from the invading forces,” he said.
“The sanctions against Russia are very serious, economically painful. But it is not enough to starve Russia’s military machine. We need to promote stronger, more destructive sanctions. This will determine how long this war will last,” he added.
Zelenskiy told CNN in an interview aired late on April 15 that between 2,500 and 3,000 Ukrainian troops have died so far, with about 10,000 more injured in battle. He said he had no count on civilian casualties.
Earlier on April 15, police said that the bodies of more than 900 civilians have been discovered in the Kyiv region after Russian forces withdrew.
“It is very difficult to talk about civilians, since south of our country, where the towns and cities are blocked — Kherson, Berdyansk, Mariupol further east, and the area to the east where Volnovakha is — we just don’t know how many people have died in that area that is blocked,” Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy estimated the number of Russian military casualties at around 19,000 to 20,000, well above Moscow’s recent statement that it had lost about 1,350 soldiers.
None of the figures could be independently verified. Western intelligence estimates say several thousand soldiers have died on the Russian side.
Russia’s pledge to inflict more damage on Ukraine came a day after it suffered a symbolic defeat with the loss of its Black Sea Fleet flagship, the Moskva, which sank while being towed to port on April 14 after suffering heavy damage under circumstances that remain in dispute.
“The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on Russian territory,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said.
The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (RNBO) has rejected Russia’s accusations about the attacks on Russian towns, calling them “an attempt to ignite anti-Ukraine hysteria in Russia.”
Kyiv did claim, however, to have hit the Moskva with Neptune anti-ship missiles early on April 14, while Russia said a fire broke out on the ship, causing an explosion.
The U.S. military agreed with the Ukrainian version.
“We assess that they hit it with two Neptunes,” a senior Pentagon official said in a briefing with reporters on April 15, calling it a “big blow” for Moscow.
The strikes were believed to have caused casualties, but it was difficult to assess how many, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official added that the United States had observed survivors being recovered by other Russian vessels in the area. Russia said the Moskva’s crew was evacuated to nearby ships.
In retaliation, Russian air strikes overnight on April 16 targeted a factory outside of Kyiv that is alleged to have made the missiles that were used in the attack on the Moskva.
Meanwhile, the United States and its Western allies continued to pile pressure on Moscow over its campaign.
The German government said on April 15 that it plans to release more than 1 billion euros in military aid for Ukraine.
The move comes amid criticism from Ukraine and some EU partners such as Poland and the Baltic states that Germany has not done enough to send armaments to Kyiv.
In response on April 16, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was banning British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Foreign Minister Liz Truss, and several other cabinet ministers over British measures aimed at isolating Moscow and crippling the country’s economy.
The ministry listed 13 British officials in total, including former Prime Minister Theresa May, and warned it will be expanded “in the near future.”
WATCH: A Ukrainian woman has given RFE/RL a detailed account of how she was raped by a Russian Army soldier. To protect her privacy, we have pixelated her face and we are not disclosing her name. Ukrainian police have been informed of the case.
Ukrainian authorities continue to expect an imminent, stepped-up offensive by Russian forces in the eastern part of the country.
Efforts to evacuate people from the southern port city of Mariupol on April 15 continued. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iyrna Vereshchuk said 363 people from Mariupol were among 2,864 people who were evacuated from conflict zones.
Vereshchuk said nine humanitarian corridors have been agreed upon with Russia to allow for the evacuation of civilians from several cities, including Mariupol.
Vereshchuk said in a statement posted on her Telegram channel that five evacuation routes for April 16 lead from the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, an area that Russia has said it is now focusing on in its unprovoked war.
“Humanitarian corridors in the Luhansk region will operate subject to the cessation of shelling by the [Russian] forces,” she said. She added that corridors from Berdyansk, Tokmak, Mariupol, and Enerhodar will be accessible only by private transport.
Britain says Moscow’s targeting of civilian infrastructure is hindering the distribution of humanitarian aid to civilians in areas where Russian troops have pulled out.
“Road infrastructure in conflict affected areas of Ukraine has sustained significant damage,” the British Defense Ministry said in a tweet on April 16. “Russian troops have exacerbated this by destroying bridges, employing land mines, and abandoning vehicles along key routes as they withdrew from northern Ukraine.”
The ministry said the destruction of river crossings in and around Chernihiv, for example, had left only one pedestrian bridge in the city to cross the Desna River.
