Steph Deschamps / February 27, 2022
The Russian army was ordered on Saturday to expand its offensive on Ukraine, despite a growing international outcry that Kiev had refused negotiations.
Today, all units were ordered to expand the offensive in all directions in accordance with the plan of the offensive, said Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov in a statement.
He said that the pro-Russian separatists in the east, supported by the Russian army, were recording successes.
He also claimed that Ukrainian ships had attacked Russian warships in the Black Sea, considering it highly probable that American observation drones had guided them.
These claims were not immediately independently verifiable.
On the third day of the invasion of Ukraine ordered by Vladimir Putin, fighting was taking place in the capital Kiev and in other cities of this pro-Western country of Eastern Europe.
Russia invaded Ukraine through Belarus in the north, annexed Crimea in the south and its own territory in the northeast and east.
Ukrainian authorities said Saturday that at least 198 civilians had been killed since the start of the Russian invasion, while shelling has increased in Kiev and other cities, such as Kharkiv (east).
Konashenkov reiterated that the Russian military was not conducting strikes on residential areas, but AFP reporters saw several homes hit by gunfire across the country.
Accusing the Ukrainian authorities of involving the civilian population by uncontrolled distribution of weapons, he also said that this will inevitably lead to accidents and losses.
The Russian attack was widely condemned around the world and Western countries put in place economic sanctions to punish Moscow.