War in Ukraine: Explosions ring out in kyiv, infrastructure targeted, according to Ukrainian officials

The city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in the Dniprovskiy district, calling on residents to “stay in the shelters”.

Ukrainian soldiers near their vehicle equipped with a missile launcher turned towards Soledar, January 13, 2023. (MAXPPP)

Several explosions sounded on Saturday January 14 morning in kyiv, noted AFP journalists. Ukrainian officials say strikes targeted key infrastructure in Ukraine’s capital. “A missile attack on critical infrastructure” is underway in Kyiv, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency Kyrylo Tymoshenko announced on Telegram while the city’s mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in the Dniprovskiy district, calling on residents to “stay in the shelters”. Follow our live.

What’s going on at Soledar? Uncertainty remains about the fate of Soledar, this small town in eastern Ukraine which Russia assured the day before that it had taken control after a fierce battle, an announcement denied by kyiv. “The fighting for Soledar continues”, assured in its evening report the Ukrainian staff without further details. In a press release, the Russian Ministry of Defense for its part affirmed that the “liberation of the town of Soledar” had been completed “on January 12 in the evening”.

The Russian army salutes the Wagner mercenaries. In a rare sign of recognition between these two structures which have often entered into rivalry on the ground in Ukraine, the Russian army then hailed in a message the “courageous actions” of the fighters of the Wagner mercenary group, whose men carried out “the direct assault on the residential areas of Soledar”.

Ukrainian statements. Spokesman for the Ukrainian army’s Eastern Command, Sergiy Tcherevaty, said during the day that his troops were keeping the situation “under control in difficult conditions” in the face of “the best units (of the Russian mercenary group) Wagner and ‘other Russian special forces’. “It’s a difficult phase of the war,” said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar.