LVIV, Ukraine — Talks between Russia and Ukraine continued just a day after Russia launched two of its closest missile attacks to NATO territory seen since the Ukraine invasion began. According to Russian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Igor Konashenkov, “long-range smart weapons attacked training centers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the settlement of Starychi and at the Yavoriv military base” on Sunday. The attack at the military base, located about 15 miles from Ukraine’s border with Poland, left 35 dead and 134 wounded.
“According to preliminary data, more than 30 missiles were fired,” Lviv Governor Maksym Kozytskyi said Sunday. “That is why we keep asking [NATO] to close the sky, because to fight with an enemy who does not even [enter Ukraine] but launches a cruise missile, it is necessary to have a serious air defense system.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has continued to urge NATO leaders to establish a no-fly zone over the country. The West has been hesitant so far, saying it could escalate the war to a nuclear confrontation.
The military base has long been used to train Ukrainian soldiers. It has also served as crucial hub for cooperation between Ukraine and the NATO countries supporting it. Some top Western officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, condemned the attack.
“The brutality must stop,” Blinken tweeted Sunday.
Poland felt the effects of Russia’s missile attack. A long line of applicants formed Monday outside Warsaw’s main passport office, and residents of a Polish village near the border were even woken up by the missile attack.
“I thought that someone was knocking on our door and I said that to my husband, and he answered that it must be a mistake so he stood up and went out to the balcony,” Wielkie Oczy resident Lucyna Lesika said. “When he was standing out on the balcony he saw a blast of light and the neighbors went to their balconies and we were all in shock. We were afraid.”
