Kyiv and Lviv, Ukraine (CNN) – Russia has raised the risk of further escalation with Western powers, warning it will treat arms shipments to Ukraine as “legitimate targets” for military action as its forces start to expand their offensive to the west.
The threat from the deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, comes as the situation in the war-torn country grows more dire, with cities and towns across Ukraine under ceaseless Russian bombardment spurring calls for the West to step up efforts to assist in its defense.
The United States and other NATO allies have so far supported Ukraine’s resistance through the delivery of high-tech military equipment and weapons, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.
But in comments Saturday, Ryabkov said Russia had “warned the United States that pumping Ukraine with weapons from a number of countries orchestrated by them is not just a dangerous move, but these are actions that turn the corresponding convoys into legitimate targets,” according to Russia’s state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.
Heavy fighting continued throughout Saturday and into Sunday across Ukraine, with Russian troops closing in on the capital of Kyiv, and Britain’s Ministry of Defense saying Sunday Russian troops were attempting to “envelop” Ukrainian forces in the east of the country and “circumvent” the southern city of Mykolaiv as they advance from Crimea westwards towards Odessa.
Russia’s air offensive also bore down on targets in the West of the country over the weekend. Early Sunday morning, Russian missiles hit the International Peacekeeping and Security Center (IPSC) near the northwestern city of Lviv, according to the local government. The IPSC, a large military base near the Polish border, includes a training center for soldiers, predominantly for peacekeeping missions.
And a Russian airstrike destroyed an airport in the western Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk, the city’s mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv said, the third such attack on the airport.
A CNN team on the ground in Lviv heard multiple explosions shortly before 6 a.m. local time near the city. Lviv is a cultural hub of Ukraine and the city’s historic center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also a waypoint for those displaced by war, with thousands of people pouring into the city to escape bombarded towns and cities across the country or to make their way to the Polish border about 43 miles (70 kilometers) away.
As the Russian onslaught wears into its third week, Russian troops are inching closer to Kyiv. The bulk of Russian ground forces are about 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) from the center of the Ukrainian capital, according to Britain’s Ministry of Defense.
Images circulated online and verified by CNN show major damage caused by Russian airstrikes to apartment complexes, schools and a medical facility in Makariv, a village 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Kyiv.
‘They have to keep doing more’
As the devastation mounts, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has grown more vocal in his calls for increased aid and protection from NATO, even as the bloc remains firm that it will not send ground troops or establish a no-fly zone over the country.
“The evil which purposefully targets peaceful cities and ambulance vans and explodes hospitals will not stop with just one country if they have the strength to keep going,” Zelensky, who has become the voice of resistance, said in an address Saturday.
“I keep reiterating to our allies and friends abroad; they have to keep doing more for our country, for Ukrainians and Ukraine. Because it is not only for Ukraine, but it is for all of Europe,” he said.
The Russian threat to attack Western weapons convoys came the same day that US President Joe Biden upped American military support for Ukraine, with the approval of an additional drawdown of $200 million in defense aid and services, including military education and training, for Ukraine.
A US administration official said the $200 million will include “anti-armor, anti-aircraft systems, and small arms in support of Ukraine’s front-line defenders facing down Russia’s unprovoked attack.” The addition brings the total amount of security assistance provided to Ukraine by the US is $1.2 billion in the past year.
