Svitlana Vervetchenko, at left, and Irina Vervetchenko hold hands as they react to an air raid siren going off as they wait for a bus that will take them to Sweden from the central train station on April 15, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. The two fled from their hometown of Kharkiv as the Russian military campaign continues in the east. Lviv has served as a stopover and shelter for the millions of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, either to the safety of nearby countries or the relative security of western Ukraine. (Joe Raedle, Getty Images)
Russia’s Defense Ministry promised Friday to ramp up missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in response to Ukraine’s alleged aggression on Russian territory, an ominous warning that followed Moscow’s stinging symbolic loss of its navy’s flagship in the Black Sea.
The threat of intensified attacks on Kyiv came after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes on Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling Thursday.
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“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 the Russian territory,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
A renewed bombardment could return Kyiv’s residents to the steady wail of air raid sirens heard during the early days of Russia’s invasion and to fearful nights sheltering in subway stations. The capital has displayed tentative signs of pre-war life after Russian troops failed to capture the city and retreated to concentrate on eastern Ukraine, leaving behind evidence of possible war crimes.
U.S. President Joe Biden earlier this week said the atrocities committed by Russia in Ukraine amounted to “genocide,” marking the first time he has leveled the accusation against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Below are some Getty Images, illustrating what’s been going on this week overseas:
Olya Kachan hugs Maxim Zyabkin as they wait to load up on a bus that will take them to Poland from the central train station on April 15, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. (Getty Images)
People traveling on the train from Kharkiv arrive at the central train station on April 15, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. As the Russian military campaign continues in the east, civilians are encouraged to leave the area. Lviv has served as a stopover and shelter for the millions of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, either to the safety of nearby countries or the relative security of western Ukraine. (Getty Images)
People fleeing from the eastern part of Ukraine load up on a bus that will take them to Poland from the central train station on April 15, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. (Getty Images)
Antonia Marksevka from Ternopil, who fled war-torn Ukraine with her mother, presents an Easter egg in the national colors of Ukraine during Easter preparations held for Ukrainian refugee children at the Slawia cultural center on April 12, 2022 in Halle, Germany. Slawia Kulturcentrum is a local initiative launched in 2001 to assist Slavic immigrants and is including refugees from Ukraine in its projects. More than 300,000 Ukrainians, the vast majority of them women and children, have registered in Germany after fleeing their homeland due to the ongoing Russian military invasion. (Getty Images)
The wife of an arrested pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, Oxana Marchenko, talks during her news conference at the Public Chamber of Russia on April 15, 2022 in Moscow, Russia. Medvedchuk, one of close Vladimir Putin's allies in Ukraine, was captured by SBU Security Service and shown handcuffed and wearing the uniform of a soldier on Tuesday in a picture tweeted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Getty Images)
The wife of an arrested pro-Russian Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, Oksana Marchenko, speaks at a news conference. (Getty Images)
Here's a view of a cross and coffin prepared for a funeral on April 12, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine. The Russian retreat from towns near Kyiv has revealed scores of civilian deaths and the full extent of devastation from Russia's attempt to seize the Ukrainian capital. (Getty Images)
The forensic team works on the mass grave on April 12, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine. (Getty Images)
A banner with "STOP THE WAR" emblazoned across it is seen to indicate peace and sympathy with Ukraine prior to the friendly match between KP Legia Warszawa and Dynamo Kyiv at Wojska Polskiego Stadium on April 12, 2022 in Warsaw, Poland. The match marked the first match in the European series "Match for Peace! Stop the War!". Dynamo Kyiv will play friendly matches against several European clubs between April and June to draw attention to the war. KP Legia Warzsawa and the Legia Foundation will donate the profits from tickets and fundraisers to support Ukrainian internal refugees who had to leave their place of residence due to the war. (Getty Images)
The prosecutor general of Ukraine, Iryna Venediktova, visits the exhumation of a mass grave on April 12, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine. The Russian retreat from Ukrainian towns and cities has revealed scores of civilian deaths and the full extent of devastation from Russia's attempt to dominate the country. (Getty Images)
Alexei Khramov lives in a shelter for displaced people set up in a School of Mathematics on April 12, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. He fled his home town of Melitopol due to the Russian military's invasion of Ukraine. Lviv has served as a stopover and shelter for the millions of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, either to the safety of nearby countries or the relative security of western Ukraine. (Getty Images)
Masha, 43 years old, works on her laptop at home on April 12, 2022 in Krakow, Poland. Masha is a Russian immigrant who works for an IT company in Poland and has been co-organizing protests against the detention of Putin's political opponents such as Alexei Navalny. Since Feb. 24, she has helped organize weekly protests against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, volunteering at Krakow's train station to support displaced Ukrainians, as well as giving shelter to the Ukrainians escaping war. (Getty Images)
Eugene, 52 years old, who fled the war in Ukraine together with his family, Maksym and Oksana, carries his dog in a bag before heading out on April 12, 2022 in Krakow, Poland. (Getty Images)
A cow stands by the destroyed military vehicles and damaged houses on April 8, 2022 in Andriivka, Ukraine. The Russian retreat from towns near Kyiv has revealed scores of civilian deaths and the full extent of devastation from Russia's failed attempt to seize the Ukrainian capital. (Getty Images)
Here's a view of a destroyed house on April 9, 2022 in Novoselivka, Chernihiv suburbs, Ukraine. (Getty Images)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the South Korean parliament via video link at the National Assembly on April 11, 2022 in Seoul, South Korea. Zelensky has made a number of virtual appearances in recent weeks, lobbying foreign governments to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia's invasion. (Getty Images)
A woman with a child disembarks a train at Przemysl train station after fleeing from war-torn Ukraine on April 9, 2022 in Przemysl, Poland. According to the United Nations, since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, upward of 10 million people have been displaced, and at least 1,100 civilians have been killed. (Getty Images)
This is a view of a residential building destroyed as a result of shellfire a few weeks ago, snapped on April 9, 2022, in Chernihiv, Ukraine. The Russian retreat from Ukrainian towns and cities has revealed scores of civilian deaths and the full extent of devastation from Russia's attempt to dominate the country. The northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, about 45 miles from the border with Belarus, was besieged during the Russian invasion -- and the city’s mayor said last Sunday that 70% of the city had been destroyed. The city’s defenders prevented its capture and Russian forces that headed toward Kyiv opted to bypass the strategic city. (Getty Images)
Civilians use air rifles to train for possible urban combat at a facility run by the Green Hundred Volunteer Group on April 9, 2022 in Lviv, Ukraine. The group instructs civilians on the intricacies of fighting in a city. As the Russians seem to refocus efforts on the eastern part of the country, people continue to prepare to fight in the West. Lviv has served as a stopover and shelter for the millions of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, either to the safety of nearby countries or the relative security of western Ukraine. (Getty Images)
