LVIV: Russian missiles hit a large Ukrainian military base near the border with Nato member Poland on Sunday, killing 35 people, even as Moscow said that negotiators were making headway at talks to resolve conflict in Ukraine.

Residents of the capital Kyiv woke again to the sound of air raid sirens and city authorities said they were stockpiling food items sufficient for two weeks for the two million people who have not yet fled the fighting.

Ukraine also reported renewed air strikes on an airport in the west, heavy shelling on Chernihiv northeast of the capital and attacks on the southern town of Mykolayiv, where officials said nine people had been killed.

An American journalist was shot and killed by Russian forces in the town of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, and another journalist was wounded, the regional police chief said.

Negotiators say progress made at peace talks; American journalist killed

Despite the violence, both sides said they thought progress could be made at bilateral talks that have been held periodically since Russia invaded on Feb 24, although they gave no details of what might be agreed.

“Russia is already beginning to talk constructively,” Ukrainian negotiator and presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in a video posted online.

“I think that we will achieve some results literally in a matter of days.”

A Russian delegate to talks with Ukraine, Leonid Slutsky, was quoted by RIA news agency as saying they had made significant progress and it was possible the delegations could soon reach draft agreements.

Neither side said what these would cover, however. Three rounds of talks between the two sides in Belarus, most recently on Monday last, had focused mainly on humanitarian issues.

The attack on the Yavoriv International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security, a base just 25km from the Polish border that has previously hosted Nato military instructors, came a day after Russia’s deputy foreign minister warned convoys of Western arms shipments to Ukraine could be considered legitimate targets.

Regional Governor Maksym Kozytsky said Russian planes fired around 30 rockets at the facility, adding that some were intercepted before they hit. At least 35 people were killed and 134 wounded, he said.

His statement could not be verified independently.

The 360-square-kilometre facility is one of Ukraine’s biggest and is the largest in the western part of the country.

Nineteen ambulances with sirens on were seen driving from the direction of the Yavoriv base and black smoke rose from the area.

Britain said the incident marked a “significant escalation” of the conflict. US President Joe Biden has said Nato would defend every inch of its territory if Russia’s invasion spills over into member states of the Western defence alliance.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2022