Russian air strike hits military base near Polish border

Lviv, Ukraine

A RUSSIAN missile attack on a large Ukrainian military facility near the border with Nato member Poland on Sunday (Mar 13) killed 35 people and wounded 134, a Ukrainian official said.

Britain said the incident, just 25 km from the Polish border, marked a "significant escalation" of the conflict. US President Joe Biden has said that Nato will defend every inch of its territory if Russia's invasion of Ukraine spills over into member states of the Western defence alliance.

Ukraine said foreign military instructors have previously worked at the Yavoriv International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, but a Nato official said there were no personnel from the alliance there. It was not immediately clear whether any non-Nato states might have representatives there.

Regional governor Maksym Kozytskyy 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. Reuters was not able to verify his statement. The 360 sq-km facility is one Ukraine's biggest and the largest in the western part of the country.

Ukraine, whose aspirations to join Nato are a major irritant to Russian President Vladimir Putin, held most of its drills with countries in the Western defence alliance at the base before the invasion.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, launched by Putin on Feb 24, has sent more than 2.5 million fleeing across borders and trapped thousands of people in besieged cities.

Asked how much of an escalation the attack was, UK cabinet minister Michael Gove told a BBC interviewer: "It is significant." Putin was pushing the boundaries in military terms, he said.

In eastern Ukraine, Russian troops are trying to surround Ukrainian forces as they advance from the port of Mariupol in the south and the second city Kharkiv in the north, the UK Defence Ministry said on Sunday. Kharkhiv has suffered some of the heaviest bombardment.

The United States said it would rush up to US$200 million in additional small arms, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine, where officials have pleaded for more military aid.

Polish President Andrzej Duda warned in an interview broadcast on Sunday that the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine by Russia would be a game changer and Nato would have to think seriously about how to respond. REUTERS