Russia strikes Ukraine military base near Polish border as it steps up its offensive

Foreign military instructors have previously worked at the base

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  Police officers detain a woman in central Moscow, during a protest against Russian military action in Ukraine. AFP

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  Children look at phones as people who fled the conflict in Ukraine wait outside an immigration office in Brussels, Belgium. Reuters

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  Soldiers stand next to a bus with a damaged windscreen, after an attack on the Yavoriv military base, in Novoyavorivsk, Ukraine. Reuters

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  A soldier waits at a hospital after the attack on the Yavoriv military base. Reuters

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  A wounded soldier is transported by medical workers, at a hospital in Novoyavorivsk, after the attack on the Yavoriv military base. Reuters

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  Rescuers work at the site of an accident after a bus that was carrying about 50 Ukrainian refugees overturned near Forli, central Italy. One person died in the crash. AFP

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  A man wounded in the air strikes at a nearby military complex is assisted by medical staff outside Novoiavorivsk District Hospital. Getty Images

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  Paramedics find low ground after an air-raid siren sounds on the outskirts of Novoiavorivsk. Getty Images

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  A view of a residential building damaged during an air strike, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Chernihiv, Ukraine. Reuters

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  A tram damaged by shelling sits at a depot, in Kharkiv. AP

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  An abandoned doll next to a car riddled with bullets in Irpin, north of Kyiv. AFP

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  A Ukrainian soldier holds a Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapon that was used to destroy a Russian armoured personal carrier in Irpin. AFP

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  Residents try to strengthen the wall of a house damaged by recent shelling, on the outskirts Kyiv. AFP

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  Firefighters extinguish a blaze at a house after shelling in Kyiv. AFP

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  A convoy of pro-Russian troops outside the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, Ukraine. Reuters

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  Smoke from shelling rises behind a wreath at a cemetery in Vasylkiv, south-west of Kyiv. AP

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  A woman stands outside a local hospital, damaged during fighting in Volnovakha. Reuters

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  People gather in the basement of a local hospital, which was damaged during clashes in Volnovakha. Reuters

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  A Ukrainian soldier leaves a damaged building after shelling in Kyiv. AFP

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  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. AFP

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  A finance police officer boards Russian billionaire Andrey Igorevich Melnichenko's superyacht, which has been sequestered at the northern port of Trieste, Italy. Reuters

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  A Russian KA-52 gunship strikes a Ukrainian military object. AFP

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  Bystanders watch what appears to be Russian forces arresting Ivan Fedorov, mayor of Melitopol, a city in south-eastern Ukraine. Reuters

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  Firefighters battle a blaze at a warehouse storing frozen products hit by shelling in Kvitneve, Kyiv region. Reuters

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  A soldier loads the cargo hold of a chartered Boeing 747 airplane with duffle bags belonging to US soldiers, during their deployment to Europe, at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia. AP

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  Two young girls pray for peace in Ukraine at Lisbon's 16th century Jeronimos Monastery. AP Photo

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  A volunteer of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces walks on the debris of a car wash destroyed by Russian bombing in Baryshivka, east of Kyiv. AP Photo

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  Volunteers pass an improvised path under a destroyed bridge as they help an elderly resident in Irpin, north-west Kyiv. AP Photo

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  A woman who was evacuated from Irpin kisses a cat wrapped in a blanket at a triage point in Kyiv. AP Photo

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  An explosion is seen in an apartment building after a Russian army tank fires in Mariupol. AP Photo

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  A Russian army tank moves through a street on the outskirts of Mariupol. AP Photo

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  Tonya Steyn, office manager and volunteer co-ordinator, sorts through medical supplies at the non-governmental organisation, SOS International headquarters in Louisville, Kentucky. AFP

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  An overview of damaged buildings and burning fuel storage tanks at Antonov Airport in Hostomel, north-west of Kyiv. Maxar Technologies / AFP

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  The destroyed main building of school number 25, after being bombed in Zhytomyr. EPA

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  A supporter holds a sign to support Ukraine during Paris' mayor and 'Socialist party' (PS) presidential candidate's campaign meeting in Rennes, western France. AFP

Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine

A Russian air strike on a large Ukrainian military facility near the border with NATO member Poland on Sunday killed 35 people and wounded 134, a local Ukrainian official said, as other officials reported intense Russian attacks around the country.

Britain said the incident, just 25km from the Polish border, 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 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 Yavoriv International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security, adding that some were intercepted before they hit.

The 360-square-km centre less than 25km from the Polish border, is one Ukraine's biggest and the largest in the western part of the country.

The Kremlin did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the reported missile strike so close to the border with Nato, and a short video briefing by Russia's defence ministry spokesman on Sunday made no mention of such an attack.

Nineteen ambulances with sirens on were seen by Reuters driving from the direction of the Yaroviv centre after the reported strike and black smoke rose from the area.

Reuters was not immediately able to verify exactly what had happened at the base.

“Russia has attacked the International Centre for Peacekeeping & Security near Lviv. Foreign instructors work here. Information about the victims is being clarified,” Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in an online post.

A Ukrainian defence ministry representative told Reuters the ministry was still trying to establish whether any foreign instructors were at the centre at the time of the attack.

Nato officials were not immediately available to comment.

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. The last major exercises were in September.

In the weeks before Russia invaded on February 24, the Ukrainian military trained there, but according to Ukrainian media, all foreign instructors left the training ground in mid-February, while leaving all the equipment.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sent more than 2.5 millions fleeing across borders and trapped thousands of people in besieged cities.

While western nations have sought to isolate Putin by imposing harsh sanctions, the United States and its allies are concerned to avoid Nato being drawn into the conflict.

Airport hit in west

The mayor of another city in western Ukraine, Ivano-Frankivsk, said Russian troops also continued to hit its airport, with no initial reports of casualties.

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 Russian bombardment. Videos from one resident, Teimur Aliev, who is helping bring aid to residents, show badly bombed buildings lining streets, burnt out cars riddled with shrapnel holes and debris strewn across the ground.

“We will stitch up the wounds and the pain of our country and our city. We are ready to build it and we are ready to renew it when the war is over. We're not going anywhere,” Aliev, a 23-year-old musician, said of his food distribution network, which now has dozens of volunteers.

British intelligence also said Russian forces advancing from Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, were trying to circumvent Mykolaiv as they look to drive west towards Odesa.

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  A satellite image shows homes and buildings in Mariupol, Ukraine, in February, before Russia's invasion. Maxar Technologies via Reuters

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  A satellite image shows destroyed homes and buildings in Mariupol on March 9. Maxar Technologies via Reuters

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  Grocery stores and shopping malls in Mariupol in February before Russia's invasion. Maxar Technologies via Reuters

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  A satellite image shows destroyed grocery stores and shopping malls in Mariupol on March 9 amid Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Maxar Technologies via Reuters

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  The Portcity shopping mall and other stores in Mariupol in February before the Russian invasion. Maxar Technologies via AP

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  The heavily damaged Portcity shopping mall and other stores in Mariupol on March 9. Maxar Technologies via AP

Air raid sirens again woke residents in Kyiv on Sunday morning, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy warned Russian forces they face a fight to the death if they try to occupy the capital.

Ukraine accused Russian forces on Saturday of killing seven civilians, including one child, in an attack on women and children trying to flee fighting near Kyiv.

Reuters was unable immediately to verify the report and Russia offered no immediate comment.

Moscow denies targeting civilians. It blames Ukraine for failed attempts to evacuate civilians from encircled cities, an accusation Ukraine and its western allies strongly reject.

More arms for Ukraine

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

The Kremlin describes its actions as a “special operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” Ukraine. Ukraine and western allies call this a baseless pretext for a war of choice that has raised fears of wider conflict in Europe.

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.

Western officials said on Friday that Russia might use chemical weapons in Ukraine in a “false flag” attack to provide a retrospective justification for its invasion, but there was nothing to suggest a broader use of such weapons in the war.

The US this week described renewed Russian accusations that Washington was operating bio-warfare labs in Ukraine as “laughable” and suggested Moscow may be laying the groundwork to use a chemical or biological weapon.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday the situation had been complicated by convoys of western arms shipments to Ukraine that Russian forces considered “legitimate targets”.

In comments reported by the Tass news agency, Ryabkov made no specific threat. Any attack on such convoys before they reached Ukraine would risk widening the war.

Russian troops have destroyed 3,687 Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities so far, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying on Sunday. It was not possible to independently verify his statement.