Facts about Russia-Ukraine conflict: 1 killed, 2 injured in missile attack in Ukrainian capital

MOSCOW/KIEV, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis:

At least one person was killed and two others injured as a result of a missile attack in the Ukrainian capital on Thursday, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.

The casualties occurred as remnants of the missile fired by the Russian forces hit a non-residential building in the southern Holosiivskyi district, Klitschko said, adding that explosions also occurred in the eastern Dniprovskiy district.

The attacks also hit energy infrastructure in the southern Odesa region, causing blackouts, the head of the Odesa military administration Maksym Marchenko said on Telegram.

Western arms supplies to Ukraine testify to their direct involvement in the conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday after Germany approved sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

"There are constant statements from European capitals and Washington that the supplies of various weapon systems, including tanks, to Ukraine in no way mean the involvement of these countries or the alliance (NATO) in the hostilities that are taking place in Ukraine," Peskov told a daily briefing.

"We categorically disagree with this ... Everything that the alliance ... does is perceived as direct involvement in the conflict. And we see that this involvement is growing," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday welcomed Germany's decision to supply its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

After a phone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Zelensky said they also discussed a further broadening of defense support and training missions for Ukraine.

The armed forces of Ukraine have withdrawn from the Donetsk region's town of Soledar, Serhiy Cherevaty, the spokesman of the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, was quoted by the government-run Ukrinform news agency as saying on Wednesday.

He said that after months of intense fighting, the Ukrainian army withdrew to pre-prepared defense lines in the outskirts of the city. "The defenders of Soledar performed a real feat despite the enemy's superiority," he said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Jan. 13 that the country's forces had fully controlled the city of Soledar in Donetsk on Jan. 12, adding that this was important for "the continuation of successful offensives in the Donetsk direction."

Russian forces killed about 90 Ukrainian servicemen in the past day in the Kupyansk and Krasny Liman directions, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told a daily briefing on Thursday.

Russian troops also downed two Ukrainian Su-25 fighters in Donetsk, he added.