Russia is 'increasing the pace' of its invasion after Putin threatens West, Ukraine says

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Ukraine’s military said Thursday that Russia is "increasing the pace of the offensive operation" a day after Vladimir Putin warned the West that any outside interference would lead to "lightning"-fast retaliatory strikes. 

In a Facebook post, Ukraine’s armed forces said "in almost all directions, the Russian occupiers are exerting intense fire," with the heaviest activity "observed in [the] Slobozhansky and Donetsk directions" of Ukraine’s north and east. 

"Russian occupiers continue to suffer losses on land," the military added. "In the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts only, six enemy attacks have been repulsed in the past 24 hours, five tanks, one artillery system, twenty-two armored vehicles, one car and one anti-aircraft gun have been destroyed." 

A man stands at the site of a destroyed garage following a military strike near a railway station in Lyman, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, on Thursday, April 28. (Reuters/Jorge Silva)

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In a direct threat to the West on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged "lightning" fast strikes on any nation that "interferes" with Russia's war in Ukraine.  

"If anyone ventures to intervene from the outside and [pose] unacceptable threats of a strategic nature to Russia, they should know that our counter-retaliatory strikes will take place with lightning speed," he said. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks Wednesday, April 27 in St. Petersburg, Russia. (Alexander Demyanchuk, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

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On Thursday, Ukraine also reported explosions in the southern, Russia-controlled city of Kherson, where a pro-Ukraine rally recently was broken up by stun grenades and tear gas, according to Reuters. 

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visits the town of Irpin, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 28. (Reuters/Gleb Garanich)

Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai also said residential areas in his region were struck "29 times by aircraft, multiple rocket launches, tube artillery and mortars," the Associated Press reports. 

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.