Tide of refugees grows amid more shelling

Ukraine's neighbors reported a dip in the numbers of new refugees on Saturday as governments struggled to find shelter for those who have fled since Russia's military operation began two weeks ago.

Germany will take in 2,500 refugees who have fled to Moldova from Ukraine, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Saturday after meeting her Moldovan counterpart in Chisinau, the capital.

Britain will pay people to open their homes to Ukrainians. The new program, called Homes for Ukraine, will let refugees from the war travel to Britain even if they do not have family ties, the government said on Sunday.

A senior Russian defense ministry official said on Saturday that the humanitarian situation in Ukraine continued to decline rapidly, and he blamed the actions of Ukrainian fighters, the RIA news agency reported.

"The humanitarian situation in Ukraine, unfortunately, continues to rapidly worsen, and in some cities has reached catastrophic proportions," RIA quoted Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defense Control Centre, as saying.

Refugees have aimed for cities with established Ukrainian communities and better chances of finding work. The refugee inflows coincided with another day of shelling. Russian forces launched a missile attack on a large Ukrainian military facility near the Polish border on Sunday, as Kyiv said it was prepared for a "relentless defense" of the capital.

The Russian military launched an airstrike on the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security in Yavoriv, the Lviv regional military administration said.

Reuters quoted regional governor Maksym Kozytskyy as saying that Russian planes fired around 30 rockets, adding that some were intercepted before they hit. At least 35 people were killed and 134 wounded, he said.

The Kremlin did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the reported strike.

The 360-square-km facility less than 25 kilometers from the Polish border is one of Ukraine's biggest such centers and the largest in the western part of the country. Ukraine holds most of its drills with NATO countries there.

US President Joe Biden authorized $200 million in additional military equipment for Ukraine on Saturday. Russia said its troops could target supplies of Western weapons in Ukraine and that the pouring in of weapons would turn convoys transporting foreign weapons into Ukraine "into legitimate targets".

On the diplomatic front, Ukraine is working with Israel and Turkey as mediators to finalize a location and framework for peace negotiations with Russia, Ukrainian presidential adviser and negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak said on Sunday.

Agencies contributed to this story.