Edited by Deepali Verma
A wave of Russian missiles hit Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities that resulted in the killing of 18 people and wounding close to a hundred. Amidst this, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed for a forceful response.
Rescue workers in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, near Russia’s border are engaged in hauling survivors from smouldering piles of rubble as apartment blocks set ablaze and toppled by the strikes, as per the reports of AFP journalists.
“Russia sees ordinary life as a threat to itself and the state is a typical terrorist,” a sombre Zelensky remarked in his evening address to the nation, where he added that 130 people had been injured in the attacks.
Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Sinegubov remarked that close to eight people had been dead in the overnight barrage that had wounded more than 50 people. Sinegubov, later in the evening, reported a fresh round of strikes on Kharkiv leaving four people injured.
Interior Minister Igor Klymenko, on the other hand, praised rescuers that he said pulled 27 survivors from rubble. He posted the dramatic footage of workers cutting free a man who found himself trapped in freezing temperatures for hours.
Russian forces had an aim to register control of Kharkiv — the city worst hit in the overnight strikes — early on in their invasion which was launched in February 2022.
Ukrainian forces have been battling with Moscow’s army but it has been routinely shelling the city since.
– ‘Really scary’ –
Zelensky’s address revealed that Russia had launched close to 40 missiles in the overnight barrage seeking to pierce Ukraine’s air defence systems. Though a considerable portion of them were downed by Ukrainian forces, the other missiles were able to hit 200 structures that had 139 residential buildings.
Reporters of AFP in Kyiv heard the air raid sirens echo over the capitol at night right after which there was a series of loud blasts as defence systems targeted the aerial onslaught.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko informed that nearly 20 people were wounded in the attack on Kyiv that set buildings and cars ablaze in central districts.
Officials in the region around Kyiv said four people were wounded after residential blocks, private homes and farm buildings were subject to damage.
Similarly, the governor of the southern region of Kherson, which as per the claims of Kremlin is part of Russia, informed that a 70-year-old man had been killed by Russian forces, without giving details.
Bridget Brink, US ambassador to Ukraine, said that these attacks demand that Washington should double down on support.
“Ukraine is in need of our continued support now, to shield itself against these cruel attacks on civilians,” she wrote on social media.
France’s foreign ministry stood in condemnation of Moscow’s attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, stating “Russia holds the guilt of war crimes and holds sole responsibility for the escalation.”
– Kremlin denies targeting civilians –
In conversation regarding the attacks, the Kremlin has denied Russian forces targeting the civilian infrastructure and vowed to continue Moscow’s nearly two-year invasion.
“Our military never hits civilian facilities or residential neighbourhoods. And neither does it hit civilians — unlike the Kyiv regime,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the reporters.
This was established as an apparent reference to an increase in fatal drone and missile attacks that Russian forces had blamed on Kyiv, targeting cities and energy facilities that were located near the border.
Further, the Moscow-installed authorities in the Russian-occupied eastern Donetsk region revealed that the Ukrainian strikes have killed three people.
