Russian missile blitz targets Ukraine cities
Ukrainian military claims it shot down 54 out of 69 missiles launched by Russia
Russia fired scores of missiles into Ukraine early yesterday, targeting Kyiv, the northeastern city of Kharkiv, and other cities in a massive aerial bombardment that sent people rushing to shelters and knocked out power, Ukrainian authorities said.
In Kyiv, a team of emergency workers searched through the smouldering wreckage of a residential house destroyed by a blast, and footage showed the smoke trails of missiles lingering in the sky over the capital. In Kharkiv fire fighters worked to extinguish a blaze at an electricity station.
Ukraine’s military said it shot down 54 missiles out of 69 launched by Russia in an attack that began at 7am local time.
Air raid sirens rang out across the country and in Kyiv sounded for five hours — in one of the longest alarms of the war.
Kamikaze drone assault
Brigadier General Oleksiy Hromov of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said the missiles were fired at “critical and energy infrastructure facilities in the eastern, central, western and southern regions”.
The attacks followed an overnight assault by ‘kamikaze’ drones.
The latest blitz came hard on the heels of the Kremlin’s rejection of a Ukrainian peace plan, insisting that Kyiv must accept Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions.
Kyiv city military administration said two private houses in Darnytskyi district were damaged by the fragments of downed missiles and a business and a playground were also damaged.
Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, but Ukraine says its daily bombardment is destroying cities, towns, and the country’s power, medical and other infrastructure.
‘We will not lose it’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a video address, urged Ukrainians to hug loved ones, tell friends they appreciate them, support colleagues, thank their parents and rejoice with their children more often.
“We have not lost our humanity, although we have endured terrible months,” he said. “And we will not lose it, although there is a difficult year ahead.”
There is still no prospect of talks to end the war. Zelensky is vigorously pushing a 10-point peace plan that envisages Russia respecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity and pulling out all its troops.
But Moscow dismissed it on Wednesday, reiterating that Kyiv must accept Russia’s annexation of the four regions.
There can be no peace plan “that does not take into account today’s realities regarding Russian territory, with the entry of four regions into Russia”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.