Battered Ukraine blasts rockets and Putin’s ‘barbarians’
UKRAINE accused Russia of being run by “barbarians” after Kyiv was targeted by a second wave of air strikes in 24 hours.
More than 40 missiles and drones were shot down over the capital early on Monday morning as the capital’s skies resembled “a Star Wars episode”.
Children were seen running for their lives to shelters as explosions lit up the sky in the attack – Russia’s 15th assault on the city this month.
Yuri Ihnat, Ukraine’s air force spokesman, said that Iskander ballistic missiles were used in the assault and that it was possible S-300 and S-400 rockets had also
‘The skies look and sound like another Star Wars episode’
been fired. Serhi Popko, the head of the city’s military administration, said 40 “aerial targets” were shot down over Kyiv. There were no reports of casualties, but falling drone debris damaged buildings and sparked a rash of fires.
Russia was trying to exhaust the country’s air defences with the increased attacks, Mr Popko said.
Vitali Klitschko, the Mayor of Kyiv, said: “Another difficult night for the capital. But, thanks to the professionalism of our defenders, as a result of the air attack of the barbarians in Kyiv, there was no damage or destruction of infrastructural and other objects.” The attack came as the clear-up was still continuing from a massive assault on the city on Sunday – the heaviest drone assault on the capital to date.
It resulted in falling debris killing a 41-year-old man and injuring several others.
Yesterday, explosions were also reported in the eastern city of Lviv, the southern port of Odesa, along with the Vinnytsia and Khmelnytskyi regions.
In Khmelnytskyi, a strike on a military airfield damaged five aircraft and the runway, regional authorities said.
Oleksandr Scherba, the ambassador-at-large at Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the last few days had been very difficult for Kyiv residents. He said: “Almost every night, the skies look and sound like another Star Wars episode.
“But we don’t feel much of Russian rockets hitting their targets here within the city area.
“And this is all thanks to the decent countries... who gave us this air defence.”
A DECISION by university lecturers to vote for the UK to stop sending arms to Ukraine has been attacked as “deplorable”.
The University and College Union’s annual conference at the weekend also voted to boycott Israel.And delegates called for a ballot for further strike action in what has become Britain’s longest-running pay dispute.
Staff have been striking for five years and are now refusing to mark exams and dissertations. Union members demanded an end to arming Ukraine – a move which would see the war-torn nation defeated by Russia – as well as a ban on Nato expansion and escalation.
However, the motion also called on Russian troops to withdraw from Ukraine. Chris McGovern, chairman of Campaign for Real Education, told the Daily Express: “This is lions led by donkeys – they ought to hang their heads in shame. They are basically saying Ukraine should be taken over by an aggressor. It’s deplorable.”
Dr Sarah Whitmore, a political expert at Oxford Brookes University and a member of the UCU, said: “I am ashamed of my union. And embarrassed as it is a union of academics – those people who are supposed to investigate and rigorously interrogate the available evidence – who have passed a resolution that is morally reprehensible but, worse, profoundly ignorant of Ukraine.” Fellow union member Dr Anna Hajkova, co-director of the University of Warwick Centre for Global Jewish Studies, said: “Words fail me to express how disappointed I am”.
She added that “many, many good members” are leaving the union and she may too.
Delegates from the Leeds University branch of UCU tried to amend the ballot to remove any call for the Government to stop arming Ukraine. They also wanted to remove support for Stop the War and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament protests.
But union members voted against its changes. Jess Kent, UCU delegate from Sheffield University, told the conference the war was a “cynical game between US and Russian imperialism”. She added: “Comrades, the main enemy is at home.
“We fight against our own warmongers. We must deal with our own imperialist Government.” After the vote, general secretary Jo Grady said she disagreed with the motion.
‘This resolution is morally reprehensible and deeply ignorant’
Threatened
There are already tensions within the UCU, with some members unhappy with Ms Grady.
She has been threatened with noconfidence votes after a decision to pause strikes at the 11th hour in February without a new pay offer.
In response to the marking boycott, many universities said they would either withhold all pay for those refusing to mark work or deduct wages.
Universities say they cannot produce a pay increase higher than the five to eight per cent already offered, partly because tuition fees have not risen at the rate of inflation.