Kyiv, Ukraine — Multiple regions of Ukraine, including the country’s capital, were subjected to a major Russian missile assault on Thursday, the worst wave of attacks against national infrastructure in weeks. Air raid sirens sounded throughout the nation.
According to the Ukrainian air force, Russia despatched explosive drones to specific districts overnight before expanding the assault with “air and sea-based cruise missiles launched from strategic aircraft and ships” in the morning. The strike was described as “huge” by the group, according to the French news agency AFP.
The sweeping assault was the most recent in a series of Russian operations against Ukraine’s essential infrastructure. Since October, Moscow has undertaken such raids regularly as its ground forces became bogged down and even lost ground.
After previous attacks, the Ukrainian military reported shooting down incoming Russian missiles and explosive drones, but some still reached their objectives, causing damage to electricity and water supply and worsening the population’s suffering in the frigid weather.
A Belarusian presidential press service-affiliated social media site said early Thursday that a Ukrainian S-300 air defense missile had landed on Belarusian territory, a situation that might exacerbate the region’s rising tensions. It stated that the missile may have fallen accidently in Belarus and that there were no injuries, but the Belarusian Defense Ministry later stated that it was shot down by Belarusian air defenses over the western Brest region.
Belarus, a strong ally of Russia and located just north of Ukraine, served as a staging area for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24. For months, it has been feared that Belarus would hunt for an excuse to join the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
In the meantime, the governor of Russia’s Saratov area stated that Russian air defense systems had shot down a “unidentified object” near the city of Engels, which is located hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border within Russian territory.
A major hub for Russia’s nuclear-capable strategic bombers, which have been used to deliver conventional bombs on Ukraine, is located near Engles.
Russia’s military has stated twice this month that Ukrainian drones targeted the Engels air base, but Ukraine has never publicly confirmed an attack within Russian territory.
The United States agreed earlier this month to provide Ukraine with a Patriot missile battery to bolster the country’s security. In addition, the U.S. and its allies have vowed to deliver energy-related equipment to help Ukraine weather the infrastructure attacks.
On December 29, 2022, a Ukrainian air defense system intercepts a missile launched by Russian forces towards Kiev, Ukraine.
General Valeriy Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of Ukraine, was quoted by AFP as stating, “Initial reports indicate that 69 missiles were launched in all. 54 enemy cruise missiles were intercepted.”
Earlier in the day, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stated that Russia had launched more than 120 missiles.
AFP reported that all 16 missiles that attacked the Ukrainian capital were intercepted and that 40% of the city was without electricity.
At least three individuals, including a 14-year-old girl, were injured and hospitalized, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. He requested that individuals store water and charge their smart devices.
According to the city administration, fragments from fallen Russian missiles damaged two private buildings in the Darnytskyi neighborhood of Kiev. According to local officials, an industrial plant and a playground in neighborhoods located across the Dnieper River were also destroyed. No casualties were recorded immediately.
In the midst of Russia’s onslaught on Ukraine, rescuers work at a location of severely damaged private homes caused by a Russian missile strike.
According to the mayors of Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, which is located in eastern Ukraine, and Lviv, a city on the Polish border, numerous explosions also occurred.
On Telegram, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi reported that approximately 90 percent of Lviv was without power. He stated that trams and trolley buses were not operating and that homeowners may endure water outages. Attacks on this city have been uncommon.
As the new wave of Russian attacks began on Thursday, authorities in the areas of Dnipro, Odessa, and Kryvyi Rih announced they had turned off the power to important infrastructure installations to mitigate any damage.
The governor of the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, Vitaliy Kim, stated that five missiles were intercepted over the Black Sea. The Ukrainian military’s command North said that two aircraft were shot down over the Sumy region, located near the country’s northeastern border with Russia.
In the south, Odesa Governor Maksym Marchenko claimed 21 missiles were intercepted over the region, AFP reported.
The United States agreed earlier this month to provide Ukraine with a Patriot missile battery to bolster the country’s security. In addition, the U.S. and its allies have vowed to deliver energy-related equipment to help Ukraine weather the infrastructure attacks.
The adviser to Zelenskyy, Podolyak, stated that Russia’s objective was to “destroy vital infrastructure and mass-murder civilians.”
“We’re waiting for additional proposals from ‘peacekeepers’ about ‘peaceful settlement,”security guarantees for the RF,’ and the undesirability of provocations,” Podolyak tweeted, making a sarcastic reference to statements from some Western leaders urging Ukraine to seek a political resolution to the conflict.
Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated that his country desires a “peace” meeting at the United Nations within two months, with Secretary-General António Guterres serving as mediator. Kuleba stated that Russia must face a war crimes tribunal before to his nation’s direct negotiations with Moscow. However, he stated that other countries should feel free to interact with the Russians.
Commenting on the summit plan Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova blasted it as “delirious” and “empty,” branding the proposal as a “publicity stunt by Washington that tries to present the Kyiv dictatorship as a peacemaker.”
During a press briefing, Zakharova stated, “It is an attempt to lend a veneer of credibility to an useless discussion that will not be followed by any meaningful steps.”
Russian authorities have argued that any peace proposal can only come from Kyiv’s acknowledgement of Russia’s sovereignty over the territory it illegally acquired from Ukraine in September
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