During the night, Kiev and other Ukrainian cities were fired at with rockets. Residential buildings were also hit. Several people died. Ukrainian President Selenskyj spoke of a “night of terror”.
According to Ukrainian sources, Russia has launched rocket attacks on several cities in Ukraine, also targeting civilian infrastructure. The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Valery Saluschnyj, spoke of 23 cruise missiles fired at Ukraine during the night. According to him, the air defense managed to shoot down 21 missiles and two drones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of a “night of terror” and added: “Terrorists have targeted civilians.”
For the first time in almost two months, the Ukrainian capital Kiev was again the target of air raids. “After a pause of 51 days, the enemy again launched a missile attack on Kiev,” said the head of the Kiev military administration, Serhiy Popko. The air defense had been activated and had destroyed eleven cruise missiles, it said. There were initially no reports of injuries or impacts in the capital. However, fragments of intercepted projectiles fell on the city.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
Deaths in attacks on residential buildings
In other parts of the country, several people were killed in the night attacks, according to Ukrainian sources. Ten residential buildings were hit in the central Ukrainian city of Uman in the Cherkassy region, Zelensky said. He published photos of the destruction on social networks. A block of flats was destroyed. “As of now: seven dead, there are injured,” he said. According to authorities, a child was among the dead. There was talk of 17 injuries. Rescuers searched the rubble for other victims. Deaths were also reported from the city of Dnipro in the night attacks. A woman and a three-year-old child were killed there, Mayor Borys Filatow said. In addition, there were injuries.
“Russian evil can be stopped with weapons, our defenders do that,” Zelensky said, thanking the anti-aircraft defense for launching missiles. Ukraine will not leave the crimes unpunished, he stressed. Each of these attacks brings Russia closer to defeat in the war.
Topic overview
war in Ukraine
Shoigu: The West wants to strategically defeat Russia
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu accused the West of having set itself the goal of strategically defeating Russia. The state news agency RIA quotes the minister as saying that he also wants to pose a threat to China in order to maintain its own monopoly position. Almost all NATO countries have used their military capabilities against Russia.
Meanwhile, fierce fighting for the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut continued. According to Ukrainian military information, Russian forces are trying to cut off important supply routes and communication routes in Bakhmut. The spokesman for the Ukrainian armed forces in the east, Serhi Cherevatji, said on Ukrainian television that there had been 13 battles around Bakhmut in the past 24 hours. With constant counterattacks, the Ukrainian troops could have ensured that supplies could be delivered and the wounded evacuated. For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported successes against Ukrainian positions in various sectors. The information provided by both sides could not be verified.