In an emergency meeting, the UN Security Council strongly condemned Russia’s recent air strikes on Ukraine. At least 30 people were killed and more than 160 injured in the most violent air strikes since the start of the war.
A senior United Nations official has condemned Russia for recent massive attacks on Ukraine. “Regrettably, today’s horrific attacks were just the latest in a series of escalating attacks” by Russia, UN Assistant Secretary-General Mohammed Khiari said at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
“The Secretary-General unequivocally and strongly condemns today’s horrific attacks on cities and towns in Ukraine,” he added. “Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law, are unacceptable and must stop immediately,” Khiari continued. Most council members, including the United States, France and Britain, condemned the attacks.
At least 30 dead and 160 injured
According to Ukrainian sources, at least 30 people were killed and more than 160 others were injured on Friday in one of the most violent waves of Russian attacks on Ukraine since the start of the war. Schools, a maternity clinic, shopping centers and residential buildings were hit, among other things.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia fired 158 missiles and combat drones. Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valeryi Zalushnyj spoke of 122 rockets and cruise missiles as well as 36 drones.
Never since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine have there been such strong air strikes in one day. The highest officially reported number of Russian missiles fired at Ukraine in one day was more than 90.
Kuleba calls for long-term support
The Ukrainian leadership spoke of massive terror against the civilian population. There were deaths in Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Odessa, Lviv and the capital Kiev, and injuries in other places.
The attack shows that there can be no talk of a ceasefire with the Kremlin at a time when the future of Western support for Kiev is uncertain, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. He called on allies to continue providing long-term assistance.
Russian UN Ambassador Wassily Nebensia blamed the deaths on the incorrect use of Ukrainian air defense systems, the use of which “led to the deaths of civilians.” He held up a QR code linked to a video that Nebensia said showed residential buildings being damaged by Ukrainian air defenses.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
“Material for two or three more waves of attacks like this”
The air strikes are seen as a deliberate attempt by the Russian military leadership to break Ukrainian resistance to the invasion ordered by President Vladimir Putin.
Security policy expert Nico Lange wrote on They are not a spontaneous reaction, for example, to the destruction of a Russian ship by Ukraine. The planning periods for such complex attacks are too long.
“Such attacks by Russia were unfortunately to be expected, as Russia had apparently been saving newly produced cruise missiles for this purpose for some time,” Lange continued. One must assume that Russia currently has material for two or three more waves of attacks like this.
Polish airspace was probably also violated
According to the Polish army, in the course of the massive air strikes, a Russian missile also violated the airspace of NATO member Poland. “Everything indicates that a Russian missile has entered Polish airspace. We tracked it on the radar and left the airspace again,” said Chief of General Staff Wieslaw Kukula in Warsaw.
According to the information, the rocket was in Polish airspace for about three minutes and flew over 40 kilometers. The western Ukrainian city of Lviv, which Russia is also attacking today, is only about 70 kilometers from the Polish border.
Russia began its war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022 and has repeatedly fired on civilian targets far behind the front. Last winter, energy supply facilities in particular were the target of Russian attacks. Experts warn against a repeat of this tactic this winter.