An airstrike on an unprecedented scale hit Ukraine last night. Moscow launched 120 missiles and 90 drones, causing at least 9 casualties. Poland strengthens its defenses in response to strikes close to its borders.
Warning sirens sounded across the country, pushing thousands of Ukrainians to take refuge underground. In kyiv, hundreds of people gathered in metro stations, bundled up and silent, to escape Russian strikes. The capital was not the only target: several large Ukrainian cities were also hit.
According to the Ukrainian government, Russia launched 120 cruise and ballistic missiles as well as 90 drones. The head of Ukrainian diplomacy denounced an offensive of rare violence against sleeping civilians.
An alarming report
The provisional report shows 9 deaths, including a teenager in Odessa, and around twenty injured. Moscow appears to be focusing its strikes on energy networks, putting Ukraine in great difficulty as winter approaches.
According to the United Nations, 65% of the country’s electricity production capacity has already been destroyed.
Matthias Schmale, a senior UN official, warns of the consequences of these attacks: “If Russian military forces were to target the energy sector again, it would be a tipping point. It could also lead to new mass population movements. It becomes urgent that the international community act to end this war”.
Poland on alert
Some strikes reached western Ukraine, a rarely targeted region, close to the Polish border. In response, Warsaw announced the mobilization of its fighter planes to monitor its airspace.
While Moscow demands recognition of the occupied territories as a precondition for any negotiations, Zelensky says he wants to end the war by 2025, but refuses to cede part of Ukrainian territory.
The international community reacts
We learned this Sunday evening that Ursula Van Der Leyen indicated that Ukraine “can count” on the EU after the “horrible” Russian attacks. “We saw the horrible, horrible attacks carried out last night by Russia against Ukraine”she declared during an interview with the Brazilian channel Globo News. “We will stand with Ukraine for as long as necessary”she said in Rio de Janeiro, on the eve of participating in the G20 summit.
US President Joe Biden has given authorization to Ukraine to use US long-range ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) missiles to strike Russia, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
The United States “gave the green light to the use of long-range missiles”, said this official, speaking on condition of anonymity, Joe Biden thus acceding to a long-standing request from kyiv shortly before his departure from the White House and the return of Donald Trump, very critical of American aid to ‘Ukraine.
For his part, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the “unacceptable” large-scale Russian strikes which hit the Ukrainian energy network on Sunday. “Attacks targeting civilians and civilian installations are prohibited by international humanitarian law. Such attacks are unacceptable and must stop immediately”said Mr. Guterres in a statement from his spokesperson.
Conflict in Ukraine Russia-Ukraine conflict Poland Ukraine war Russia
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