2024-03-31 08:34:46
Russia targets infrastructure in central Ukraine with drones and missiles
Moscow once again targeted infrastructure in the Poltava region in central Ukraine with attacks after midnight, as the Ukrainian military administration announced on Saturday, while Ukraine continued its border attacks against Russia’s Belgorod, forcing local authorities to evacuate more than 5,000 children.
Cars damaged by Ukrainian bombing on the Russian city of Belgorod on Wednesday (AFP)
The Ukrainian Air Force said on Saturday that Russia fired missiles at eastern Ukraine tonight, in addition to 12 “Shahed” drones across the country. He added that nine drones were shot down in four areas. Russia launched a campaign of air strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure over the past week, causing severe damage in several regions.
The Russian forces launched their four S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft missiles, but they were used to hit ground targets. During the winter months, Russian forces shifted their attacks to Ukraine’s energy and heating infrastructure, as they did last year. Kharkiv, which is located close to the Russian border in the northeast of Ukraine, suffered from frequent power outages. The state-owned energy company Centrenergo announced on Saturday that a power and heating station was largely destroyed in an attack that occurred on March 22.
Ukraine also announced on Saturday, as reported by Agence France-Presse, that Russian bombing during the night and morning resulted in the killing of two elderly people in the town of Krasnogorivka (east) and urged civilians who still live in the area to leave.
Krasnogorivka is located directly on the front line in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, more than half of which is under the control of Russian forces and is an active combat zone.
The official in charge of the Donetsk region, Vadim Velashkin, said on social media, “The town was under enemy fire during the night and morning. A 70-year-old woman and a 73-year-old man were killed.”
A Russian tank bombs Ukrainian sites (EPA)
He stated, “Krasnogorivka has been on the front line for ten years and is still among the most dangerous places in the country. Do not expose yourselves to mortal danger. “Evacuate the place.”
Ukrainian forces spoke of “difficult” battles on the eastern front in recent months in light of the ammunition shortage, and Russia launched continuous air strikes.
Moscow is militarily superior to Kiev by six times on the front line, which inflicts losses on the Ukrainian side in soldiers and positions, according to what was announced on Friday by the new Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Sirsky, who was appointed recently.
Five thousand children were evacuated from the Russian Belgorod region bordering Ukraine after weeks of bloody Ukrainian bombing, according to what the region’s governor announced on Saturday.
Regional authorities announced last week that 9,000 minors would be transferred to other areas after a wave of cross-border bombing and drone strikes resulted in the deaths of more than ten civilians.
Damage to a kindergarten as a result of missile attacks on the Russian Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine (AFP)
The regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said, as quoted by Reuters, “Five thousand of our children are now outside the region. Yesterday, 1,300 children arrived in St. Petersburg, Bryansk and Makhachkala.”
He added that the remaining children in the region who reside in municipalities close to the border, including the regional capital of the same name Belgorod, will switch to distance learning next month.
He said businesses that were forced to close as a result of the attacks would be allowed to reopen as long as “employees are trained in first aid” and measures were taken to prevent windows from being shattered.
Belgorod has been repeatedly targeted by what Russian officials describe as indiscriminate Ukrainian attacks since the conflict began more than two years ago. On Friday, a Ukrainian drone crashed into a multi-storey residential building in the city of Belgorod, killing a man and wounding two people, including his wife, Gladkov said.
In the coastal city of Odessa in southern Ukraine, at least five people were injured in a Russian missile attack, according to official reports. Odessa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov announced on Friday that a 15-year-old boy was among the victims. Although the air defenses shot down two missiles, the debris fell on the streets and buildings.
The coastal city of Odessa in southern Ukraine, where at least five people were injured in a Russian missile attack (EP)
In his evening video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky once again insisted on calling for more international aid regarding air defence.
“The main target of the enemy in this missile terrorism is our energy sector,” Zelensky said, referring to attacks in recent days, which again increasingly targeted Ukrainian energy facilities.
According to Ukrainirho, the company that operates the Ukrainian electricity grid, the currently scheduled power outage is necessary in the eastern Kharkiv region. However, energy supplies are also at risk in Odessa and Khmelnitsky region.
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