RUSSIA fired more than 30 missiles at Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday, the biggest attack on the Ukrainian capital in weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to avenge attacks and incidents in Russia’s border regions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the West to provide air defense systems following the attacks, which wounded 17 people in Kyiv and the surrounding region.
A missile attack later in the southern city of Mykolaiv killed a woman and injured six people when it hit an industrial site, Ukraine’s emergency services agency said.
“Terror like this continues every day and night,” Zelensky said in a post on Telegram.
“Global unity can end this… Russian terrorists do not have missiles capable of bypassing the Patriot system and other world-leading systems,” he said.
“This protection is needed in Ukraine now. From Kyiv to Kharkiv, Sumy to Kherson, and Odesa to Donetsk region. This is entirely possible if our partners show sufficient political will.”
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For months, a US$60 billion US military aid package for Ukraine has stalled in Congress over domestic political arguments.
Shoot down all missiles
Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 31 Russian missiles fired towards Kyiv.
Ukraine’s military intelligence unit said the missiles were aimed at their facilities in the capital, local media reported, citing a spokesman.
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Local officials said fragments from the missile injured 17 people – 13 in Kyiv and four in the surrounding region.
The air force said Russia fired two Iskander ballistic missiles and 29 cruise missiles, launched from strategic bombers.
“Our defense was successful and shot down all the missiles,” said Oleksiy Kuleba, deputy head of Zelensky’s office.
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Zelensky posted video of broken windows from a residential building and debris strewn across the street as firefighters used water hoses on the smoking building.
This was the first missile attack on the Ukrainian capital since early February, said Sergiy Popko, head of Kyiv city’s military administration.
Russia’s defense ministry said Thursday that it had targeted Ukrainian military sites with “long-range precision weapons, including Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.”
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“The aim of the attack has been achieved. All targets were hit,” the ministry said in a daily briefing.
Putin vowed to respond
The attacks come after a sharp escalation in Ukrainian attacks on Russian border regions and oil refineries in the past two weeks.
Settlements near the front lines have also become targets of new attacks. Two people were killed by Russian bombing in the southern Kherson and eastern Donetsk regions, Ukrainian officials said.
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And five people were injured in Ukrainian attacks in Russia’s Belgorod region, near the border between the two countries.
Last week, the Belgorod region and neighboring provinces were rocked by a series of cross-border attacks by pro-Ukrainian Russian militias.
A coalition of Russian fighters said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday that they would continue to push into Russian territory, and would “soon go to other cities”.
Also read: Ukraine Launches New Attack and Expects Supply of Long-Range Weapons
Their comments came after Putin vowed to restore security to the border region and said Russia had a plan to achieve victory against Kyiv.
Moscow’s forces are trying to exploit their superiority in personnel and ammunition on the front lines, amid delays in Western aid to Ukraine.
Russia’s defense ministry claimed Thursday it had captured the village of Tonenke in eastern Ukraine, about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the town of Avdiivka, which fell to Russian forces last month.
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Zelensky has several times called on the West to provide more air defense systems for Kyiv as Russian missile attacks continue to kill and injure Ukrainians.
In his speech Thursday evening, he also warned that Russia was making its missiles using imported components from the “free world.”
“It is very important to block the scheme and all those who support it. We need more sanctions,” he said. (AFP/Z-3)
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