According to official figures, around 70 rockets were fired; The region’s military administration describes today’s bomb attack as one of the largest rocket attacks since the beginning of the war.
Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP
THE Russia launched another attack on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, this Friday the 16th. According to official figures, 60 to 70 projectiles were fired, forcing the activation of antiaircraft sirens in 16 provinces of the country. According to the region’s military administration, this is one of the “largest rocket attacks” on the city since the Russian invasion began in late February. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged city residents to stay in temporary shelters and said the attack was “still ongoing”. The attacks also resulted in the subway being suspended so the stations could be used as emergency shelters. The attack caused water supply and power outages in several parts of the country, leaving two dead and five wounded in Kryvyi Rig, south of Kryvyi Rig Ukraine, and one person was killed in Kherson and three others were injured. Kharkiv and Zaporizhia were also hit. In the center of the country, in Poltava, Mayor Oleksandre Mamai urged the population to turn off “all electronic devices” as the attack was still ongoing. Kremenchuk, 100 km to the west, also remained in the dark. In the Moscowcontrolled Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, Russiandesignated authorities said eight people were killed and 23 injured in Ukrainian bombings.
“Another series of mass bombings against energy infrastructure. We will have emergency power outages,” Energy Minister German Galushenko said on Facebook. After the attacks, Ukraine’s diplomatic chief Dmytro Kuleba called on Western allies to supply more arms to the country. Antiaircraft systems were activated throughout Ukrainian territory, and the authorities asked residents to stay indoors. Russia has suffered a series of military setbacks in south and northeast Ukraine in recent months, and the West has announced new aid worth a billion euros Volodymyr Zelenskyy be able to rebuild the energy infrastructure. Since then, Moscow decided to bomb the country’s power plants, leaving millions of Ukrainians without light and heat at a time of freezing temperatures. On this Friday, for example, the temperatures fluctuated between one and three degrees below zero. On Wednesday the 14th, the city had already been the target of 13 demolition drones, but the Ukrainian army said they shot down all the devices. In light of the recent attacks, the commander of the armed forces, Valery Saluzhny, said on Thursday that he envisages a new Russian offensive against Kyiv in the first months of 2023.
