Zelensky claims that some of the missiles carried cluster munitions
The Russian Armed Forces launched a new massive attack early Thursday morning with dozens of missiles and drones targeting the energy infrastructure in different regions of Ukraine, causing blackouts that left hundreds of thousands of people without service and several victims in areas such as kyiv and Odessa.
The Air Force has detected the launch of more than 90 missiles, including at least three S-300s and more than 70 cruise missiles, 28 of them Kalibr type and fired from the Black Sea. Most of them would have been shot down, as well as 35 of the 97 drones used in this new massive attack.
The target of all these attacks, as the Air Force has pointed out, were “energy facilities”, a fact also confirmed by the Minister of Energy, Herman Galushchenko, and the company Ukrenergo, which has carried out emergency cuts while waiting to evaluate the exact consequences of this latest offensive.
As for the affected areas, they are spread across different areas of Ukraine, since there is evidence of explosions in regions in the east, closer to the combat front, but also in the western part, with cases of injuries in the regions of kyiv and Odessa, according to a preliminary assessment by local authorities.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has denounced that some of the missiles carried cluster munitions, a type of device that “significantly complicates” the work of the emergency services and the operators who seek to “mitigate the damage” caused by the bombings.
President Zelensky has said that Ukrainian personnel are working “tirelessly” to “restore normality” in the affected areas, where emergency points have been set up to provide “essential services” to the population.
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Ukrainian authorities have detected missile launches from several Russian regions near the border, such as Kursk, Belgorod and Volgograd. kyiv argues that it needs to attack these areas to counteract risks, which is why it had asked its Western partners for permission to use long-range missiles.
For Zelensky, these attacks “underline the urgent need (for Ukraine to have) anti-aircraft defence systems”, something “especially critical” in the face of the winter months. He hopes to work with international partners to ensure that reinforcements arrive “on time”.
Foreign Minister Andri Sibiga also agreed that this type of bombing shows that Russian President Vladimir Putin “does not want peace,” and has urged that he be “forced” to accept it by “force.” “Force for our air shield, long-range capabilities and sanctions against his war machine,” he summed up on social media.
