KYIV: Barrage of Russian strikes on Ukraine continued on Thursday, hitting cities across the country and further crippling the energy infrastructure as winter set and temperatures fall.
The latest wave of the attacks has come after the first snowfall of the season started and Kyiv’s officials have warned of difficult days ahead with the impending cold spell.
On Thursday, officials announced the extension of the deal that allowed Ukraine to continue grain exports through the Black Sea, aimed at helping the global food supply.
But the latest strikes have hit Ukraine and come after a huge battlefield setback for Russian forces, which withdrew from Kherson, a southern city of Ukraine.
Strikes Injured 14 People in Dnipropetrovsk
“Two cruise missiles were shot down over Kyiv. Information about any casualties and damage is being clarified,” the Kyiv regional administration announced. It added that Russian forces had also arrayed Iran-made drones.
The governor of the central region of Dnipropetrovsk, Valentyn Reznichenko said that Russian strikes targeted Dnipro’s administrative area.
“An industrial enterprise has been hit. There is a big fire,” he said. He also announced that the strikes wounded 14 people, including a 15-year-old girl.
Residents Asked to Stay in Shelters
A Russian strike also targeted infrastructure in the southern Odessa region where the governor warned Maksym Marchenko warned locals of the threat of a big missile attack on the Black Sea territory.
“I ask the residents of the region to stay in shelters,” Marchenko said.
Governor Oleg Synegubov announced that the Russian strikes have also targeted the eastern region of Kharkiv. He said that strikes hit critical infrastructure and wounded three people.
President Volodymyr Zelensky strongly reacted to the latest attacks, calling Russia a “terrorist state”. He said that Moscow “wants to bring Ukrainians only more pain and suffering.”
The president also showed a premature video of what he termed a Russian strike on Dnipro. – APP/AFP
