Russia fires 2nd wave of missiles at Ukraine
Moscow has been pounding Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with missiles and drones since October. (AP pic)
KYIV: Russia fired a second wave of missiles at Ukraine today, forcing people to take cover as sirens blared across the country just hours after morning air strikes that hit critical infrastructure in Kyiv and the eastern city of Kharkiv.
Authorities in Mykolaiv, the western city of Lviv and the Black Sea port of Odesa said air defences were trying to shoot down incoming missiles. Explosions were heard in the central Vynnytsa region, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne reported.
Moscow, which invaded last February, has been pounding Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with missiles and drones since October, causing sweeping blackouts and disruptions to central heating and running water as winter bites.
The second attack today came hours after Reuters journalists heard a series of blasts in Kyiv in the morning before the air raid siren even sounded, which is highly unusual. The extent of any damage or casualties in the second wave was not yet clear.
No one was reported hurt following the first wave, but missile debris caused a fire in one place and houses were damaged outside the capital, officials said.
“An infrastructure facility was hit. No critical damage or fire. All emergency services are working at the site. No one is wounded,” Kyiv’s military administration said in a statement.
Ukrenergo, which runs the power grid, said its workers were racing to fix the damage and that the network was grappling with a power deficit caused by earlier attacks even though it was -2 Celsius in Kyiv, only mildly cold.
DTEK, the biggest private electricity company, introduced emergency blackouts in Kyiv, the Kyiv region and Odesa region.
Kyiv’s mayor said the debris of a missile came down on a non-residential area in the Holosiivskiy district in the west of Kyiv, causing a fire but hurting no one.
Residential infrastructure was also hit in the village of Kopyliv in the region just outside the capital. The windows and roofs of 18 privately owned houses were shattered or damaged by the blast, Oleksiy Kuleba, the regional governor, said.
Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said Russia’s missiles had likely been fired along a high, looping ballistic trajectory from the north, which would explain why the air raid siren did not sound.
Ukraine is not able to identify and shoot down ballistic missiles, he told the Ukrainska Pravda online outlet.
Missiles strike Kharkiv
In Ukraine’s northeast, Oleg Synehubov, Kharkiv’s regional governor, said two S-300 missiles struck the city near the Russian border early today.
The attacks hit critical energy infrastructure and industrial facilities in the Kharkiv and Chuhuev district of the region, he said.
“Our emergency services units and energy workers are working to liquidate the consequences and stabilise the situation with energy supplies,” he said.
The strikes today came as Ukrainian and Russian forces battled for control of Soledar, a small salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine that for days has been the focus of a relentless Russian assault.
Russia said on Friday that its forces had taken control of Soledar, in what would be a rare success for Moscow after months of battlefield reverses, but Kyiv said its troops were still fighting in the town.
Reuters could not immediately verify the situation in Soledar.
KYIV: Russia fired a second wave of missiles at Ukraine today, forcing people to take cover as sirens blared across the country just hours after morning air strikes that hit critical infrastructure in Kyiv and the eastern city of Kharkiv.
Authorities in Mykolaiv, the western city of Lviv and the Black Sea port of Odesa said air defences were trying to shoot down incoming missiles. Explosions were heard in the central Vynnytsa region, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne reported.
Moscow, which invaded last February, has been pounding Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with missiles and drones since October, causing sweeping blackouts and disruptions to central heating and running water as winter bites.
The second attack today came hours after Reuters journalists heard a series of blasts in Kyiv in the morning before the air raid siren even sounded, which is highly unusual. The extent of any damage or casualties in the second wave was not yet clear.
No one was reported hurt following the first wave, but missile debris caused a fire in one place and houses were damaged outside the capital, officials said.
“An infrastructure facility was hit. No critical damage or fire. All emergency services are working at the site. No one is wounded,” Kyiv’s military administration said in a statement.
Ukrenergo, which runs the power grid, said its workers were racing to fix the damage and that the network was grappling with a power deficit caused by earlier attacks even though it was -2 Celsius in Kyiv, only mildly cold.
DTEK, the biggest private electricity company, introduced emergency blackouts in Kyiv, the Kyiv region and Odesa region.
Kyiv’s mayor said the debris of a missile came down on a non-residential area in the Holosiivskiy district in the west of Kyiv, causing a fire but hurting no one.
Residential infrastructure was also hit in the village of Kopyliv in the region just outside the capital. The windows and roofs of 18 privately owned houses were shattered or damaged by the blast, Oleksiy Kuleba, the regional governor, said.
Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat said Russia’s missiles had likely been fired along a high, looping ballistic trajectory from the north, which would explain why the air raid siren did not sound.
Ukraine is not able to identify and shoot down ballistic missiles, he told the Ukrainska Pravda online outlet.
Missiles strike Kharkiv
In Ukraine’s northeast, Oleg Synehubov, Kharkiv’s regional governor, said two S-300 missiles struck the city near the Russian border early today.
The attacks hit critical energy infrastructure and industrial facilities in the Kharkiv and Chuhuev district of the region, he said.
“Our emergency services units and energy workers are working to liquidate the consequences and stabilise the situation with energy supplies,” he said.
The strikes today came as Ukrainian and Russian forces battled for control of Soledar, a small salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine that for days has been the focus of a relentless Russian assault.
Russia said on Friday that its forces had taken control of Soledar, in what would be a rare success for Moscow after months of battlefield reverses, but Kyiv said its troops were still fighting in the town.
Reuters could not immediately verify the situation in Soledar.
Wave after Wave of Russian missiles have had only tiny military effect.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt the infrastructure damage causes extensive suffering to Ukrainian civilians, but Ukraine will survive
In WW II, massive Allied bombing of German and Japanese cities and infrastructure ultimately did degrade German and Japanese war production, because power supplies, factory facilities and transport chains were damaged or destroyed.
One single massive USAAF bomber raid on Schweinfurt seriously damaged 30% of Germany's Hugh precision ball-bearing production vital for aircraft engine manufacturing..
In the current Ukraine war, the armaments factories are thousands of miles away in Alabama, Birmingham, etc. out of reach of Russia , unless Russia launches an attack on NATO, which will result in the end of the Putin regime.
Wakakakaka…
DeleteParading yr know-nothing military analysis!
Those oversea military HW supply lines wouldn't work overtime to supplement Ukraine's fast depleting armouries at the war fronts.
Just look at how the intra-NATO squabbings about military HW supply's to Ukraine - truly no actions talk only.
With the completed Republican house speaker election, those US military lifelines would end too!
Zelensky failed to start WW3, so that desperate, murderous actor-president now resorted to using Airborne Chemical Weapons against Russian troops in Soledar, according to former CIA paramilitary operations officer Max Morton, who said :
ReplyDelete" The Armed Forces of Ukraine boast about the use of chemical weapons in Soledar. In the video, they are assembling quadcopters by attaching projectile cans of Hydrocyanic acid to them. Hydrocyanic acid is a weapon of mass destruction first used during WW1"
If this report is true, then Zelensky ought to be charged with war crimes, not Putin as he had repeatedly alleged.
How many sticks of Ganja had JJ been smoking before he wrote this rant ?
Delete