[ad_1]
A third wave of Russian missile attacks is now underway in Ukraine. The footage below shows a residential building on fire in Kiev, one of at least three apartment blocks hit in the Pechersk district of the city center. Other explosions were also confirmed in Lviv, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky, Zhytomyr, Kryvyi Rih and Rivne, with some cities already cut off from electricity. Critical infrastructure and power plants again appear to be Russia’s main target. The Ukrainian government has already declared that emergency power cuts should be implemented across the country. So far, most of the missile strikes have been reported in the center of Ukraine and the north of the country. President Zelensky’s office described the situation as “critical”.
In the two previous waves of Russian attacks, carried out in October, dozens of missiles were fired and about half shot down by Ukrainian air defenses. How many missiles were intercepted and how many went through Ukraine’s defenses in this round of bombing is currently difficult to say – according to the Ukrainian air defense, the number of shells fired is currently around 100. However, even the intercepted missiles they have to land. somewhere. Having failed to hold the city of Kherson (Russia has now begun to evacuate from areas also on the right bank of the Dnipro River) and with his army on the run, Putin is left with no other option but these attacks of missile The Kremlin’s strategy will be to subject the civilian population of Ukraine to blackouts of electricity and heating in the winter.
In Bali, Sergei Lavrov is now set to a G20 summit with other world leaders. Many criticized Russia at the summit and even the Chinese leader Xi Jingping asked for the respect of the borders of Ukraine. Xi and French President Emmanuel Macron called for a ceasefire in Ukraine and the resumption of peace talks. The Russian missiles raining down on Ukraine shows how little Russia now cares about the norms of civilized debate or its status as a pariah state. This missile attack is Putin’s response to Zelensky’s peace deal, offered today at the G20 – in Kiev, his response is crystal clear.
Svitlana Morenets writes a weekly email, Ukraine in Focus, for The Spectator. Sign up for free here.
[ad_2]
Source link