Russia attacks targets across Ukraine with missiles and drones as EU’s top diplomat visits Kyiv
Russia on Wednesday morning fired cruise and ballistic missiles and Shahed-type drones at six regions of Ukraine, authorities reported, killing at least five civilians and wounding almost 50, including a pregnant woman.
The attacks hit at least three major cities, including the capital, Kyiv, where the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, was discussing military aid and financial support for Ukraine. Borrell said he started his day in an air raid shelter, describing it as part of Ukraine’s “daily reality” after almost two years of war.
The West’s help is desperately needed as Ukraine struggles with ammunition and personnel shortages. Further, some long-term foreign funding is in doubt as the latest U.S. Senate effort to clinch a deal on Ukraine aid collapsed this week.
Though the roughly 900-mile front line has barely budged in recent months, the Kremlin’s forces have the upper hand in terms of stocks of missiles and artillery ammunition used for long-range strikes. Russia has repeatedly used missiles to blast civilian targets during the conflict.
A Senate deal on border policy and Ukraine aid collapsed as Republicans withdrew support. President Biden urges Congress to stand up to Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last month that air defense and electronic warfare systems that can stop drones are Kyiv’s top priorities.
Borrell visited a facility in Ukraine where 1,500 small drones are produced daily, he said.
Ukraine’s armed forces said they intercepted 44 Russian drones and missiles out of 64 that were launched in Wednesday’s attack.
A preliminary assessment concluded that two of the five missiles launched at Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine had been manufactured in North Korea, according to Serhii Bolvinov, head of the National Police’s investigation unit in the region.
The United States, Ukraine and six allies previously accused Russia of using North Korean ballistic missiles and launchers supplied by Pyongyang in aerial attacks against Ukraine, in violation of U.N. sanctions.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it used long-range precision weapons and drones against Ukrainian factories that manufacture sea drones, coastaldefense missile systems, rockets and explosives. The ministry said all targets were hit.
The barrage killed four people in Kyiv, the State Emergency Service said. It was the first bombardment of the capital in two weeks.
The attack also killed one man in Mykolaiv, a city in southern Ukraine, where about 20 residential buildings and public infrastructure were damaged, regional Gov. Vitalii Kim said. Six people were wounded.
Forty people were wounded in Kyiv, according to city authorities.
Apartment buildings in multiple districts caught fire, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Two power lines damaged during the attack left about 20,000 households on the city’s east bank without power.
It was the capital’s first significant power outage caused by Russian airstrikes this winter. Last winter, Moscow’s forces targeted Kyiv’s electricity infrastructure in an apparent attempt at cutting off residents from heat, light and running water.
In Kharkiv, a 52-year-old woman was slightly wounded in an S-300 missile attack, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said.
Missiles also struck as far away as the Lviv region of western Ukraine, officials said.
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