Five dead and more than 90 injured in Ukraine in massive attacks launched by Russia

The Russian army launched new “massive” air strikes against Ukraine this Tuesday morning, killing at least five civilians and leaving more than 90 injured, according to Ukrainian authorities

More than 25,000 people were left without power in kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, after the bombings.

“So far, there are 92 injured. (…) Unfortunately four people died,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram, denouncing a “Russian campaign of terror.”

Two people died in kyiv, two on the outskirts of the capital and one in Kharkiv (east), the authorities indicated.

According to the Ukrainian military, Russia fired 99 missiles, 72 of which were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.

The day before, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to “intensify” attacks in Ukraine in retaliation for the bombing of an unprecedented force against the Russian city of Belgorod on Saturday, which left 25 dead and 109 wounded.

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Early in the morning, air raid sirens rang out in kyiv. Shortly after, ten powerful explosions were heard that shook the buildings in the city center.

A building in the Solomianski district, near the center, was hit by a missile, causing a fire, said the mayor of the capital, Vitali Klitschko.. In total “27 people were hospitalized,” she added.

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The Ukrainian Interior Ministry denounced “massive bombings” on Telegram and said that “residential buildings, warehouses and critical infrastructures”.

“About 260,000 people” were left without electricity in “several districts” of kyiv, the Energy Ministry said, and more than 20,000 in the Kharkiv region.

The national operator, Ukrenergo, lamented on Telegram “damage” to its networks.

Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, not far from the Russian border, was the target of “at least four attacks,” killing a 91-year-old woman, according to the governor of the region, Oleg Sinegubov.

The city's mayor, Igor Terekhov, also reported that “45 people were injured, including 5 children between 6 and 13 years old.”

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Multi-storey apartment blocks and civil infrastructure were damaged in the city centre.according to regional authorities.

“Give weapons to Ukraine!” implored the Secretary General of the Ukrainian Security and Defense Council, Oleksiï Danilov, on Telegram.

Nearly two years after the start of its invasion, Russia appears to be stepping up its air strikes again.

The last friday, A series of missile attacks launched by Russia against Ukraine have already caused the death of about forty people. The next day 25 people were killed in a Ukrainian bombing of the Russian city of Belgorod, near the border.

In response, Putin promised to intensify his offensive against his neighbor.

“We are going to intensify our attacks, no crime against civilians will go unpunished, that is for sure”stated the Russian president during a visit to a military hospital.

“We are using precision weapons to attack decision-making centers, places where soldiers and mercenaries gather, other centers of this type and, above all, military installations,” he declared, calling the Ukrainian bombing of Belgorod a “terrorist act.”

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However, Putin considered that Ukraine “is not an enemy” in itself and accused the West of using the kyiv authorities to “solve their own problems” with Russia.

Faced with this escalation, Poland, Ukraine's neighbor, announced that it had taken off four of its F-16 fighters in the direction of the east of the country to “guarantee the security” of its airspace.

AFP