By Pavel Polityuk
KIEV (Reuters) – Russia launched a massive wave of missile strikes across Ukraine as residents slept on Thursday, killing at least six civilians, cutting electricity and forcing the shutdown of a nuclear power plant.
The first major series of missile strikes since mid-February broke the longest period of relative calm since Moscow began a campaign to attack Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure five months ago. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said infrastructure and residential buildings in 10 regions were hit.
“Occupiers can only terrorize civilians. That’s all they can do. But that won’t help them. They will not avoid responsibility for what they have done,” Zelenskiy said in a statement.
At least five people died in an attack that destroyed a house in the Lviv region, according to emergency services. Drone footage from the region, some 700 km from any military battlefield, showed a destroyed house surrounded by badly damaged buildings.
Another civilian was killed by attacks in the Dnipro region. Three civilians were separately killed by artillery in Kherson.
In the capital Kiev, residents were awakened by explosions. An overnight air strike warning lasting seven hours was the longest of the Russian air campaign that began in October.
“I heard a very loud, very loud explosion. We quickly jumped out of bed and saw a car on fire. Then the other cars also caught fire. Glass broke on the balconies and windows,” said Liudmyla, 58, holding a child in her arms.
“It’s very scary. Very scary. The child got scared and jumped out of bed,” she said. “How can they do this? How is this possible? They are not human, I don’t know what to call them. They are scaring the children, their mental state will suffer.”
Moscow says its campaign against Ukraine’s infrastructure away from the front lines is aimed at reducing its opponent’s combat capability. Kiev says the air strikes have no military purpose and are aimed at injuring and intimidating civilians, a war crime.
Ukrainian officials said Moscow had fired six of its kinzhal hypersonic missiles, an unprecedented number that Ukraine was unable to shoot down. Russia is believed to have only a few dozen of these missiles, which President Vladimir Putin regularly praises in speeches as a weapon that NATO has no answer for.
Ukraine said the missiles had cut power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s biggest, cutting it off from Ukraine’s power grid.
The plant, which Russia has occupied since capturing it early in the war, is close to the front lines and both sides have warned in the past of potential disaster from the fighting. Moscow said it was being kept safe with diesel backup power.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in the southwestern part of the capital. He said on Telegram that 40% of consumers in Kiev were without heat due to electricity cuts.
(By Reuters)
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