According to Ukrainian officials, there were at least 11 fatalities, several injuries, and widespread power outages.
Digital Desk: Several
world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres, condemned and voiced horror as Russia launched its
largest-scale aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities since the war's beginning on
Monday, killing civilians and knocking out power.
According
to Ukrainian officials, there were at least 11 fatalities, several injuries,
and widespread power outages.
According
to a statement by Biden, these attacks resulted in the deaths and injuries of
civilians as well as the destruction of non-military targets, and they once
again highlight the "total cruelty of Mr. Putin's illegitimate war on the
Ukrainian people."
- According to US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the international community must make it
clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions are intolerable since
Moscow's attacks on Kyiv create a "deep moral challenge." Blinken
stated in a statement that "the international community has a
responsibility to make clear that President Putin's actions are utterly
unacceptable." "Now is the time to publicly express your support for
Ukraine; this is not the time for silence, appeasement, or ambiguity cloaked in
the guise of neutrality. The fundamental tenets of the UN Charter are in
jeopardy.
- The Head of the UN expressed his worries and said he was genuinely shocked by Russia's massive missile attacks. Civilians are once again suffering the most, he continued. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, "This constitutes another unacceptable escalation of the war and, as always, civilians are paying the highest price."
- While explosions were
recorded in Lviv, Ternopil, and Zhytomyr in western Ukraine, Dnipro and
Kremenchuk in the centre, Zaporizhzhia in the south, and Kharkiv in the east,
missiles tore into junctions, parks, and tourist destinations in the capital
city of Kyiv.
- As air raid sirens
wailed throughout the day, thousands of citizens rushed to bomb bunkers.
-
Putin claimed to have ordered the strikes in response to a weekend attack on
the bridge connecting Russia to the Crimean peninsula, and he promised
additional strikes in the future if Ukraine struck Russian territory. It is
absolutely difficult to ignore such crimes, he asserted.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the
President of Ukraine, declared that "they are trying to annihilate us and
wipe us off the face of the world." In a video message recorded on a
mobile phone on a deserted central Kyiv street, he claimed that "such a
moment and such targets were carefully chosen to wreak as much damage as
possible."
Prime
Minister Denys Shmygal pledged to immediately restore utilities after claiming
that 11 main infrastructure targets were hit in eight districts, leaving large
parts of the country without electricity, water, or heat. Dmytro Kuleba, the
foreign minister, wrote on Twitter that "Putin is a terrorist who talks with
rockets."
- By mid-morning,
Ukraine's defence ministry said that Russia had launched 81 cruise missiles, 43
of which had been intercepted by Ukrainian air defences. According to the
Russian Ministry of Defense, all intended targets were hit.
- The president of
Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, who is Putin's closest supporter, claimed to
have ordered troops to deploy alongside Russian forces close to Ukraine, which
he accused of plotting strikes on Belarus with the support of the West. Early
in the conflict, Putin permitted Russia to use Belarus as a staging area, but
he has not yet deployed in his soldiers.
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