In a significant escalation of the ongoing conflict, Russian forces launched airstrikes on various Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kiev, on Friday. The attack comes days after Ukraine struck a Russian warship in the Crimean port of Feodosia.
Vitaliy Klitschko, the mayor of Kiev, reported the explosion on Telegram. At least five other cities in Ukraine, including Kharkiv in the northeast, Lviv in the west, and Odesa in the south, were also targeted by airstrikes, according to city mayors and police.
“The enemy has attacked a peaceful city using S-300 missiles,” said the police in the Kharkiv region. There were ten explosions in Kharkiv, and special services were immediately established in response.
Sumi and Konotop were also reported to have been attacked overnight. In southern Odessa, debris dropped by a drone on a high-rise building caught fire, according to the city’s mayor, Gennady Trukhanov. “As a result of another attack by the enemy, a high-rise building has been damaged,” Trukhanov wrote on social media.
In a recent statement on Twitter, President Zelensky reported that a maternity ward, educational facilities, a shopping mall, multi-story residential buildings and private homes, a commercial storage, and a parking lot in cities including Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia were hit.
“Today, Russia used nearly every type of weapon in its arsenal: ‘Kindzhals,’ S-300s, cruise missiles, and drones. Strategic bombers launched X-101/X-505 missiles. A total of around 110 missiles were fired against Ukraine, with the majority of them being shot down,” Zelensky wrote.
He also mentioned the unfortunate casualties resulting from the strikes, “Unfortunately, there have been fatalities and injuries as a result of the strikes. All services are working around the clock and providing the necessary aid. My condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I wish a speedy recovery to those injured.”
Zelensky vowed to respond to the attacks, “We will surely respond to terrorist strikes. And we will continue to fight for the security of our entire country, every city, and every citizen. Russian terror must and will lose.”
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