At least four people were killed and 25 were injured in Kyiv as Russia on Friday bombed Ukraine with hundreds of drones and missiles in a large-scale overnight attack. Over the last four years of war-torn situations, this was the second time that the country used a powerful, new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine, in what is being seen as a warning to Kyiv’s NATO allies and the West.
US-Russia row over Venezuela, via Ukraine
- Russia’s move comes just a few days after relations between Moscow and Washington took a hit as Russia condemned the US seizure of an oil tanker in the North Atlantic.
- US President Donald Trump also hinted towards a possibility of hard-hitting sanctions package on its way to cripple Moscow, which has given no signal of budging from its maximalist demands on Ukraine, news agency AP reported.
- The launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile on Friday came after Ukraine and its allies reported progress towards agreeing on how to defend the nation from heightened aggression from Moscow if Kyiv succeeds in striking a peace deal with US.
Calling the attacks escalatory and unacceptable, European leaders condemned it. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that the Oreshnik missile was meant as a warning to the US and Europe. “Putin doesn’t want peace, Russia’s reply to diplomacy is more missiles and destruction,” Kallas wrote on social media.
Kyiv reels after destruction
The missiles caused a widespread power outage across the Ukrainian capital as nearly 6,000 buildings were left without heat amid daytime temperatures of about minus-8 degrees Celsius, news agency AP reported quoting mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Municipal services restored power and heat to public facilities, including hospitals and maternity wards, using portable boiler units, he added.
‘Retaliation’: What Moscow said
The Russian defence ministry called the overnight attacks a retaliation to what Moscow claimed was a Ukrainian drone strike on one of Putin’s residences last month. The US and Ukraine denied these claims.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier said that Oreshnik strikes its target at the speed of Mach 10, “like a meteorite”; and that it is immune to any missile defense system. He had also warned the West that Russia could use it against allies of Kyiv that allow it to strike inside the country with longer-range missiles.
