The new wave of bombings comes after Zelenskyy’s visits to London and Paris on Wednesday and Brussels on Thursday to advocate for long-range missiles and fighter jets from their European allies.
The Ukrainian leader assured that the Russian missiles flew over the territory of the former Soviet Republic of Moldova and neighboring Romania, which is a NATO member, but Bucharest denied this.
As the first anniversary of the invasion, launched on February 24, 2022, approaches, Ukraine has been claiming to fear another Russian attack for days.
To celebrate this date, US President Joe Biden will travel to NATO member Poland, on the border with Ukraine, on February 20 and 22.
The White House said Biden will deliver a speech commemorating “Russia’s ruthless and unnecessary invasion of Ukraine” and address how the United States has brought the world together in support of the Ukrainian people.
Also on February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin will deliver his annual State of the Nation speech, the Kremlin announced on Friday.
The last major Russian attack on Ukraine came in late January, days after the Western Allies agreed to send tanks to Kiev.
Zelenskiy said this new action “is a challenge for NATO”.
Romania’s defense ministry said its aerial surveillance system had detected a projectile “launched from a Russian ship in the Black Sea towards Ukraine”, but denied it had passed Romania.
Moldova confirmed that a missile flew over its territory and urged the Russian ambassador to condemn an ”unacceptable violation” of its airspace.
The Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have intercepted 61 of 71 missiles launched by Russia. He also said they shot down five Iranian-designed Shahed drones deployed by Moscow.
Many explosions were heard in Kiev, according to AFP reporters. In the morning, before the roar of anti-aircraft fire, residents took refuge in the metro of the capital.
Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko said there were “no casualties” despite “damage to the power grid”.
Since October, and after several setbacks on the ground, Moscow has regularly attacked Ukrainian power stations, leaving millions of residents without electricity and heating in the middle of winter.
According to the Ministry of Energy, bullets hit several power plants in six regions of Ukraine. The situation in Zaporizhia (south), Kharkiv (northeast) and Khmelnitsky (west) is particularly “difficult”.
“Ukraine temporarily lost 44% of its nuclear power generation capacity, 75% of its thermal power generation capacity and 33% of its combined heat and power plants producing heat and electricity at the same time,” said Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.
But he added: “The vast majority of Ukrainians still have access to heat, water and electricity.”
Denis Pushilin, a pro-Russian separatist official, said at the same time that the Russians continued to increase their pressure in the east and continued their advance towards the northern Bakhmut region and southern Vugledar.
“Enough of this talk and political stuff,” tweeted Mikhail Podoliak, an adviser to Ukraine’s presidency, urging Ukraine’s allies to make “swift important decisions” about the supply of powerful weapons.
The World Bank has approved an initial $50 million grant to rebuild Ukraine’s transportation network, which was also damaged by bombing.
Additional financing, totaling more than $535 million, is expected to be completed “soon,” the company said.
Neither the Europeans nor the Americans have so far agreed to provide the Ukrainians with long-range missiles or fighter jets, fearing escalating tensions with Moscow.
Only the British opened the door to possible “long-term” supplies.
To punish Moscow, Western countries imposed various economic sanctions, including capping Russian oil prices.
Russia announced this Friday that it will cut its crude oil production by 500,000 barrels per day in March, or about 5% of its daily output.
Source: Ultimahora
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Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
