Air raid sirens rang throughout Ukraine after Russia launched more than 100 missiles Thursday morning. The blasts could be heard in many cities including Kyiv. “A massive air raid. “More than 100 missiles were fired in multiple waves,” Oleksiy Arestovych, presidential adviser to the president, wrote via Facebook. The head of Ukraine’s Mykolaiv regional also posted a report that Russian missiles had been detected in the air.
In order to minimize potential damage to the infrastructure, power cuts were made in Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions.
After the Kremlin’s rejection of the Ukrainian peace plan and insisting that Kyiv agree to Russia’s annex of four areas, the blitz was a resounding success.
Moscow denies targeting civilians. However, Ukraine claims that its daily bombardment of the country is devastating cities and towns.
According to Kyrylo Tychenko, the deputy chief of staff of President Volodymyr Zeleskiy, the Russians shelled the Kherson hospital’s maternity wing, but no one was injured. Tymoshenko posted on Telegram that staff and patients were relocated to the shelter.
Olha Prysidko said, “It was terrifying… the blasts started abruptly, and the window handle began to tear off… oh! my hands are still shaking!” The shelling continued when we reached the basement. “Not for a second.”
The Russian troops have been bombarding Kherson, Ukraine’s southern city recently liberated from Russian control. They had previously retreated along the banks of the river after the victory.
Zelensky encouraged Ukrainians in a video message to embrace their loved ones and tell their friends how much they are appreciated. He also advised them to support their colleagues, hug their families, be more joyful with their kids, thanked their parents, and said that they should share their joy with each other.
He said, “We haven’t lost our humanity even though we have been through terrible months.” “We will never lose our humanity, even though there are difficult years ahead.”
On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine. Kyiv, along with its Western allies, denounced Russia’s actions as an imperialist-style land grab. Russian President Vladimir Putin called it “special military operations” in order to demilitarize the neighbor.
Russia has been subject to severe sanctions for its war on terror, which killed thousands, drove millions of people from their homes, and left many cities in ruin. It also shook the world economy and caused a rise in food and energy prices.
Gazprom data, Reuters calculations, and Gazprom statistics show that Russian gas exports via pipelines to Europe fell to a post-Soviet low in 2022. This was because its biggest customer reduced imports as a result of the Ukraine conflict. Also, a large pipeline was destroyed by mysterious explosions.
Talks to end of the conflict are not possible.
Zelensky vigorously promotes a 10-point plan for peace that envisions Russia respecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and withdrawing all of its troops.
Moscow rejected it Wednesday and reiterated that Kyiv had to accept Russia’s annexes of four areas – Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, in the east, and Zaporizhzhia, in the south.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, said that no “peace plan” does not consider today’s reality regarding Russian territory and the entry of four Russian regions.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Zelenskiy’s plan to drive Russia from eastern Ukraine and Crimea using Western aid and get Moscow to compensate Kyiv for damages is an “illusion”, according to the RIA news agency.
TASS quoted Lavrov saying Russia will continue to increase its technological and fighting capabilities in Ukraine. According to him, Moscow’s mobilized troops have undergone “serious” training and although many are now at the front, most were still not.
Zelensky encouraged parliament to stay united, and thanked Ukrainians for their help in “finding itself again.”
In an annual speech, he stated that “our national colors are now an international symbol for courage and indomitability throughout the entire world.”
According to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Russia attacked more than 25 settlements in the area of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. At the mouth of the Dnipro River, the Kherson region is an entry point to Russian-annexed Crimea.
The fighting continued around Bakhmut in Ukraine’s eastern province of Donetsk and further north around Svatove, Kreminna, and Luhansk where Ukrainian forces attempt to breach Russian defense lines.
The British defense ministry stated that Russia likely strengthened the Kreminna Section of the frontline because it was logistically vital and vulnerable to Ukrainian advancements further west.
Oleh Zhdanov, a Kyiv-based military analyst, noted that Kharkiv had been also under attack which caused damage to a regional gas pipe.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov stated in Telegram that two attacks had occurred on Kharkiv, apparently from Iranian Shahed drones. Five of these were reported by Ukraine’s eastern command as having been downed over Dnipro.
