Deadly Russian bombardments, on a scale not seen in months, hit Ukraine on Monday morning and its allies assured it of their support, as Belarus announced the deployment of Russian-Belarusian troops, two days after the partial destruction of the Crimean Bridge.
The European Union has called Russian attacks targeting civilians “war crimes” for which those responsible will have to “account”, calling on Belarus to “not be a party to the brutal aggression carried out by Russia”.
“At this point, ten people are dead and about 60 injured across the country as a result of Russian fire,” Ukrainian police said on Facebook, adding that police officers, investigators and criminologists are gathering “evidence from the Russian atrocities”.
Berlin announced a virtual emergency meeting Tuesday of G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky at 2 p.m.
“They are trying to destroy us all, to erase us from the face of the earth,” reacted Mr. Zelensky on social networks, calling on France and Germany for a “hard” response to Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told a meeting of his Security Council that Russia had launched a “massive” bombing campaign “against Ukraine’s energy, military and communications infrastructure”, in response to the “terrorist” attack on the Crimean bridge. He promised “severe” responses in the event of further Ukrainian attacks on Russia. The strikes “achieved their objective”, assured the Russian Ministry of Defense.
On Sunday, Mr. Putin accused Ukraine of having organized the explosion which destroyed part of this bridge inaugurated in 2018 by himself and connecting Crimea annexed by Russia in 2014 and Russian territory.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko accused kyiv of planning an attack on his country, adding that Minsk and Moscow would deploy Russian-Belarusian troops as a result, without specifying their location.
The Ukrainian military has accused Russia of launching attacks with Iranian drones from Belarus.
For its part, Moldova declared that “three cruise missiles launched this morning on Ukraine by Russian ships in the Black Sea” had violated its airspace.
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his “extreme concern” by telephone to Mr. Zelensky, reaffirming “France’s commitment to increasing its support for Ukraine […] including in terms of military equipment”.
Denouncing the “unacceptable” bombings, the head of British diplomacy James Cleverly said he assured his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba of “moral and concrete support” from London.
“Resolved Response”
Mr. Kuleba, who interrupted a tour in Africa, is in “constant contact” with partners in his country to “coordinate a resolute response to Russian attacks”, he tweeted.
The Russian bombardments come as Russia has had a string of setbacks since early September in Ukraine, losing ground in both the south and northeast of the country.
“They want to destroy the energy system,” said Volodymyr Zelensky, reporting “dozens of missiles” and Iranian Shahed drones that targeted the country from north to south.
Power cuts affected many Ukrainian regions late Monday morning following the strikes, according to the authorities.
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Russia launched 83 missiles, 43 of which were shot down by air defense.
In kyiv, targeted for the first time since June 26 by the bombardments, at least five people were killed according to the police. Half a dozen explosions were heard, with strikes in several neighborhoods including the city center.
“There are several strikes on critical infrastructure in the city,” Mayor Vitali Klitchko said.
Car and rail traffic resumed on Saturday on the Crimean Bridge a few hours after the explosion which killed three people and was attributed by the Russian authorities to a truck bomb.
kyiv has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.
“Terrorists”
Mr. Zelensky had also described the Russian soldiers as “terrorists”, after strikes on Sunday on apartment buildings in Zaporijjia (South) which left at least 14 dead according to a new report, three days after previous bombings (17 dead ).
Not far from there, the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, was reconnected to the electricity grid on Sunday.
On Tuesday, according to the Kremlin, Mr. Putin will receive the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, in Saint Petersburg.
In Moscow, the Stock Exchange fell by almost 12% on Monday at the opening, the main Moex index (in rubles) losing 11.9% at 3:03 a.m., to 1780.39 points, and briefly falling below the 1800 point mark for the first time since the start of the war in Ukraine on February 24.