More than fifty people were injured Wednesday in a nighttime missile attack on kyiv, the heaviest death toll in months and a new illustration of Russia’s growing military pressure.
Ukraine has been on the defensive since the failure of its summer counter-offensive, especially since the West, led by the Americans, are now procrastinating on the extent of the political, military and financial aid to be given to their ally. Ukrainian.
Air defenses shot down the ten ballistic missiles launched at around 3 a.m. (8 p.m. EST Tuesday) at kyiv, but the debris fell on populated areas, including a pediatric hospital. No deaths have been reported and the hospital center continues to operate.
On the other hand, 53 people were injured across the city, 20 of whom were hospitalized, including two children, according to the Ministry of Health. It had been months since kyiv had recorded such a record.
The attack was probably launched with 48N6 missiles, the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration said.
According to Ukrainian media, only Patriot and SAMP/T anti-aircraft systems manage to destroy such projectiles, but Ukraine only has four.
In addition, ten Russian Shahed-type drones were launched on Odessa, the major southern port, and were also shot down.
Russia has not communicated about these strikes. But the Defense Ministry said Wednesday that aviation, drones, missiles and artillery destroyed munitions warehouses and drone construction sites on an unspecified date and location.
Since the fall, Moscow has increased air and ground assaults, hoping to gain ground after Ukrainian forces failed in their major summer counter-offensive, exhausting part of their human and ammunition reserves.
Putin confident
The Kremlin also wants to strike hard at a time when the will of the West to support Ukraine seems to be weakening.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the United States on Tuesday was an illustration of this, with Republicans blocking any further assistance as part of a standoff with Joe Biden.
The Ukrainian leader, keen to secure means to fight the Russian invasion in 2024, continued an international tour on Wednesday.
He was in Oslo to meet the leaders of the five Nordic countries, allies and donors.
Ukraine “cannot win without help,” he insisted.
In an open letter published in the Financial Timesthe five Nordic leaders also argued that “war is not won without weapons”.
The American president had warned his Republican adversaries that a cessation of aid to Ukraine would mean victory for Vladimir Putin.
The latter is betting on the waning of Western support, and has completely reoriented its industry towards military production. Showing ever more confidence, the Kremlin described American aid to kyiv as a “fiasco”.
“We must prove (Putin) that he is wrong,” insisted Joe Biden, attacking the Republicans who want concessions on immigration to unlock the $61 billion planned for kyiv.
In Avdiïvka, 51 attacks
Volodymyr Zelensky, well aware that an American failure would undermine the support of its other allies, called for “a very strong signal of unity” in the face of the “aggressor”.
In Europe, several leaders have hammered home their support for the Ukrainian cause, like the new Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Tuesday and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday.
On the eve of a crucial summit in Brussels which must, among other things, decide on new aid for Kiev, French President Emmanuel Macron called on the European Union on Wednesday to be “on hand to provide full and lasting support for Ukraine.” “.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared for his part that “sustainable financial support” from the EU to Ukraine constituted a “priority” for Germany. “The security of Europe is at stake and it is a priority for Germany,” he added.
In kyiv, AFP journalists heard several explosions around 3 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
It was the second attack on kyiv in the space of a week. Early Monday, eight Russian missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.
On the front, some 1000 kilometers long, Russian forces are also increasing attacks, both in the east and in the south.
The town of Avdiïvka in particular has been the subject of a Russian offensive since October. According to a daily morning report from the Ukrainian army, “51 enemy attacks (there) were repelled”.
The Ukrainians also say they are repelling attacks around Robotyne, a southern village which had been liberated this summer, raising hopes, since disappointed, of a breakthrough. Russian attacks also targeted the northeast, near Kupiansk and Lyman, according to kyiv.
Finally, the Ukrainian special services (SBU) said they were helping the country’s leading mobile operator, Kyivstar, to restart its services, which were still paralyzed, the day after a hack attributed to Russian military intelligence hackers.