Ukraine was the target Thursday of a new salvo of Russian missiles, which killed at least one person and caused power outages, the day after the decision of the West to deliver tanks to the Ukrainian army.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had called for armored vehicles to be provided as soon as possible, his Defense Ministry warning for his part that Russian troops, “in numerical superiority”, “intensified” the fighting in the east of the Ukraine.
The Kremlin meanwhile denounced the “direct involvement” of Westerners in the conflict with the announced delivery, after much procrastination, of German and American tanks.
According to kyiv, Russia fired around 30 missiles on Thursday and launched dozens of drones against its neighbor, in particular, as has been the case since October, at energy installations.
An initial report shows one dead and two wounded in the capital, said its mayor, Vitali Klitschko.
It was immediately unclear whether the 55-year-old man killed was killed by missile impact or by projectile debris after he was shot down by air defense.
In total, Ukraine was targeted by “more than thirty missiles” Russian in the morning, said an air force spokesman. Overnight, 24 Iranian-made Shahed drones had already been shot down, according to Ukrainian forces.
As a precaution, “emergency” power cuts were implemented Thursday morning in Kyiv and three regions to “avoid major damage to electrical infrastructure in the event that enemy missiles hit their targets. “, announced the private electricity company DTEK.
In the Odessa region, “two critical energy infrastructure sites were damaged,” local authorities reported.
The previous massive Russian strikes on Ukraine dated back to January 14th.
After a series of military setbacks on the ground in late summer and fall, the Kremlin in October began regularly hitting Ukraine’s transformers and power plants, each time immersing millions of civilians Ukrainians in the dark and the cold.
“Direct Commitment”
This new wave of bombardments comes the day after the green light from Washington and Berlin for the transfer of dozens of heavy tanks to kyiv, an unprecedented decision in 11 months of war.
Germany intends to deliver the promised Leopard 2 “at the end of March, beginning of April”, underlined in this regard Thursday its Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius.
Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his country’s allies, hailing an “important step for final victory”.
But he noted that “the key” to success was now “the speed and volume” of deliveries, kyiv claiming hundreds of these armored vehicles to begin the reconquest of the territories under occupation in the east and south.
The Ukrainian president has also asked for fighter planes and long-range missiles, as many weapons as the West has so far refused to provide for fear of provoking a military escalation.
Already, the Kremlin considers that the delivery of tanks is the proof of the “direct engagement in the conflict” of the West.
And “we see that (this commitment) is growing,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.
For Ukraine, obtaining armaments is vital to take back the territories which Russia claims should be annexed.
Cannon fodder
Especially since, on the ground, “the fighting is intensifying” in the east, noted Wednesday evening the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Ganna Maliar.
The Russian forces are there “in numerical superiority”, she noted, citing the Bakhmout area, which Moscow troops have been trying to seize for several months, but also that around Vougledar, a locality in the south- west of Donetsk.
Russia has mobilized since the end of September hundreds of thousands of reservists to consolidate its positions on the front.
In addition, Ukraine admitted on Wednesday that it had to abandon Soledar – north of Bakhmout -, which the Russians had been claiming to have taken for a week.
According to a sergeant, who goes by the nom de guerre “Alkor”, “the battle was tough” because the Ukrainians were outnumbered.
“We shoot, again and again, but after five minutes another wave of 20 enemies comes at us,” he said. “Their number is huge. They use their soldiers as cannon fodder.”
According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russia seems to be stepping up offensives on the front line to “disperse” Ukrainian forces in order to “create the conditions for a decisive offensive operation”, probably in eastern Ukraine.