(Kyiv) Power cuts were ordered across most parts of Ukraine on Saturday after a wave of Russian strikes, including one that left nine people dead and 64 injured on an apartment building, with London announcing the same day the supply of heavy tanks in Kyiv, which insistently calls for Western armored vehicles.
On the front line, the Ukrainian authorities still ensured this weekend that they controlled the small town of Soledar (east) which Moscow claimed to have taken after fierce fighting.
“Today the enemy again attacked the country’s power generation facilities. There are attacks in Kharkiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhia, Vinnytsia and Kyiv regions. Due to the bombardments, emergency cuts have been decided in most regions, ”announced at the start of the evening the Ukrainian Minister of Energy, German Galouchchenko.
PHOTO NACHO DOCE, REUTERS
People hug as they take shelter from bombs at a Kyiv metro station.
The operator Ukrenergo, for its part, said it was working to “eliminate the consequences” of this “twelfth massive missile attack on the energy sector in Ukraine”.
In total, “the enemy carried out three airstrikes and about fifty missile strikes during the day”, specified the staff of the Ukrainian army. “In addition, the occupiers launched 50 attacks with multiple rocket launchers.”
« Russia carried out another massive missile strike on Ukrainian cities […] Is it possible to stop Russian terror? Yes it’s possible. Can we do it other than on the battlefield in Ukraine? Unfortunately, no,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented.
“The world must stop this evil,” he said again, while Moldova claimed to have found missile debris on its territory, near the village of Larga, in the north.
“The brutal war that Russia is waging against Ukraine has again affected Moldova”, protested its president Maia Sandu.
Nine dead, 64 injured in Dnipro
In eastern Ukraine, nine people, including a 15-year-old girl, were killed and 64 injured, including 14 children, in the bombardment of a residential building in the city of Dnipro, deplored the authorities.
“All of its (eight) floors fell as a result of the explosion of a Russian missile,” said Mr. Zelensky.
PHOTO REUTERS
Rescuers and residents participate in the effort to search for victims of the Russian strike in Dnipro.
Several explosions also sounded in the morning in Kyiv, noted AFP journalists, while its mayor Vitali Klitschko called on the population to “stay in the shelters”.
“Essential infrastructure” in the capital was targeted by missiles, explained the Ukrainian presidency.
In the south, in Kryvyi Rig, one person was killed and another injured in the destruction of apartment buildings by a strike, according to an official report.
In the northern region of Sumy, a civilian received shrapnel during artillery and mortar fire from Russian territory, according to the Ukrainian presidency.
First western heavy tanks
Responding to urgent calls from the Ukrainians, the United Kingdom promised on Saturday the delivery of heavy Challenger 2 tanks.
Their number is not specified, but the United Kingdom thus becomes the first country to commit to sending this type of armored vehicle to help Ukraine against Russian forces.
Several British media mention the supply of 12 Challenger 2: four would be sent immediately and eight others would follow in the short term.
Kyiv had already received from its allies heavy tanks of Soviet design – nearly 300 – but still none of Western manufacture.
London’s gesture is “a good signal”, judged President Zelensky.
It comes after Poland said it was ready on Wednesday to deliver 14 Leopard 2 heavy tanks of German design, which requires the approval of Berlin, as part of an international coalition.
Several Western states have also recently announced the supply of lighter infantry or reconnaissance tanks.
Soledar holds, assures Kyiv
On the battlefield, the town of Soledar, in eastern Ukraine, is still “under Ukrainian control”, assured Saturday the governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kirilenko, noting that “the fighting continues in the city and beyond.
This locality and that close to Bakhmout currently remain the “hottest” points of the conflict, he said on television.
PHOTO ANATOLII STEPANOV, FRANCE-PRESSE AGENCY
Ukrainian soldiers build trenches not far from Soledar.
Near Soledar, AFP journalists saw rescue teams treating wounded Ukrainians.
“The situation is difficult, but the Ukrainians are holding their positions,” assured Vadim, a rescue worker, who was helping to evacuate a soldier shot in the leg.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on Friday that the “liberation” of Soledar had taken place “on January 12 in the evening”.
Fighting in and around this town has been raging for several months, but its intensity has increased sharply in recent days.
Its capture by the forces of Moscow would constitute a notable victory for Russia, after the series of failures recorded by its troops in recent months.
“Localized ceasefires”
On the diplomatic level, Turkey has said it wishes to promote “localized ceasefires” in Ukraine, failing to hope for a more comprehensive peace agreement at the present time.
For Ibrahim Kalin, one of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s close advisers, neither Russia nor Ukraine “is in a position to win militarily”.
“In the end, they will have to negotiate to reach an acceptable outcome” for the two belligerents, he said.