(Kyiv) Ukraine announced that it had shot down 31 Russian missiles targeting Kyiv at dawn on Thursday, the first major attack on the capital since February, coming after Moscow vowed revenge for deadly bombings on Russian territory.
After these new strikes which left 17 injured, President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Westerners to have the “political will” to help his country, specifically calling for anti-aircraft systems such as the modern American Patriot.
“All missiles were shot down in the Kyiv region,” the Ukrainian Air Force said, adding that among the projectiles were two Iskander and Kinjal ballistic missiles as well as 29 cruise missiles fired by bombers. strategic.
According to the Ukrainian presidency, 13 civilians were injured in several districts of the city and four in the Kyiv region.
The debris from the missiles, falling, causes damage and casualties with each bombardment.
AFP journalists in Kyiv heard loud explosions starting at 5 a.m. (11 p.m. Eastern time), as well as anti-aircraft fire.
PHOTO ALINA SMUTKO, REUTERS
Kyiv, March 21, 2024
“This terror continues day and night. It is possible to end it with global unity […] This is entirely possible if our partners demonstrate sufficient political will,” assured Mr. Zelensky, stressing that his country “needs support” from the West.
He released video of firefighters putting out residential buildings with smoke billowing from their windows.
PHOTO ALINA SMUTKO, REUTERS
Kyiv, March 21, 2024
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kouleba, for his part urged the American Congress to “save lives” by granting $60 billion in aid to Kyiv, blocked for months due to political struggles between Democrats and Republicans .
Cross bombings
European leaders are due to meet at a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to discuss how to better arm Ukraine and strengthen their own defense.
The Twenty-Seven will also study a plan to use the income from billions of euros of Russian assets frozen in the EU, an initiative denounced as a “theft” by Moscow which has threatened legal action “over decades” .
This large-scale attack against Kyiv and its region comes as Ukraine has increased strikes and incursions by armed fighters into Russian border regions, particularly in Belgorod, targeted again on Thursday.
Russian officials, led by President Vladimir Putin, have vowed revenge for his strikes, as well as incursions by armed fighters from Ukraine into Russian territory during the presidential election last week.
In the morning, the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, indicated that new Ukrainian air attacks had taken place, leaving five injured. The Russian Defense Ministry previously claimed to have shot down 10 Ukrainian RM-70 Vampir rockets.
Mr. Gladkov published photos showing damaged facades of residential buildings with broken windows.
The day before, three people had already been killed and four injured in a series of “massive” Ukrainian bombings on a border district in the Belgorod region, carried out with multiple rocket launchers, according to the authorities.
Faced with increasing Ukrainian bombings, regional authorities decided this week to temporarily close schools in border areas. Checkpoints must also be set up at the entrance to several villages close to Ukraine, scenes of recent armed incursions.
Across the border, in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, five people were killed and ten injured on Wednesday in a Russian strike in broad daylight, according to an updated report from the regional prosecutor’s office.
And last week, at least 20 people were killed and 70 injured in Odessa, in one of the deadliest Russian attacks on this major port in southern Ukraine.