A salvo of Russian airstrikes fell on several cities in Ukraine on Friday morning, with explosions heard in the center of kyiv. Water and power cuts were reported in several localities of the country. The morning Russian strikes also caused the metro to be shut down so that the stations could serve as shelters. According to initial reports, at least two people died following a strike that hit a residential building in Kryvyi Rig (South), according to the regional governor. And another was killed by artillery fire targeting a residential area in Kherson (south), a city recaptured in November by Ukrainian forces.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, “about 40 missiles” Russian targeted the capital, 37 of which were shot down by anti-aircraft defense. They did not specify what damage the others caused. Mayor Vitali Klitchko said the damage to the energy infrastructure caused “water supply interruptions in all areas of the capital”. The kyiv metro will be at a standstill all day Friday due to power outages. “Due to damage to the energy system and due to emergency power cuts, the metro trains will not run until the end of the day,” the city administration announced on Telegram.
At least two people were killed and five others injured in a Russian strike Friday on an apartment building in Kryvyi Rig, southern Ukraine, announced the regional governor Valentin Reznichenko. “A Russian missile hit a residential building. […] Two people died, ”announced on Telegram Valentin Reznitchenko. “At least five people were injured, including two children. All are in hospital,” he added.
Cities in the dark
The mayors of Kharkiv (North-East) and Poltava (Center-East) announced that their cities were without electricity following morning bombings. “Kharkiv has no more electricity,” lamented the mayor of Ukraine’s second city, Igor Terekhov, on Telegram.
His Poltava counterpart, Oleksandre Mamai, asked the population to “turn off all electrical appliances”. “The airstrike is still ongoing,” he added, urging civilians to “remain calm.” An adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, finally declared on Telegram that “a residential building” in the city of Kryvyi Rig (South) had been “hit”. “There is damage. There may be people under the rubble,” he added, indicating that “emergency services are on site.”
READ ALSO Ukraine: in Kherson, the permanent war of fire soldiers Tymoshenko did not however indicate whether it was a Russian missile that had struck this building or the debris of the anti-aircraft defense. “Without electricity […], the heating system no longer works” in the city of Kremenchuk, in the center of the country, its mayor, Valeri Maletskii, indicated on Telegram. Due to these strikes, “electric trains” running in the regions of Kharkiv, Kivograd, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk “will run with reserve locomotives”, said Ukrainian Railways. Multiple strikes also targeted the Zaporizhia region, according to its governor, Oleksandre Staroukh.
For its part, the Russian occupation of the Ukrainian region of Lugansk accused the Ukrainian forces of artillery fire on two localities, killing 8 and wounding 23 on Friday morning.
Russian “Blind Terror”
The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell on Friday condemned as war crimes the firing of missiles carried out by Russia against Ukraine and denounced “another example of the blind terror of the Kremlin”.
“These cruel and inhumane attacks aim to increase suffering and deprive the Ukrainian population, but also hospitals, emergency services and other essential services of electricity, heating and water. They constitute war crimes and are barbaric. All those responsible will be held to account,” he said in a statement.
