A barrage of Russian missiles targeted Kyiv on Wednesday, wounding more than 50 people, and dozens of drones targeted Odesa on Thursday, wounding more than 10, said Ukrainian officials, as President Volodymyr Zelensky sought more military support in Europe after a trip to Washington secured no new pledges.
Ukraine said Thursday that its air defence systems had downed dozens of drones launched by Russian forces targeting the southern city of Odesa in another overnight barrage that wounded 11 people.
"In total, launches of 42 enemy attack UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were recorded," the Ukrainian air force said, adding that it had destroyed 41 of the Shahed drones deployed from Russian-controlled territory.
Falling debris damaged a dormitory in Odesa. Eleven people including three children were wounded, regional governor Oleg Kiper said.
"Russian devils started the second evening in a row with an attack on Odesa," Kiper added.
The strikes came one day after loud explosions rocked Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, at 3am on Wednesday as the city's air defences were activated for the second time this week.
Ukrainian authorities said Russia had launched 10 ballistic missiles towards Kyiv and all were intercepted by air defences, but falling debris struck homes and a children's hospital wounding at least 53 people.
The attack on Kyiv underscored the continuing threat to Ukraine from the Kremlin’s missile arsenal in the 21-month-old war. Russia has been stockpiling its air-launched cruise missiles from its heavy bomber fleet, according to a recent assessment by the UK ministry of defence.
That may herald another heavy winter bombardment of Ukraine’s power grid. Moscow last year targeted energy infrastructure in an effort to deny Ukrainians heat, light and running water and break their fighting spirit.
As winter sets in and hinders troop movements, allowing little change along the front line, long-range air bombardment plays a growing role in the war.
Ukraine has dwindling supplies of air defence munitions and other ammunition. That prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit Washington on Tuesday in an effort to persuade lawmakers to approve President Joe Biden's request for $61.4 billion for Ukraine. His trip accomplished no breakthrough.
Zelensky said on Telegram that he and Biden agreed to work on increasing the number of air defence systems in Ukraine. “The terrorist state has just demonstrated how crucial this decision is,” Zelensky said, referring to the overnight Russian strikes on Kyiv.
On Wednesday, he met in Oslo with Nordic leaders who feel keenly the potential threat from nearby Russia and are among Kyiv's staunchest supporters.
“Russia is eager to exploit divisions,” the senior leaders from Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden said in a joint statement in Oslo. “We must continue to stand united against Russia’s illegal and immoral war.”
They vowed “comprehensive assistance” for Ukraine. “Now is not the time to tire,” the Nordic leaders said, amid signs of war fatigue among Kyiv's foreign supporters.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said her government will unveil a Ukraine support package of almost €1 billion ($1.08 billion) this week. Norway announced it will give additional air defences to Ukraine, taking them from its own stocks to ensure speedy delivery.
Separately, Latvia and Ukraine announced an agreement on the production of drones, a key part of the war.
Zelensky may also attend a European Union summit on Thursday in Brussels, where the continent’s leaders are expected to discuss their backing for Ukraine. Officials did not confirm such a trip.
Cyberattack
In Wednesday’s overnight missile attack on Kyiv, debris from the intercepted weapons fell in the city's eastern Dniprovskyi district, injuring dozens of people, Mayor Vitali Kitschko said on Telegram. Twenty people, including two children, were hospitalised, and 33 people received medical treatment on the spot.
An apartment building, a private house and several cars caught fire, while the windows of a children's hospital were shattered, Klitschko said. Falling rocket debris also damaged the water supply system in the district.
In other developments, a “hacktivist” group called SoIntsepek claimed responsibility for a major cyberattack Tuesday against Ukrainian internet and cell phone provider Kyivstar, which serves more than 24 million customers across the country.
The Google-owned US cybersecurity firm Mandiant said SoIntsepek regularly claims credit for the activity of the Russian hacking team known as Sandworm, part of the GRU military intelligence agency.
“The persona was probably fabricated by the GRU to launder their operations publicly,” Mandiant threat analyst John Hultquist said in an emailed statement, adding that Sandworm is responsible for “most major disruptive cyberattacks we know about”.
A Kyivstar spokeswoman said the company hoped to restore all service by end of Wednesday but the network integrity company Kentik said only a fraction had been restored by the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in a report that Russian forces this year have “continued to use explosive weapons with wide area effects in their attacks on densely populated urban areas of Ukraine ... both in areas close to heavy fighting and in cities far from the contact line”.
The organization added in the report published Wednesday that Ukrainian armed forces, though on a much smaller scale, also shelled populated areas of Ukraine that are occupied by Russia, causing civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure.
(FRANCE 24 with AP and AFP)
