Mallika Dureja
Russia launched a massive wave of missile attacks across Ukraine on Thursday night, killing at least six civilians, knocking out power, and momentarily disconnecting Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.
The first such large-scale attack on targets far from the front line since mid-February shattered the longest period of peace since Russia launched an air campaign against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure five months ago. It included an unprecedented six kinzhal hypersonic cruise missiles, one of the most valuable weaponry in the Russian arsenal.
“Occupiers can do nothing but terrorise civilians. That is their only option. But it will not aid them. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a statement that the perpetrators of attacks on infrastructure and residential structures in ten regions would not be able to evade responsibility for their actions.
Last week’s cross-border incursion was met with a “massive retaliatory strike,” according to the Russian defence ministry. It claimed to have struck all of its intended targets, destroying drone bases, interfering with railways, and causing damage to arms manufacturing and repair facilities.
Villagers in Zolochiv, in the western Lviv region of Ukraine, carried a body wrapped in a black plastic bag over the rubble of an entirely destroyed brick home. They placed the body in the rear of a white van along with two others, out of at least five victims. In the ruins, a dog lay curled up on a carpet.
The house belonged to Oksana Ostapenko’s sister Halyna, whose body was still entombed beneath the debris along with two other family members.
“They have not yet located them. We hoped that they are still alive. “However, they are not alive,” she stated.
According to reports, another civilian was killed by missiles in the central Dnipro region. Separate reports indicate that three civilians were killed by artillery in Kherson.
Moscow claims that its campaign against targets far from the front line, which began in October, is intended to diminish Ukraine’s fighting capacity. According to Kyiv, the airstrikes have no military purpose and are intended to harm and intimidate civilians, which is a war crime.
The seven-hour alert during the night in Kyiv was the longest of Russia’s five-month air campaign.
“I heard an extremely loud explosion. The moment we awoke, we noticed a car on fire. Then the fire spread to the remaining vehicles. “The glass shattered on the balconies and windows,” said Liudmyla, 58, as she held a toddler in her arms on a Kyiv street close to wrecked vehicles.
“The child jumped out of bed out of fear,” she said. “How are they able to do this? How could this be? They are not human beings
Moscow confirmed that hypersonic kinzhal missiles were used in the attack on Thursday. It was the first time Ukrainian officials had encountered so many of these weapons, which are incapable of being shot down.
Russia is believed to possess only a few dozen kinzhals, which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads with a range of more than 2,000 kilometres and fly many times quicker than the speed of sound (1,200 miles). Putin frequently describes the kinzhal as a weapon to which NATO has no response in his speeches.
Ukraine stated that the attacks had also crippled the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, cutting it off from the Ukrainian power grid and compelling it to switch to diesel power to prevent a meltdown. Later, it was reconnected to Ukraine’s electrical grid, according to operator Ukrenergo.
The plant, which Russia has possessed since capturing it early in the conflict, is close to the front line, and both parties have previously warned of the possibility of a catastrophe. Moscow stated that it was secure.
Renat Karchaa, an advisor to the CEO of the Russian state nuclear power operator Rosenergoatom, stated, “The plant’s specialists are working professionally, and the automation has begun.” There is no nuclear incident threat or danger.
